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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why would Proust sometimes examine a mundane train timetable?
(a) To fall asleep.
(b) To go crosseyed.
(c) To keep his brain active.
(d) To keep learning.

2. What is an artist's role in the judgment of art?
(a) To remain subjective.
(b) He or she is unimportant.
(c) He or she is important.
(d) To remain objective.

3. What did Proust refuse from the doctors on his deathbed?
(a) Being seen by one.
(b) Diagnosis.
(c) Medication.
(d) To talk to them.

4. What was Proust's father's occupation?
(a) He was a doctor.
(b) He was a lawyer.
(c) He was a teacher.
(d) He was a writer.

5. In what year did Proust's father die?
(a) 1908.
(b) 1903.
(c) 1904.
(d) 1906.

6. What was the young man who murdered his mother named?
(a) Henri van Schlotter.
(b) Henry von Blarenberg.
(c) Henri van Blarenberge.
(d) Henry von Schlotter.

7. What does De Botton reason at the beginning of "How Proust Can Change Your Life ; Not a Novel"?
(a) There are plenty of things humans should be happy about.
(b) Lust isthe driving force between all people.
(c) There are plenty of things humans should be unhappy about.
(d) Love is the driving force between all people.

8. How long is one sentence of Proust's in "In Search of Lost Time"?
(a) 5 meters.
(b) 3 meters.
(c) 4 and a half meters.
(d) 4 meters.

9. What did Proust repress in his life?
(a) Sexual desire.
(b) Travels.
(c) Companionship.
(d) Intimate desire.

10. What was Proust's perception of his own sexuality?
(a) He self loathed.
(b) He was narcissistic.
(c) He self loved.
(d) He was numb to himself.

11. When was Proust's father's best selling book published?
(a) 1888.
(b) 1900.
(c) 1889.
(d) 1901.

12. What would Proust probe the train timetable for?
(a) Values.
(b) Stories and value.
(c) Meaning and value.
(d) Meaning.

13. Who is Kate?
(a) De Botton's girlfriend.
(b) Proust's mother.
(c) Proust's girlfriend.
(d) De Botton's sister.

14. What were Proust's main passions?
(a) Reading and analyzing.
(b) Literature and writing.
(c) Law and medicine.
(d) Writing and reading.

15. What does De Botton suggest about human bodies?
(a) They are ugly.
(b) They lack security.
(c) They are insufficient.
(d) Humans become unhappy as our bodies go frail.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where does Proust suggest people would travel to in his response to the newspaper's poll?

2. How did Proust's friends react to Proust's relationship with his mother?

3. When did Proust begin to work on his masterpiece?

4. What was Proust's father's name?

5. In response to the newspaper's poll, what did one person think would happen to people's inhibitions?

(see the answer keys)

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