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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What day was it during "Chief of Political Control"?
(a) Tuesday.
(b) Sunday.
(c) Friday.
(d) Wednesday.

2. In 1939, what quarantine had the narrator and five others endured? ("Esperanto.")
(a) The plague.
(b) Typhoid.
(c) Measles.
(d) TB.

3. What provided unexpected joy for the narrator in "The Lawyers' Plot"?
(a) That others were weaker than he.
(b) That no one knew his name.
(c) That he was able to feel the heat of the stove.
(d) That he would never lose his law papers.

4. What equipment arrived from America and, therefore, convicts learned a new word?
(a) Bulldozer.
(b) Harvester.
(c) Front-end loader.
(d) Crane.

5. From where did the new group of prisoners come from? ("Magic.")
(a) Moscow.
(b) St. Petersburg.
(c) Prague.
(d) Leningrad.

6. Why was Peter Zayats beaten by the guards in "My First Tooth"?
(a) For spitting on a guard.
(b) For taking extra food.
(c) Refusal to stand for roll-call.
(d) For being sick.

7. What was being yelled as Peter Zayats was thrown out of the shelter and into the snow? ("My First Tooth.")
(a) "Liar!"
(b) "Thief!"
(c) "Dragons!"
(d) "Monster!"

8. According to "The Lawyers' Plot," how many paths led out of the mine?
(a) 4.
(b) 3.
(c) 7.
(d) 1.

9. What job did Skoroseev volunteer to do since no one else could or would? ("Esperanto.")
(a) Murder the chief.
(b) Go out into the blizzard for supplies.
(c) Butcher a horse.
(d) Shoe a horse.

10. What did the narrator say was mixed into the bread that made it "magnificent"? ("Land-Lease.")
(a) Sugar.
(b) Love.
(c) Tea.
(d) Hope.

11. Why was the window in the basement broken? ("My First Tooth.")
(a) To get fresh air.
(b) To try to escape.
(c) To get snow to melt to drink.
(d) To throw out the dead bodies.

12. On the train, in "The Train," what did the narrator state was his first happiness?
(a) Hope.
(b) Love.
(c) Faith.
(d) Freedom.

13. At the end of "The Train," where did the narrator state that he was returning from?
(a) Hell.
(b) Kolyma.
(c) England.
(d) Moscow.

14. What did the narrator not fear being stolen from him in "The Train"?
(a) Money.
(b) Books.
(c) Clothing.
(d) Food.

15. What sound did the narrator say was a symbol of the "mainland" for him? ("The Train.")
(a) Russian music.
(b) The train whistle.
(c) Laughter.
(d) Soft voices.

Short Answer Questions

1. What month was it in the opening of "My First Tooth"?

2. What kind of injection did the chief in "Chief of Political Control" need?

3. How much oatmeal did the convicts receive in their portions? ("Land-Lease")

4. What kind of underwear had the narrator not worn in years? ("The Train.")

5. What "large village" was the first destination for the narrator in "The Train"?

(see the answer keys)

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