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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why has the middle-aged man arranged signals with the people who visit him?
(a) He is a spy and needs to know who is visiting.
(b) He likes to pretend that he is part of a covert operation.
(c) He does not trust that the person at the door is a friend.
(d) He hates to be surprised by visitors.

2. How does the old poet describe the cinematographer and Jaromil?
(a) As princess and prince of the evening.
(b) As stars in the lonely sky.
(c) As the sole hope for the future.
(d) As ill-fated lovers.

3. The night of the party, what does Maman realize about the cinematographer?
(a) The girl is a Communist spy.
(b) She loves the girl more than Jaromil does.
(c) The girl will scheme up anything to get what she wants.
(d) The girl would be an excellent daughter-in-law.

4. Returning home from the police station, what does Jaromil find?
(a) A letter from the redhead breaking up with him.
(b) A letter from his uncle who was sent to prison several years earlier.
(c) An invitation from the cinematographer to attend a party.
(d) A letter of praise from the janitor's son about his poetry.

5. Why does the lyrical poet make his poetry striking?
(a) His subject matter demands a strong voice.
(b) He speaks out of powerful places in History.
(c) Only striking poetry will be accepted by the readers.
(d) His life is uneventful.

6. How long has it been since the middle-aged man saw the girl who rang his doorbell?
(a) One year.
(b) Three months.
(c) Three years.
(d) Eight years.

7. To Jaromil, what does Xavier represent?
(a) Dream, poetry, and action.
(b) The furthest extent of his dreams.
(c) The horror of poetic ambition lived out.
(d) The man he will one day become.

8. According to Kundera, who ruled the epoch about which he is writing?
(a) The hangman and the poet.
(b) The judge and the lawyer.
(c) The young people.
(d) The farmer and the factory worker.

9. After the girl rejects the man's caresses, what does she wish he were?
(a) A very old man or woman.
(b) A very young child.
(c) Dead.
(d) A dog, preferably small.

10. How does Maman destroy the intimacy between Jaromil and herself?
(a) By suggesting that the redhead sleeps around.
(b) By looking down on the redhead because of her job.
(c) By telling Jaromil he could find a better girl.
(d) By insulting the redhead's manners.

11. How old is Jaromil when he catches pneumonia?
(a) Twenty.
(b) Twenty-four.
(c) Twenty-six.
(d) Nineteen.

12. According to the janitor's son, why do policemen like to read poetry?
(a) They monitor it to make sure the poets aren't writing anything against the state.
(b) They are proving that they are not like the cutthroat policemen of the former regime.
(c) They want to be connected to the common people.
(d) They enjoy something delicate after a hard day's work.

13. During the filming, how does Maman push Jaromil back into the role of a young child?
(a) By calling him pet names.
(b) By telling embarrassing stories of his childhood.
(c) By reminding him of immature ideas he used to believe.
(d) By calling him her little troublemaker.

14. How many poets participate in the recitation?
(a) Eight.
(b) Fourteen.
(c) Twelve.
(d) Eleven.

15. Why is Jaromil jealous of the redhead?
(a) She will not tell him where she got the flowers on the table.
(b) Because her doctor sees her body.
(c) She receives letters from a man he does not know.
(d) He suspects that she is cheating.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Jaromil wants to recite poetry to the redhead, what disturbing thought occurs to him?

2. When does Jaromil feel that the girl belongs to him completely?

3. Just outside the prison, why does the girl hate to see the horses and riders?

4. Who is most upset that the bus stop was moved two blocks away from the villa?

5. When the redhead is fifteen minutes late, what is the first excuse she gives Jaromil?

(see the answer keys)

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