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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who does the narrator pretend to be when she first enters Tsau?
(a) A research scientist brought in by Nelson Denoon.
(b) An anthropologist who went astray in the desert.
(c) An ornithologist who went astray in the desert.
(d) None of these.

2. What happens at the end of Nelson's speech at the party?
(a) A thunderstorm.
(b) A sandstorm.
(c) None of these.
(d) A flood.

3. What does the narrator study in the African bush as a part of her thesis?
(a) Seasonal nutritional availability and its effect on infant mortality.
(b) Seasonal nutritional availability and its effect on the local death rate.
(c) Seasonal nutritional availability and its effect on fertility.
(d) None of these.

4. What does the narrator consider her work on her thesis in the African bush?
(a) A challenge, but everything came out okay.
(b) Not what she was expecting, but she got interesting results.
(c) A success.
(d) A failure.

5. Who does the narrator tell about her travel plans?
(a) Residents of the settlement.
(b) Nuns at the mission.
(c) "Z".
(d) A native African family she's staying with.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is Grace with when the narrator bumps into her in town?

2. What is the narrator doing when she bumps into Grace Denoon?

3. What critique does the narrator have of Nelson Denoon?

4. What characteristics does "Z" demonstrate?

5. Who grabs the narrator by the hips and pushes her forward after Nelson Denoon's speech?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when the narrator is summoned before the Mother Committee? What must she do to stay in Tsau?

2. What does the narrator discover through her thesis work in the African bush? Is it what she expected?

3. What does the sandstorm at the end of the American diplomat's party represent?

4. How does the author depict the relationship between Grace and Nelson Denoon? How does the reader know this?

5. Describe the narrator's reaction to meeting Nelson Denoon. How is he different from her expectations?

6. What does the narrator take with her to Tsau? Why is this significant?

7. Who is "Z" and what relationship does the narrator share with him?

8. What does "intellectual love" mean in the book?

9. Who is Martin Wade and what relationship does the narrator share with him?

10. What does the narrator obsess about losing after her donkey runs away? Why?

(see the answer keys)

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