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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What tendency of his father's nature was defined by Gurdieff as virtuous?
(a) his father didn't take advantage of people's naivete or bad luck
(b) His father was loyal to his family and friends
(c) His father never told a lie
(d) His father was extremely reliable in his business dealings

2. What did Gurdjieff dream of specializing in?
(a) He dreamed of becoming a writer.
(b) He dreamed of the spiritual specialization of the priesthood.
(c) He dreamed of medical specialization.
(d) He dreamed of technical specialization.

3. What was the title of the first book in Gurdjieff's series?
(a) " My Father's Tales to Me"
(b) "Ancient Wisdom of the East"
(c) " My Travels throughout Turkey, Egypt and the Far East"
(d) "Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson"

4. Who was Vseslavsky?
(a) an army chaplain friend of Bogchevsky
(b) Bogachevsky's childhood friend
(c) a fellow-countryman of Bogachevsky and an army engineer
(d) Bogachevsky's brother-in-law

5. Besides having an accident with a firearm, what other prediction of the fortuneteller came true about Gurdjieff?
(a) Gurdjieff came down with pneumonia.
(b) A severe rash broke out all over Gurdjieff's body
(c) Gurdjieff fell ill with a high fever
(d) A large sore, a carbuncle, appeared on Gurdjieff's side

6. What subjects did Ponomarenko teach Gurdjieff?
(a) Russian and geography
(b) philosophy and Turkish
(c) geography and history
(d) mathematics and history

7. What is the title of the anecdote Gurdjieff uses to show the inferiority of modern life to ancient wisdom showing that modern life and literature are poison to the human race.
(a) "The Conversation of Two Swallows"
(b) "The Conversation of Two Crows"
(c) "The Conversation of Two Robins"
(d) "The Conversation of the Two Sparrows"

8. What did Pogossian's parents do for a living?
(a) His father was a merchant, his mother a housewife.
(b) His father was a dyer, his mother an embroideress in gold
(c) His father was a potter, his mother a seamstress.
(d) His father was a teacher, his mother a laundress.

9. Which two animals did Gurdjieff feel a man should embody?
(a) the wolf and the kid
(b) the serpent and the dove
(c) the wolf and the sheep
(d) the lamb and the lion

10. What was Gurdjieff's purpose in traveling to Echmiadzin?
(a) He was looking for work since he was out of money.
(b) He sought answers to questions of supernatural phenomena.
(c) He was visiting relatives.
(d) He was on holiday.

11. Who, in Gurdjieff's opinion, invents the grammar of languages?
(a) learned, well-educated grammarians
(b) people who are on a lower level than ordinary simple people
(c) linguists
(d) university professors

12. What did Bogachevsky counsel men to do in order to live a moral life?
(a) a man should try to please others
(b) a man should follow his own conscience and not heed others
(c) a man should travel the world and observe people
(d) a man should study many subjects and become educated

13. What is the other name Bogachevsky goes by?
(a) Father Evlissi
(b) Abbot of Kars
(c) Father Essene
(d) Brother Peter

14. Who was the fortuneteller whom Gurdjieff's aunt consulted?
(a) the half-wit, Eoung-Ashokh Mardiross
(b) the half-wit, Nicolai Brandikoff
(c) the psychic, Feodor Moussorsky
(d) the idiot , Ivan Ivanovich

15. What had Gurdjieff's family first intended him to be?
(a) a cattle herder
(b) an ashokh or bard
(c) a soldier
(d) a priest

Short Answer Questions

1. How did Gurdjieff and Pogossian secure passage on a ship to Egypt?

2. How does Gurdjieff remember Pogossian?

3. When did Gurdjieff meet Bogachevsky?

4. What did Sokolov teach Gurdjieff?

5. What has the literature of contemporary civilization to give according to Gurdjieff?

(see the answer keys)

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