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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What, in Gurdjieff's opinion, has harmed contemporary literature?
(a) writers seeking fame rather than quality
(b) not enough good writers
(c) readers who are easily taken in by inferior, sensational writing
(d) the grammars of all languages

2. What was awakened in Gurdjieff while listening to Bogachevsky and his friends' discussions around the samovar?
(a) an interest in abstract questions and spiritualism
(b) an interest in becoming a member of the Essene Brotherhood
(c) a feeling of inferiority when he compared himself with them
(d) an interest in mathematics

3. What was Father Borsh's view about a youth before he attained adulthood?
(a) He wasn't responsible for any of his acts
(b) He was responsible for his acts.
(c) He should be severely punished for wrong doing
(d) He was a non-entity.

4. Who was allowed access to Father Borsh's room?
(a) Gurdjieff and Gurdjieff's father
(b) Gurdjieff and Father Borsh's orderly
(c) Any students at the Kars Military Cathedral
(d) Anyone seeking help or advice

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

6. Where was Sarkis Pogossian born and of what race was he?
(a) He was Turkish and he was born in Greece.
(b) He was Armenian and he was born in Transcaucasia.
(c) He was Armenian but he was born in Turkey.
(d) He was Greek and he was born in Armenia.

7. Why did people think Dean Borsh was peculiar?
(a) He was afraid of cats.
(b) His views were odd and though rich, he lived in one room.
(c) He wore outlandish clothes.
(d) He spoke in riddles.

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

9. What phenomenon do Bogachevsky and his friends experiment with?
(a) summoning spirits from the dead using a medium
(b) disappearing rabbits
(c) "table turning"--laying hands on a table and asking it questions
(d) divining people's names by holding their hands

10. 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 never told a lie
(c) His father was extremely reliable in his business dealings
(d) His father was loyal to his family and friends

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

12. 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 the Two Sparrows"
(c) "The Conversation of Two Crows"
(d) "The Conversation of Two Robins"

13. What was Pogossian bitten by?
(a) a Kurd sheep dog
(b) a viper
(c) a malaria mosquito
(d) a big yellow phalanga, a kind of tarantula

14. Where did the second contest that Gurdjieff witnessed take place?
(a) Baku in Turkey
(b) Bagdad
(c) Istanbul in Turkey
(d) Karabakh in Azerbaijan

15. According to Father Borsh what two things should a priest be able to do for the members of his flock?
(a) give them Holy Communion and perform marriages etc.
(b) teach them Scripture and pray for them
(c) care for their souls and cure their physical diseases
(d) be an example for them of holiness and teach Scripture

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Gurdjieff dream of specializing in?

2. What did Gurdjieff's aunt warn him about?

3. Besides having an accident with a firearm, what other prediction of the fortuneteller came true about Gurdjieff?

4. What would Gurdjieff's father do on evenings before Sundays and holidays?

5. Gurdjieff intended to write his book in accordance with what counsel for living employed by Mullah Nassr Eddin?

(see the answer keys)

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