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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What legend did Gurdjieff's father and Dean Borsh discuss all night while Gurdjieff and his uncle listened to them?
(a) the legend of "the Creation of the World"
(b) the legend of "the Secret of the Gobi Desert"
(c) the legend of the "Flood before the Flood"
(d) the legend of " The Lost City of Babul"

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

4. 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 should be severely punished for wrong doing
(c) He was a non-entity.
(d) He was responsible for his acts.

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

6. What did Gurdjieff's aunt warn him about?
(a) to study hard so that he could earn a good living
(b) not to marry too young
(c) to take care not to have an accident with a firearm
(d) to be faithful to his father's teachings

7. How old was Dean Borsh when he first taught Gurdjieff and visited his father to discuss religious and historical subjects?
(a) sixty-eight
(b) seventy-five
(c) seventy-two
(d) seventy

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

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

10. Gurdjieff intended to write his book in accordance with what counsel for living employed by Mullah Nassr Eddin?
(a) "strive to attain knowledge and use it in one's life"
(b) "strive to work hard, be modest and help others"
(c) "strive to be honest and virtuous in all that you do"
(d) "strive to attain what is useful for others and pleasant for oneself"

11. In what town did the first of the ashokh contests which Gurdjieff witnessed take place?
(a) Van in Turkey
(b) Tabul in Turkey
(c) Istanbul in Turkey
(d) Viestock in Persia

12. What was the "Sarmoung"?
(a) A garment worn by an Armenian priest
(b) A famous esoteric school which Gurdjieff and Pogassian seek
(c) A city in ancient Mesopotamia
(d) An ancient scroll from the Dead Sea.

13. What did Father Borsh think that the gratification of lust before adulthood would do to a youth?
(a) make a man of him
(b) turn him into a monstrosity
(c) stunt his growth
(d) drive him insane

14. According to Gurdjieff, contemporary literature falls into which three categories?
(a) non-fiction, newspapers and travel books
(b) science books, magazines and newspapers
(c) the scientific field, narratives (novels) and descriptions
(d) non-fiction, poetry and journalism

15. What was Gurdjieff's youngest niece supposed to do for him?
(a) bring him cold drinks
(b) fan him with a palm fan while he was working in the heat.
(c) sing to him while he sat under the trees
(d) see that his Arabian coffee did not become cold in the cup

Short Answer Questions

1. What was Pogossian bitten by?

2. What phenomenon do Bogachevsky and his friends experiment with?

3. What did Gurdjieff and Pogossian pursue together?

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

5. Which two animals did Gurdjieff feel a man should embody?

(see the answer keys)

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