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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What did Dean Borsh teach Gurdjieff?
(a) mathematics and other subjects
(b) Scripture and other subjects
(c) history and other subjects
(d) geography and other subjects

2. How did Gurdjieff's father lose his fortune as the richest cattle owner in Armenia?
(a) a widespread cattle plague
(b) He was a bad breeder and couldn't care for his cattle
(c) A rival cattle owner stole most of his cattle
(d) He lost his cattle gambling

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

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

5. Who are the Yezidis?
(a) a sect living in Transcaucasia called devil-worshippers
(b) hermits who are considered holy men
(c) a primitive tribe living in the Gobi desert
(d) whirling dervishes

6. What did Gurdjieff and Pogossian pursue together?
(a) They pursued a career in agriculture.
(b) They became interested in ancient Armenian books.
(c) They decided to pursue medical careers together.
(d) They studied the Scriptures together.

7. What did Father Borsh look like?
(a) He was tall and big-boned with an intelligent face
(b) He was short and fat and wore glasses
(c) He was tall and thin, with a fine-looking face
(d) He was large and robust with a ruddy complexion

8. What had Gurdjieff promised himself to do after completing his first series of writing?
(a) go on a vacation to the Black Sea
(b) visit his relatives and friends and relax
(c) consult with all his learned tutors
(d) drink all the bottles of Calvados in the wine cellar of the Prieure

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

10. Gurdjieff changed his custom of drinking armagnac from liqueur glasses to drinking from what kind of glass?
(a) wine glasses
(b) shot glasses
(c) champagne glasses
(d) tumblers

11. What does Pogossian decide to do when they arrive in Alexandria?
(a) He decides to steal the copy of "pre-sand Egypt"
(b) He decides to become a tour guide along with Gurdjieff
(c) He decides to stay on the ship, working in the engine room
(d) He decides to return home to Turkey

12. What was an ashokh which Gurdjieff's father was?
(a) a bard who composed, recited or sang songs, poems, etc.
(b) a skilled craftsman in many countries of the Transcaucasia
(c) a musician who played an instrument unique to Turkey
(d) a farmer owning a large herd of either cattle or sheep

13. Where is the chief monastery of the Essene Brotherhood situated?
(a) in Nazareth
(b) near the sea of Galilee
(c) not far from the shores of the Dead Sea
(d) near Jerusalem

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

15. What state did Gurdjieff experience, according to Mullah Nassr Eddin's words, after many sleepless nights?
(a) "to feel oneself run over by a herd of camels"
(b) "to feel like death warmed over"
(c) "to feel oneself tired to the bone"
(d) "to feel oneself plunged in galoshes to the eyebrows"

Short Answer Questions

1. 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.

2. What was the title of the first book in Gurdjieff's series?

3. How does Gurdjieff remember Pogossian?

4. What had Gurdjieff's family first intended him to be?

5. What did the Yezidis believe?

(see the answer keys)

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