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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. On their expedition in search of the school run by the Sarmoung Brotherhood what experience causes Gurdjieff and Pogossian great fear but then hilarious laughter?
(a) fierce threatening dogs sit now quiety when they sit down
(b) threatening peasants suddenly start laughing
(c) a wide river crossing turns out to be extemely shallow
(d) two traveling bandits turn out to be friendly clowns

2. What is it impossible to do even if one is an excellent linguist?
(a) speak more than five languages fluently
(b) think in a foreign language while speaking one's native tongue
(c) speak like a native in a foreign language.
(d) dream in a foreign language

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Dean Borsh teach Gurdjieff?

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

3. How old was Dean Borsh when he first taught Gurdjieff and visited his father to discuss religious and historical subjects?

4. When did Gurdjieff meet Pogossian and become friends with him?

5. How did Gurdjieff 's father react when misfortunes befell him?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who were the Imastun brethren?

2. How did Gurdjieff happen to see the famous ashokhs of those days?

3. What experiment did Bogachevsky and his friends make to prove the validity of spiritualism?

4. What was Gurdjieff's father's view on the aim of life?

5. Describe Father Borsh.

6. Why do Gurdjieff and Pogossian travel to Alexandropol?

7. When and where did Gurdjieff meet Pogossian?

8. Why did people consider Father Borsh peculiar?

9. On their expedition to find the Sarmoung Brotherhood what other precious treasure does Gurdjieff find?

10. What important discovery did Gurdjieff and Pogossian make in the rubble of the underground passages of the ancient churches near Alexandropol?

(see the answer keys)

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