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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who had recommended the gardener to the man and his wife?
(a) The man's mother.
(b) The child's teacher.
(c) The woman's sister.
(d) Neighbors.

2. What instrument does the narrator cite when describing how "the misbeats of [her] heart tailed off" (24)?
(a) Saxophone.
(b) Xylophone.
(c) Flute.
(d) Trumpet.

3. After the incident with a neighbor's housemaid, what did the man and woman's housemaid beg them to do?
(a) Give her a raise.
(b) Get a gun.
(c) Install burglar bars and an alarm system.
(d) Move to the country.

4. What precautions does the narrator say she does not take in her home, despite having the same fears of those that do?
(a) She does not have locks on her doors.
(b) She does not have guard dogs or security alarms.
(c) She does not have a phone nearby or a bat under her bed.
(d) She has no burglar bars or gun under her pillow.

5. What game did the little boy like to play after they installed a speaker at the gates of their home?
(a) Telephone.
(b) Cops and robbers.
(c) Hide and seek.
(d) Tag.

6. Who lives in the home the narrator describes at the start of her story?
(a) A single mother and her child.
(b) A man, and a woman and their son.
(c) A father and his son.
(d) An old woman and her adult son.

7. What does the wife worry the people from the city might come to their home and do some day?
(a) Kidnap their maid and gardener.
(b) Throw bombs and destroy all they have.
(c) Tear off the plaque and stream in.
(d) Go for a swim in their beautiful pool.

8. How was the plaque meant to indicate that the property owner was not racist?
(a) It contained a peace sign.
(b) The man was masked so you could not tell if he was Black or white.
(c) It said "All Are Welcome."
(d) It depicted a Black hand holding a white hand.

9. What does someone tell the narrator she should write for an upcoming anthology?
(a) A screenplay.
(b) A children's story.
(c) A poem.
(d) A thriller.

10. What were the Chopi and Tsonga people the narrator says may have made the wooden instrument she describes when discussing her heart beating?
(a) Farmers.
(b) Migrant miners.
(c) Burglars.
(d) Musicians.

11. How are the people in the narrator's story said to be living at the start of her tale?
(a) Like peas in a pod.
(b) Happily ever after.
(c) In eternal despair.
(d) Carefree and fancy free.

12. What are the man and woman warned against doing as they start their lives together?
(a) Getting a pool.
(b) Taken anyone in off the street.
(c) Living in the suburbs.
(d) Having a child.

13. According to the narrator's tale, under what conditions were people who lived in the city allowed in the suburbs?
(a) As teachers and secretaries.
(b) As doctors and lawyers.
(c) As nannies and drivers.
(d) As housemaids and gardeners.

14. Where were the riots said to be in the tale the narrator tells herself?
(a) In the city.
(b) In her mind.
(c) In another country.
(d) In a far away land.

15. What adjective is used to describe the gardener in the narrator's tale?
(a) Attentive.
(b) Elegant.
(c) Patient.
(d) Itinerant.

Short Answer Questions

1. What begins to happen once the riots in the city are suppressed?

2. What woke the narrator in the night at the start of the story?

3. What does the narrator do when she is unable to go back to sleep?

4. Why did the neighborhood alarms often go unanswered after many had them installed?

5. What does the husband do to assuage his wife's fears that people from the city might intrude on their home in the suburbs?

(see the answer keys)

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