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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What did the old widower who was murdered have to protect him?
(a) Fierce dogs.
(b) An electronic alarm system.
(c) Security guards.
(d) Guns.

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

4. What did "a certain novelist" say every writer "ought to write at least once" (23)?
(a) A screenplay.
(b) A haiku.
(c) A children's story.
(d) A thriller.

5. What pets does the family in the narrator's story have at home?
(a) Goldfish and a parakeet.
(b) A monkey and a lemur.
(c) A bird and a hamster.
(d) A cat and a dog.

6. What does the narrator realize is the reason for the creaking sound in her house?
(a) Her child.
(b) Her cat.
(c) An intruder.
(d) Her housing shifting.

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

8. According to the narrator's tale, who were being shot by the police in the city?
(a) Other police officers.
(b) Schoolchildren.
(c) Burglars.
(d) Rioters.

9. Where does the story the narrator tells herself take place?
(a) A house in the country.
(b) A house in the suburbs.
(c) A condo by the ocean.
(d) An apartment in the city.

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

11. What is the man's mother called in the narrator's tale?
(a) The wise old witch.
(b) The good witch.
(c) The fairy godmother.
(d) The wicked witch.

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

13. Who is the author of "Once Upon a Time"?
(a) Nadia Golen.
(b) Grace Newsom.
(c) Nancy Greer.
(d) Nadine Gordimer.

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

15. What does the narrator do when she is unable to go back to sleep?
(a) She tells herself a story.
(b) She writes a letter.
(c) She eats a sandwich.
(d) She reads a book.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the narrator describe as "finely tuned" in the night?

2. What adjective is used to describe the housemaid in the narrator's tale?

3. What "most profound" place does the narrator say men may be deep under her home?

4. What type of people are said to live in the city in the tale the narrator tells herself?

5. What did thieves do to "somebody's trusted housemaid" (26) after the city riots were suppressed?

(see the answer keys)

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