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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. What excuse does Maria tell herself regarding her new sleeping arrangements?
(a) That the house is too big for one person.
(b) That she is waiting for Carter to return.
(c) That it is safer to not sleep in the house.
(d) That it is too hot to sleep in the house.

2. According to Maria, "_______always spoke on the telephone as if a spurious urgency could mask her radical lack of interest in talking to anyone."
(a) Helene.
(b) Her mother.
(c) Carlotta.
(d) Felicia.

3. According to Helene, what is often true of selfish women?
(a) They drink heavily.
(b) They don't put on weight.
(c) They drive very fast.
(d) They don't smoke.

4. In the hospital, what does Maria try NOT to think about?
(a) Movies and red roses.
(b) The ocean and newspapers.
(c) Winter mornings and ice tea.
(d) Dead things and plumbing.

5. When Maria visits Kate at the hospital and warns the nurse about Kate's nightmares, what does Maria realize about getting an abortion?
(a) That she expected she wouldn't go through with it.
(b) That she expected she would get pregnant again.
(c) That she expected to die.
(d) That she expected it wouldn't be her last.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Maria, why did Carter stop seeing Sidney and Ruth Loomis?

2. How does BZ respond when Maria asks him if he ever gets tired of doing favors for people?

3. Why does BZ tell Maria that they had to shut down the set in the desert?

4. What does the receptionist at Freddy Chaikin's office tell Maria when she arrives without calling?

5. What does Maria say to the baby after Carter warns her about the baby getting chilled?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Carter tell Maria tell Kate that it is not good for her to visit Kate unannounced and what does it reveal about Kate's treatment?

2. What does Maria do when she arrives in Baker, the location where Carter is shooting, and what does it represent?

3. What does Maria's unannounced visit to her agent, Freddy Chaikin, reveal about her profession as an actress and the business of movie-making?

4. What kind of man was Maria's father and what impact did it have on Maria?

5. What does Maria do the first month after she and Carter break up and what does it signify?

6. What time does Maria want to be on the freeway and why is it significant?

7. In the period before Maria has her abortion, what rituals does she perform in order to induce menstruation and why does she do them?

8. How does Maria's mother die and why is it significant?

9. When Maria tells Carter that she is pregnant and that he may not be the father, how does he respond and why is it significant?

10. When Maria asks if Carter and she are separated when he returns home, how does he respond and why is it significant?

(see the answer keys)

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