View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where did Pnin meet his wife Liza?
(a) France.
(b) Russia.
(c) America.
(d) Paris.

2. What city did Pnin end up in 1919?
(a) London.
(b) Constantinople.
(c) Athens.
(d) Paris.

3. Why can't Pnin get his bag back from the man in Chapter 1?
(a) The man wants to keep the bag for himself.
(b) The man does not understand Pnin's imperfect English.
(c) The man has dementia.
(d) The man does not like foreign people.

4. What is the name of the librarian at Pnin's college?
(a) Mrs. Wind.
(b) Mrs. Thayer.
(c) Mrs. Bliss.
(d) Mrs. Clements.

5. How would Pnin's English be described?
(a) Perfectly fluent.
(b) Greatly improved.
(c) Okay.
(d) Very poor.

6. As a teacher, how would Pnin be described?
(a) Nervous.
(b) Confident.
(c) Humble.
(d) Pompous.

7. What is the name of the woman who introduces Pnin at the seminar?
(a) Janelle Cummings.
(b) Jane Corrinth.
(c) Judith Clyde.
(d) Janis Clements.

8. At the end of chapter 1, what poem does Pnin recall reciting in front of the entire school when he was a child?
(a) Mayakovsky's poems.
(b) Brodsky's poems.
(c) Pushkin's poems.
(d) Pasternak's poems.

9. Like many people from his home country, with what does Pnin have a fascination?
(a) Complicated mathematic problems.
(b) Complicated maps, tables, and schedules that are used to navigate train systems.
(c) American customs.
(d) Different languages.

10. In Chapter 3, up until this point in his life, what has Pnin always been?
(a) A procrastinator.
(b) A failure.
(c) A constant worrier.
(d) A constant mover.

11. Where is Pnin's office located at the college?
(a) The English building.
(b) The Humanities building.
(c) The History building.
(d) The Science building.

12. Where were Pnin and his wife Liza staying when she met Dr. Wind, the man she ends up leaving Pnin for?
(a) Tuva, Russia.
(b) Austin, Texas.
(c) Meudon, a suburb of Paris.
(d) Marseille, France.

13. After leaving the library in Chapter 3, what does Pnin decide to do for the night?
(a) Go to a music and movie night that some acquaintances of his are having.
(b) Go straight to bed.
(c) Read a book in his room.
(d) Watch some TV.

14. In what year did Pnin leave his home country?
(a) 1916.
(b) 1917.
(c) 1915.
(d) 1912.

15. What does Pnin ask the librarian in Chapter 3?
(a) If she can tell him who requested the book.
(b) If he can request a new book.
(c) If they have any more books on the same subject.
(d) If he can hang on to the book a while longer.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was Liza's profession when she met Pnin?

2. What does the professor, who Pnin decides to track down in Chapter 3, teach at the college?

3. In Chapter 3, how does Pnin feel about having to bring the book back to the library?

4. Before leaving the library in Chapter 3, what word does Pnin look up in the dictionary for its proper pronunciation?

5. Why is Pnin traveling at the book opens?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 469 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample