View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why is Pnin traveling at the book opens?
(a) To perform in a play.
(b) To deliver a lecture.
(c) To take a test.
(d) To audit a class.

2. How would Pnin be described when he is drunk?
(a) Humorous.
(b) Anxious.
(c) Sad.
(d) Mean.

3. How does Mrs. Clements seem to feel about what Pnin puts in her washing machine?
(a) Very annoyed.
(b) Stressed.
(c) Amused.
(d) Angry.

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

5. What is Laurence Clements, a fellow professor of Pnin's, most popular course at college?
(a) Studying body language.
(b) Analyzing gestures.
(c) Studying facial expressions.
(d) Analyzing handwriting.

6. What is the title of the book that Pnin is asked to bring back to the library in Chapter 3?
(a) The Soviet Gold Fund of Literature, Volume 18.
(b) The Russian Revolution, Volume 2.
(c) The Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 18.
(d) The Switzerland Gold Rush, Volume 16.

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

8. While on his way to the town in Chapter 1, what is Pnin horrified about the possibility of losing?
(a) His suitcase.
(b) His satchel.
(c) His book bag.
(d) His brief case.

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

10. What does Pnin lose while he looks up the proper pronunciation of a word in the dictionary?
(a) His wallet.
(b) One of his student's research papers.
(c) His index card with his research on it.
(d) His bookmark.

11. IIn Chapter 3, where have the Clementses gone to visit someone?
(a) Nevada.
(b) New York.
(c) Alabama.
(d) An anonymous "Western state."

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

13. What abstract field does Pnin have no interest of getting into teaching?
(a) History.
(b) Phonetics.
(c) Linguistics.
(d) Mathematics.

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

15. What brings Pnin to tears at the end of Chapter 3?
(a) A documentary about life in Russia.
(b) A letter from Liza.
(c) A paper that one of his students wrote.
(d) A documentary about life in Germany.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why was Pnin made to sit in his bed for weeks with nothing to do when he was a child?

2. Why can't Pnin get his bag back from the man in Chapter 1?

3. What does Pnin begin reading in his favorite spot after he talks to the librarian?

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

5. What is the name of the college where Pnin is a professor?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 547 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample