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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. Why did the family servant, Fatma, begin wailing and praying while she prepared the family's supper?
(a) She was worried that Kareem was going to fire her the next day.
(b) Her family in Cairo was starving and she was powerless to help them.
(c) Her granddaughter was to be circumcised that night.
(d) She knew Sultana's secret and it was tearing her up inside.

2. Where did Jafer and Fayza finally meet in person to start their affair?
(a) In a public market.
(b) At a mosque.
(c) In a private conference room at Kareem's law firm.
(d) At Abdullah's house.

3. What circumstances led up to Reema's situation?
(a) Her husband grew increasingly violent and raped her one night after watching pornography.
(b) She had planned for years to leave her husband if he ever hit her, which he did one night after getting drunk and gambling.
(c) She had received threatening notes and phone calls for several weeks leading up to the attack.
(d) She fell in love with her driver, who was kind to her, unlike her abusive husband.

4. How did Sultana react to Fatma's explanation of why she was so upset?
(a) She was sympathetic and wanted to help those who were poor and starving.
(b) She bribed Fatma with the promise of money if she would keep quiet.
(c) She threatened to fire Fatma.
(d) She explained that she was against female circumcision and thought it barbaric.

5. As Sultana's brother, Ali, drove the sisters to visit Reema, what opinion did Ali share?
(a) That Reema was too weak to leave her husband and deserved what she got.
(b) That Reema was smart to leave her husband before she got hurt.
(c) That Reema was partly responsible for what had happened to her.
(d) That Reema should be punished for what she did.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why was the family's time in Jeddah less enjoyable because of Amani?

2. When Sultana and Fatma returned home, how did Sultana feel on the drive back?

3. Who was Reema?

4. When Amani began to invite friends and extended family over for meetings, what was the purpose?

5. What news did Fatma bring Sultana the day after Sultana helped her with a problem?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain what obstacle Ali faced after divorcing his wife, Nada, for the third time.

2. In the weeks after the holy pilgrimage, Sultana began to see great changes in Amani's actions and personality. Describe some of Amani's actions and personality changes that frightened Sultana and made her fear that Amani might one day join an extremist terrorist cult.

3. Explain what Sultana found was missing from the family's safe after Kareem had suspicions about Abdullah's interest in helping his friend Jafer.

4. Due to the stress of what was happening with her children in the beginning of Chapter 9, Sultana developed what some call a "nervous twitch." Explain how Sultana's stress manifested itself into this "nervous twitch" and what type it was.

5. Amani learned of a horrible family secret involving Ali's son, Majed. Explain what happened to the woman in the hospital and how Majed was involved.

6. In the Epilogue, the sisters all gathered to remember their mother and to catch up on each other's lives. What did they learn had become of both Ali's wife, Nada, and their sister, Reema?

7. Describe Saleem's attack on Reema and the outcome for Reema.

8. In the opening scene of Chapter 8, Sultana broke up an argument between her children over a newspaper. Explain why the newspaper was such a hot topic for the siblings.

9. When Sultana and her family arrived in Monaco to share a rented mansion villa with Sultana's sisters, why were the sisters in a state of anxiety and great sadness?

10. One night in Cairo, Sultana's housekeeper began wailing while she cooked the family's supper. Why was Fatma upset?

(see the answer keys)

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