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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 does Lessing believe that humans know?
(a) The power of leadership.
(b) More than they did in the past.
(c) Killing is wrong.
(d) They will never change.

2. Where did Lessing grow up?
(a) Great Britain.
(b) Boston.
(c) Southern Rhodesia.
(d) Perth.

3. How long did the regime in Rhodesia last?
(a) 1 year.
(b) 90 years.
(c) 50 years.
(d) 20 years.

4. What did the farmer do to punish the bull for its kill?
(a) Sold it.
(b) Bred it.
(c) Whipped it.
(d) Killed it.

5. According to Lessing, what do Christians believe in?
(a) Violence.
(b) Hate.
(c) Redemption.
(d) Revolution.

Short Answer Questions

1. When political groups or religions have a conflict, what does Lessing believe that those involved typically stop doing?

2. According to Lessing, what do novelists have the ability to do?

3. Lessing found the tree cutting to be symbolic of ____________.

4. Lessing believed that a belief pattern of "you-are-damned, I-am-saved" in society is ________.

5. What did Lessing think about the ideals held by the political group she briefly joined?

Short Essay Questions

1. What ideas do the quotes prior to "When in the Future They Look Back on Us" demonstrate?

2. Why did Lessing believe the tendency to buy into vilification was a form of popular lunacy?

3. Why was Lessing discouraged by the application of behavioral data uncovered through the "soft sciences"?

4. Why does Lessing consider the age of Arthastra to be significant?

5. What was Lessing's opinion regarding war as a basis of our mentality?

6. What was the political climate in Lessing's country when she was growing up?

7. How did the ruling class in Rhodesia get others to go along with their beliefs?

8. What was the purpose of cutting down a tree associated with a traitor? Why did Lessing find it ridiculous?

9. Why was Lessing not surprised by the story of the attack on the British miner who was beaten by his friends?

10. When onlookers recognize that others are lying, Lessing believed they refuse to protest the lies for what purpose?

(see the answer keys)

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