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

2. According to Lessing, people crave__________.
(a) Certainty.
(b) All of these.
(c) Predictable behavior.
(d) Dogma.

3. Where did the miner's strike referenced by Lessing take place?
(a) United States.
(b) Australia.
(c) Chile.
(d) Britain.

4. What does Lessing remember about the group of people in the party she briefly joined in Rhodesia?
(a) They were fun.
(b) They were well-read.
(c) All of these.
(d) They were normal.

5. What surprised Lessing regarding human behavior over time?
(a) How much it had changed.
(b) How little it had changed.
(c) The faith that has grown.
(d) The intelligence amassed.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Growing up, Lessing was briefly a member of what party?

3. What did Lessing reference as a method groups use to encourage others not to think?

4. What was Rhodesia ruled by?

5. What position did Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. hold?

Short Essay Questions

1. In the anecdote about killing the bull, what did Lessing suggest that the farmer's revenge actions on the bull demonstrated?

2. What did Lessing mean when she said that groups will often "vilify their opposition"?

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

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

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

6. Why did Lessing join a communist group in Rhodesia?

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

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

9. What is Lessing's prediction concerning what every viewpoint will become with time?

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

(see the answer keys)

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