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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why is Negar upset?
(a) She is being taken to jail for insubordination.
(b) She is not allowed to console a friend who had been poorly treated at school.
(c) She is not allowed to join Nafisi's literature discussions.
(d) Her friendship bracelet has been taken away at school.

2. What becomes part of the "landscape" of Nafisi's class?
(a) The mountains in the mirror.
(b) Nafisi's life and family.
(c) The presence of the magician.
(d) The oppression of the Iranian regime.

3. Where does Nafisi write her class notes?
(a) Lined paper tablets.
(b) Pocket calendars.
(c) Small scraps of paper.
(d) Big diaries.

4. How did Nafisi learn of her father's arrest?
(a) She was pulled out of her sophomore class in Switzerland.
(b) Her father told her many years later.
(c) The government came to her house.
(d) She heard her mother telling her sister.

5. How do the Iranian authorities view the country's past?
(a) Iran's past is used as a foundation for the development of a more modern society.
(b) The Iranian leaders see the country's past as an example for other societies.
(c) Iran's past is considered important in the development of a perfect Koranic society.
(d) The past is irrelevant to the leaders who want to establish a perfect Koranic society.

6. Why does Nafisi's acquaintance refuse to meet with her students?
(a) He does not like female students.
(b) He does not want to get Nafisi in trouble with the authorities.
(c) He is unhappy with Nafisi teaching literature to these girls.
(d) He is trying to minimize contact with people.

7. Why do Ministry of Education officials ask the faculty at Nafisi's school if they thought they were in Switzerland?
(a) Because the officials believe the University of Tehran is too conservative and should be more like schools in Switzerland.
(b) Because Switzerland is the model for the type of government the Ministry of Education is trying to establish.
(c) Because Switzerland has schools with conservative values just like the conservative values of the University of Tehran.
(d) Because the University of Tehran is the most liberal campus in Iran, and Switzerland is the byword for Western lax and decadent behavior.

8. Why does the male student have to meet with Nafisi separately?
(a) The female students do not like having a male student in their class.
(b) A group with men and women would arouse suspicion from the Islamist authorities.
(c) Nafisi believes that male and female students learn differently.
(d) His schedule does not permit him to meet with the female students.

9. What causes Manna and Nima to fall in love?
(a) They are in the same literature study group.
(b) They share a common passion for literature.
(c) They share a passion for the revolutionary cause.
(d) They see parallels between their lives and the lives of Humbert and Lolita.

10. In Chapter 15, how does the study group define a villain?
(a) One who molests a child.
(b) One who knowingly challenges the religious culture of the ruling party.
(c) One who lacks curiosity about other people, being only interested in his/her vision of other people.
(d) One who bows to authority figures.

11. Chapter 15 presents a clear parallel between the character of Humbert and which group of people?
(a) The men who the students are related to.
(b) The parents of the students in Nafisi's class.
(c) The mullahs of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
(d) The students in Nafisi's class.

12. In Chapter 20, Nafisi tells a story about what event that happened to Manna and Nima?
(a) They were expelled from the university.
(b) They were kicked out of the study group.
(c) They began to become more orthodox.
(d) They realized that literature is not as important as survival.

13. How do the students get enough copies of "Lolita" to study?
(a) They find one copy and pass it around until everyone has read it.
(b) They find one copy and photocopy it.
(c) They order copies through a local bookstore.
(d) They go to all of the second-hand bookstores until they find enough copies.

14. How does Nafisi's male acquaintance think he can tell a person's character?
(a) By holding something they have worn.
(b) By looking at their photo.
(c) By listening to them speak.
(d) By watching them walk.

15. In "Lolita," how does Humbert attempt to gain the reader's sympathy?
(a) By blaming himself for all of Lolita's problems.
(b) By always talking in the first person.
(c) By making Lolita seem highly desirable.
(d) By making Lolita seem undesirable.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happens to the everyday lives of Nafisi and her students as a result of the secret class?

2. Why do the intruders want access to Nafisi's house?

3. Why is it so difficult to find a copy of "Lolita" in Tehran?

4. Why does Nafisi's apartment lack matching furniture and fancy window dressings?

5. How does Nafisi structure the first class sessions?

(see the answer keys)

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