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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the first soldier Makina meets doing when she asks for her brother?
(a) Filing his nails.
(b) Talking on the phone.
(c) Reviewing a report.
(d) Reading.

2. What does Makina’s brother say happened after he went to the land?
(a) He got a job and found a house to live in.
(b) He tried to get home but got sick.
(c) He tried to kill himself but only half-heartedly.
(d) He bounced around from ass-kicking to ass-kicking.

3. How does the old woman describe Makina’s brother?
(a) Blithe.
(b) Restless.
(c) Content.
(d) Sad.

4. Which direction does Makina have to go, to get to the first suggested place?
(a) North.
(b) South.
(c) East.
(d) West.

5. Why is Makina surprised by the man who opens the door at the address the woman from the restaurant gave her?
(a) He does not speak English.
(b) He is not her brother.
(c) He is a dark-skinned black man.
(d) He speaks her language.

6. Where does Makina hear a voice she recognizes?
(a) In a restaurant.
(b) In the abyss.
(c) In the marketplace.
(d) On the bus.

7. What does Makina’s brother’s third note say?
(a) "Send money, I’m broke."
(b) "I have a job, now."
(c) "Stop asking if I’m okay."
(d) "I’m going to send money soon."

8. What does Makina say people are doing when they combine languages?
(a) Returning to their roots.
(b) Re-domesticating human experience.
(c) Marrying cultures.
(d) Making the world happen anew.

9. Which statue does Makina need to look for next?
(a) A man in a frock coat.
(b) A bear dancing.
(c) An old man thinking.
(d) A general on a horse.

10. What would Makina’s brother keep at the end of the deployment?
(a) The person’s identity.
(b) The family’s house.
(c) The person’s books.
(d) His military gear.

11. Who does Makina think when her acquaintance recognizes her?
(a) That she is very hungry.
(b) That she must be filthy.
(c) That she must look terrible.
(d) That she must still inspire fear.

12. Whose place does Makina’s brother take in the army?
(a) An intellectually-challenged teen.
(b) A dreamy man.
(c) A bad-tempered teen.
(d) An Anglo man.

13. What language is the Latin tongue, in Makina’s view?
(a) Incan.
(b) Spanish.
(c) English.
(d) Mayan.

14. How many times does Makina think she has arrived, only to find out that she has to keep going?
(a) Eight.
(b) Six.
(c) Two.
(d) Four.

15. How does Makina characterize the places she arrives at, and keeps going to?
(a) Plastic crowds.
(b) Teeming cities.
(c) Bleak tundras.
(d) Empty pits.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the family do when Makina’s brother returns?

2. What does the man at the land her brother had gone to tell Makina was there from the beginning?

3. At what time of day does Makina arrive at the address she is looking for?

4. What does the woman tell Makina about her brother’s condition when he showed up?

5. What is the advantage of a polyglot language, in Makina’s eyes?

(see the answer keys)

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