View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What does Makina’s brother say when Makina asks about the land?
(a) He tells her a long and complicated lie about how he lost it.
(b) He asks if she has gone to see it, as if to say: you know it is worthless.
(c) He says that when he got there, the construction was just starting.
(d) He tells her that he never got there, because he was robbed on the way.

3. What does Makina do when she realizes she has made a mistake in recognizing her brother?
(a) Falls over.
(b) Collects herself without anyone noticing
(c) Steadies herself against the desk.
(d) Covers her error with laughter.

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

5. Which of the four places with the same name does Makina want?
(a) The one with the canal.
(b) The one with the park.
(c) The one with the bridge.
(d) The one with the tower.

6. What did the person whose place Makina’s brother is taking ask him?
(a) Whether he was scared.
(b) How much money he needed.
(c) What his hometown was like.
(d) Why he would agree to such a thing.

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

8. What did Makina’s brother expect to get in return for taking this person’s place in the army?
(a) A new car.
(b) A large sum of money.
(c) A plot of land.
(d) American citizenship.

9. At what time of day does Makina arrive at the address she is looking for?
(a) Dusk.
(b) Midnight.
(c) Dawn.
(d) Afternoon.

10. 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.

11. After the boy takes Makina inside the restaurant, he introduces her to a woman. Who does the woman remind Makina of?
(a) Her grandmother.
(b) Her brother.
(c) The boy on the bus.
(d) Cora.

12. How does Makina’s brother answer when she asks if he got hurt?
(a) He says that he was wounded once and recovered.
(b) He says that he was wounded badly and has never healed.
(c) He says that he did not get a scratch.
(d) He says that he was only ever grazed lightly by shrapnel or bullets.

13. Why had this person joined the army?
(a) On a dare.
(b) In a display of masculinity.
(c) In a drunken fit.
(d) On an unexplained impulse.

14. What did Makina’s brother eat until he recovered after discovering there was nothing at the land he had gone to see?
(a) Refuse.
(b) Bread.
(c) Soup.
(d) Avocados.

15. How does the narrator describe Makina and her brother’s feelings when they walk out of the office?
(a) Relief.
(b) Joy.
(c) Disbelief.
(d) Disappointment.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Makina’s brother indicate that he wants to leave to talk to her?

2. What would Makina’s brother keep at the end of the deployment?

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

4. What does Makina’s brother say made him confident about taking this job?

5. What does the light look like in the sky when Makina arrives at the address?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 658 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample