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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who did Ryan say he voted for in the 2008 Presidential Election?
(a) John McCain.
(b) Jeb Bush.
(c) Barack Obama.
(d) Hillary Clinton.

2. Which of the following songs does Ryan sing for his audition for the Virginia Governor's School for the Arts?
(a) Don Giovanni.
(b) My Country Tis of Thee.
(c) Ol' Man River.
(d) The Star-Spangled Banner.

3. Why does Ryan stop seeing the red-headed girl he meets in the beginning of Chapter 11?
(a) She moves away for college.
(b) Her grandparents forbid her to see Ryan because Ryan is black.
(c) She cheats on him.
(d) He can not afford the gas to go back and forth to her house.

4. Which opera does Ryan see on his first visit to the Met as a high school student?
(a) Madame Butterfly.
(b) Macbeth.
(c) Carmen.
(d) Don Giovanni.

5. What does Mark Oswald think is one of Ryan's problems when he sings?
(a) Ryan can not stay on pitch.
(b) Ryan gets a look of helplessness and fear when he hears a note coming out wrong.
(c) Ryan sings much too softly sometimes.
(d) Ryan needs to be more physically animated when he sings.

6. What famous legend did the story in Wanger's Parsifal draw on?
(a) Oedipus.
(b) Odysseus.
(c) King Arthur.
(d) Beowulf.

7. Who is Ryan's aunt who is surprised when he expresses interest in opera?
(a) Michelle.
(b) Esther.
(c) Yvette.
(d) Deanna.

8. What famous song is Ryan often asked to sing that he hates singing?
(a) Ol' Man River.
(b) Someday.
(c) God Bless America.
(d) Love is a Wondrous Thing.

9. Why does Ryan initially start taking chorus class in high school?
(a) Ryan always loved singing, so it was a natural choice.
(b) His mother makes him take it.
(c) His football coach suggests it as an easy credit.
(d) Mrs. Hughes suggests it.

10. Who is the accompanist Ryan meets in Chapter 12 who was once a child prodigy on the piano?
(a) James Levine.
(b) Ken Noda.
(c) James Robeson.
(d) Richard Wright.

11. What does Ryan's new Italian coach keep in his pocket?
(a) A drawing of the surfaces of the bones in the head.
(b) A note from his mother.
(c) A precious ring.
(d) A picture of his daughter.

12. Which television show does Ryan find solace and meaning in after he is released from the DeJarnette Center?
(a) Family Ties.
(b) Seinfeld.
(c) ER.
(d) The Wire.

13. What is the unique word Ryan's voice teacher uses to help him during his training?
(a) Place-inating.
(b) Spacement.
(c) Poisement.
(d) Place-resonating.

14. Who comforts Ryan when he gets the news at the Met that his father has died?
(a) Carrie-Ann Matheson.
(b) Mark Oswald.
(c) James Levine.
(d) Gayletha Nichols.

15. Who invited Marian Anderson to sing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 after she was barred from singing at Constitution Hall?
(a) Eleanor Roosevelt.
(b) Nellie Bly.
(c) Camille LaBarre.
(d) Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which major newspaper wrote a positive review of Ryan's singing in Chapter 15?

2. What does Ryan's friend's father remember Ryan leaving all around the house when he visited?

3. What does Greg, Ryan's half-brother, tell him about Cecil?

4. Where does Ryan get accepted to and attend college?

5. Where does Ryan travel for his father's funeral?

(see the answer keys)

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