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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is one secret revealed about the deceased?
(a) He loved to travel to America.
(b) He had serious financial problems.
(c) He had two other wives secretly.
(d) He never believed in the Koran.

2. How is Aunty Nabou received when she arrives at her destination?
(a) With cold obligatory rituals.
(b) Like a princess.
(c) She is asked to return home immediately.
(d) With hesitation.

3. Why does Modou gain many promotions in his job?
(a) He does not accept a salary for his work.
(b) His father-in-law is in charge where he works.
(c) His charisma and devotion to the workers' plight.
(d) He bribes those in authority above him.

4. What is Daouda Dieng's occupation?
(a) Physician.
(b) Professor.
(c) Lawyer.
(d) Herdsman.

5. To what does the narrator compare teachers?
(a) Slaves from the Roman times.
(b) Socrates and Aristotole.
(c) An army of priests-in charge of people's souls.
(d) Evangelical ministers.

6. How did the men of Senegal treat an educated woman?
(a) With deference.
(b) They would not marry any woman who went to school past sixth grade.
(c) The men would often insult educated women but desired them also.
(d) In awe that they could achieve such a difficult goal.

7. Who did Modou support politically?
(a) The political party who opposed the dominant one.
(b) He wanted to stay part of the British empire.
(c) His own small group.
(d) The dominant party.

8. To where does Aunty Nabou travel?
(a) Diakhao.
(b) Kenya.
(c) Englands.
(d) South Africa.

9. What gives the narrator the ability to buck her family and marry who she wishes?
(a) She is pregnant.
(b) Her great-Aunt who did the same.
(c) Because her future husband is blackmailing her.
(d) What she learns in school.

10. What is remarkable about the narrator?
(a) She was the only female pilot in Senegal.
(b) She gave birth to a set of sextuplets all of whom survived.
(c) She won an Olympic gold medal in track.
(d) She had been one of the first educated women in Senegal.

11. What does the narrator wonder about those who come to acknowledge the deceased person?
(a) Whose grief is genuine.
(b) How much each person will donate.
(c) If any were an enemy of the deceased.
(d) If she might find a man to marry among them.

12. How might one describe the culture of the Senegal people?
(a) They don't really have a distinct culture separate from other African countries.
(b) Rigid.
(c) Adaptable.
(d) Complex and difficult to understand.

13. What does the narrator find when she rushes to the hospital?
(a) Her brother-in-law with a broken leg.
(b) Her new granddaughter in an incubator.
(c) Her dead husband covered in a white sheet.
(d) Her husband in the ICU unit talking to a nurse.

14. Who is Aissatou?
(a) The narrator's best friend.
(b) The narrator's first college professor.
(c) The narrator's sister.
(d) The narrator's sister-in-law.

15. What does Mawdo, Aissatou's husband, admire about his father-in-law?
(a) His prize cow.
(b) His willingness to cry at his daughter's wedding.
(c) His ability to work though he is handicapped.
(d) His dexterity and artistry.

Short Answer Questions

1. When did the narrator and her husband's romance blossom?

2. What is the goal of the narrator's education?

3. What had the deceased bought to please his second wife?

4. In Modou's letters to the narrator while getting his degree, for what did he say he longed?

5. What profession does Aunty Nabou insist her niece take up?

(see the answer keys)

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