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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How long does the narrator have to stay indoors after the funeral?
(a) Four months and ten days.
(b) She does not have to stay indoors.
(c) As long as it takes for her hair to grow long again.
(d) Three days.

2. Why is this test feared by Senegalese women?
(a) It determines who will marry her.
(b) It is very painful.
(c) It can sometimes result in death.
(d) It reveals what others think about her.

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

4. Who does Aissatou marry?
(a) Daouda Dieng.
(b) Moudou.
(c) Douda Raaw.
(d) Mawdo Bw.

5. Of what is Aunty Nabou proud?
(a) Her wedgewood china.
(b) Her noble origins.
(c) Her large herd of cows.
(d) Her son's profession.

6. What is a test feared by Senegalese women?
(a) A ritual to discover if a woman is a virgin.
(b) A test to learn if a woman is pregnant.
(c) The widow(s) have to be branded.
(d) Their sisters-in-law have to take down the new widows' hair.

7. Who leads the country when the republic is born?
(a) A dictator who is elected through corruption.
(b) The dominant political party.
(c) A group of 15 men.
(d) The former king, who agrees to share power.

8. What is the mirasse?
(a) A vision the widow finds on a quest in the desert.
(b) A family meeting required by the Koran where the deceased's secrets are exposed.
(c) A pilgrimage to Mecca.
(d) A payment of 10 dollars from the government for the widow.

9. When did the narrator realize that Modou was the man for her for life?
(a) When he asked her to marry him.
(b) When he held their first child in his arms.
(c) During their first dance.
(d) After he dies.

10. What do the female relatives do for the deceased?
(a) Light the funeral pyre.
(b) Wash the dead person's body.
(c) Wail while walking around the outside of the home.
(d) Cover their heads with yellow cloth for two weeks.

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

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

13. What does Modou do with his degree?
(a) He works toward the advancement of his country.
(b) He builds a hospital.
(c) He designs a model city.
(d) He goes to work for an environmental firm.

14. To whom is the narrator writing her diary?
(a) Her friend, Aissatou.
(b) Her divorced husband.
(c) Her younger sister.
(d) Her twin daughters.

15. What is the difference between the narrator's friends and fellow teachers versus her in-laws?
(a) Her friends are modern-minded; whereas the in-laws stick to tradition.
(b) Her in-laws belong to a different political party from her friends.
(c) She is able to relax with them, which she can't do with her in-laws.
(d) Her in-laws are from Kenya, not Senegal.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who suffers a heart attack?

2. What does the narrator have to put up with regularly?

3. What is the name of Modou's friend who Modou introduces to the narrator and her friends?

4. Why does Modou gain many promotions in his job?

5. What does the narrator wonder about those who come to acknowledge the deceased person?

(see the answer keys)

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