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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 3.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. After his father's death, to where does Nabokov's widowed mother move?
(a) Berlin.
(b) Prague.
(c) London.
(d) Paris.

2. What does Nabokov call the process of using both the English and Russian translations of "Speak, Memory" to shape the current work?
(a) Re-Englishing.
(b) Rewriting.
(c) Redoing.
(d) Reediting.

3. What game does the whole family often play on the estate?
(a) Badmitton.
(b) Lawn tennis.
(c) Lawn bowling.
(d) Rounders.

4. Why does Vasiliy insist upon lying supine on the floor?
(a) He claims it stretches out his spine.
(b) He claims it relieves his chest pains.
(c) He claims it helps him breathe better.
(d) He claims it improves his posture.

5. To what does Nabokov compare existence?
(a) The seconds on a clock.
(b) A cradle rocking on the edge of an abyss.
(c) A rollercoaster ride.
(d) The sands in an hourglass.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who are some of the ancestors on Nabokov's paternal, Russian side?

2. To what is Nabokov's mother quite sensitive?

3. What is their mother's reaction when she sees that her children have opened the presents from their stockings early and poorly rewrapped them?

4. How does Nabokov open his autobiography?

5. Where does Nabokov's family live until his father's death in 1922?

(see the answer key)

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