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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 4.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What properties do the Nabokovs own until the Russian revolution?
(a) Several summer cottages on the Baltic Sea.
(b) Several large estates south of St. Petersburg.
(c) A large estate in Moscow.
(d) A large estate in St. Petersburg.

2. Of what descent is Nabokov's mother?
(a) Aristocratic Swedish descent.
(b) Aristocratic English descent.
(c) Aristocratic Norwegian descent.
(d) Aristocratic German descent.

3. Why is the family forced to leave Russia?
(a) Their religion is being persecuted.
(b) Their visas have expired.
(c) The revolution has ended.
(d) The father is in trouble with the police.

4. How does Mr. Cummings influence Nabokov's scientific drawings of butterflies?
(a) He is Nabokov's drawing instructor.
(b) He is Nabokov's butterfly instructor.
(c) He is Nabokov's science instructor.
(d) He is Nabokov's botanist.

5. Who are some of the ancestors on Nabokov's paternal, Russian side?
(a) A lawyer, scientist, and Dmitri Nabokov, a well-known actor.
(b) A government leader, an opera singer, and Dmitri Nabokov, the surgeon.
(c) An explorer, the sister of a prominent Decembrist, and Dmitri Nabokov, the author's grandfather, who served as Minister of Justice for eight years.
(d) A prominent Caholic cardinal, a physician, and Dmitri Nabokov, an inventor.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Nabokov call the process of using both the English and Russian translations of "Speak, Memory" to shape the current work?

2. Why does Vasiliy insist upon lying supine on the floor?

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. What is a battle against the yawning darkness?

5. What does Nabokov learn to read and write before Russian or French?

(see the answer key)

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