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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Nabokov investigate about his family?
(a) Their relationship to the tsar.
(b) Their religion.
(c) The family's coat of arms.
(d) Their country of origin.

2. To whom is Chapter Five devoted?
(a) Nabokov's father.
(b) Nabokov's mother.
(c) Nabokov's wife.
(d) Nabokov's governess.

3. What is the common name for Boletusoften?
(a) Tube mushrooms.
(b) Blue grass.
(c) Tropical hibiscus.
(d) Red geraniums.

4. How does Nabokov open his autobiography?
(a) With a short review of Russian history.
(b) With an examination of his early childhood.
(c) With a short story about the birth of his son.
(d) With a short meditation on the periods of inexistence before birth and after death.

5. Why is he detained briefly in 1918, by a Bolshevik soldier?
(a) He is trying to escape the country.
(b) He has run away from the Red Army.
(c) He is evading the draft.
(d) He is accused him of signaling British warships with his net.

6. What do the first-class carriages feature?
(a) Live music, leather seats, and large mirrors.
(b) Leather-covered walls, leather seats, and wide windows.
(c) Servants at every entrance, caviar, and live music.
(d) Leather-covered walls, large mirrors, and wide windows.

7. To what simple rule does Nabokov's mother ascribe?
(a) Be honest and things will go your way.
(b) Love with all your soul and leave the rest to fate.
(c) Follow the Golden Rule.
(d) Love your neighbors as yourself.

8. What is seen as a dreaded event?
(a) Writing.
(b) Sleep.
(c) Eating.
(d) Speaking in public.

9. How does Mademoiselle provide Vladimir with an extra hour or two out of the darkness?
(a) She leaves a candle lit by his bed.
(b) She allows him to fall asleep in her room.
(c) The light from her lamp gives a little light to his room.
(d) He sits with him while he falls asleep.

10. Why does Young Vladimir favor the new methods of studying butterflies?
(a) They are more efficient.
(b) They are more exciting.
(c) He enjoys delving into the minutiae of the subject.
(d) They are easier to use.

11. To what is Nabokov's mother quite sensitive?
(a) Insect bites.
(b) Insults.
(c) Perfume.
(d) Seemingly small events.

12. After his retirement, from what does Dimitri Nabokov begin to suffer?
(a) Dementia.
(b) Arthritis.
(c) Emphysema.
(d) Heart disease.

13. How long does the family stay in Paris?
(a) Six months.
(b) One week.
(c) One night.
(d) One month.

14. What is young Vladimir's main concern?
(a) Whether or not he can play with his friends down the road.
(b) Whether or not he can play in the forest.
(c) Whether or not he will be able to go horseback riding.
(d) Whether or not he will be able to go hunting for new and rare butterflies.

15. Each day, when he awakes, how can young Vladimir tell what kind of day it is?
(a) By asking his mother to check the weather.
(b) By looking out of the window.
(c) By the character of the light that slips through the shutters.
(d) By having the servants open the curtains.

Short Answer Questions

1. To whom does Nabokov feel the strongest bond of kinship?

2. When do they arrive in Paris?

3. How does the Nabokov family frequently travel from St. Petersburg to Paris?

4. Mademoiselle threatens several times to leave. Why does she end up staying?

5. With what is the aristocratic Nabokov house stocked?

(see the answer keys)

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