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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. For whom is young Vladimir mistaken?
(a) A German boy.
(b) An English boy.
(c) A Swedish boy.
(d) An American boy.

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

3. What is the first memory Nabokov drags from the darkness?
(a) Going on a picnic with his mother and father.
(b) Playing in the yard on the estate.
(c) Holding hands with his mother and father, as the three of them walk along a garden path in 1903,
(d) Being fed by his nanny.

4. The rest of the chapters are published separately, mainly by whom?
(a) The Chicago Tribune.
(b) The New York Times.
(c) The New Yorker.
(d) The St. Petersburg Publishing House.

5. Where do the children bathe?
(a) French bathing tubs.
(b) The creek on the estate.
(c) Russian baths.
(d) English portable tubs.

6. How does the family spend their time in this town?
(a) Mountain climbing.
(b) On the beach.
(c) Shopping.
(d) On a boat.

7. Why does little Vladimir close his eyes at the bottom of each stairway?
(a) His nanny is coaxing him up the stairs.
(b) His father is taking him to bed.
(c) He and his brother are playing hide and seek.
(d) He and his mother are playing a game on the way to the children's sleeping rooms.

8. What does Nabokov reveal about his mind?
(a) He has a great short-term memory.
(b) He hallucinates.
(c) He has depression.
(d) He always associates sounds with colors.

9. What does the rain cause to grow on the estate?
(a) Hibiscus.
(b) Mushrooms.
(c) Geraniums.
(d) Grass.

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

11. What is happening to the science of butterflies at this time?
(a) There is a great unheaval.
(b) It has not changed for decades.
(c) They have not found any new species.
(d) The Germans have made leaps and bounds in discoveries.

12. What is a battle against the yawning darkness?
(a) Love.
(b) Religion.
(c) Prayer.
(d) Autobiography.

13. Who is referred to simply as "Mademoiselle?"
(a) His sister.
(b) His aunt.
(c) The tutor.
(d) The governess.

14. What does this hobby do to him?
(a) It isolates him throughout life.
(b) It encourages him to spend time outside.
(c) It encourages him to study.
(d) It helps him make friends.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is he detained briefly in 1918, by a Bolshevik soldier?

2. What is one of his other memories?

3. Of what descent is Nabokov's mother?

4. What does this thriving upper-class tourist industry offer?

5. To what does the memory of the bracelet lead?

(see the answer keys)

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