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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How many years does Mademoiselle spend with the family?
(a) Five.
(b) Two
(c) Seventeen.
(d) Seven.

2. In any of the memories he has from before his obsession began, Nabokov cannot recall the presence of butterflies. What can he recall afterward?
(a) He cannot find nearly as many butterflies as he thought he would.
(b) He is constantly finding new species.
(c) Not very many butterflies, because most Russian varieties are extinct.
(d) He cannot remember the outdoors without them.

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

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

5. What has Nabokov always had difficulty doing?
(a) Eating.
(b) Sleeping.
(c) Speaking in public.
(d) Writing.

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

7. Who are Miss Norcott and Miss Hunt?
(a) Two of Vladimir's governesses.
(b) Two of Vladimir's tutors.
(c) Two of Vladimir's girlfriends.
(d) Two of Vladimir's aunts.

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

9. What is their mother's reaction when she sees that her children have opened the presents from their stockings early and poorly rewrapped them?
(a) She spots their deception and bursts into tears.
(b) She pretends to not see their poor rewrapping.
(c) She scolds them for trying to deceive her.
(d) She laughs at their attempt at deception.

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

11. How does the Nabokov family frequently travel from St. Petersburg to Paris?
(a) In a sleigh.
(b) In the elegant brown Nord-Express train
(c) By stagecoach.
(d) By horse and carriage.

12. Where does Nabokov's family live until his father's death in 1922?
(a) In Berlin.
(b) In Brussels.
(c) In Hamburg.
(d) In Paris.

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

14. This chapter is the first recorded work, published in French in 1936, under the name "Mademoiselle O."
(a) Chapter Four.
(b) Chapter Seven.
(c) Chapter Two.
(d) Chapter Five.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who occupies one of the estates near St. Petersburg when not abroad?

2. What is Nabokov's favorite medium?

3. How does Mr. Cummings influence Nabokov's scientific drawings of butterflies?

4. Who is referred to simply as "Mademoiselle?"

5. Why is Nabokov disappointed to hear that one of his tutors marries a peasant girl?

(see the answer keys)

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