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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In exile in America, when a ranger or marshal spots him traipsing into the backwoods, net in hand, what is he asked?
(a) Where his guide is.
(b) What he is doing in the woods.
(c) If he has a fishing license.
(d) What the net is for.

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

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

4. It is unusual for aristocrats in Russian to be hanged, and as a child, what does Nabokov call the trail through the woods on the estate where a previous owner had been hanged?
(a) The "Hanging Rope."
(b) The "Road to a Hanging."
(c) The "Path of the Hanged."
(d) The "walk of the Hanged One."

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. After his father's death, to where does Nabokov's widowed mother move?

3. What mystifies the two boys about Mademoiselle?

4. How many years does Mademoiselle spend with the family?

5. Soon, the string of nurses transforms into what?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who are the tutors hired to educate the Nabokov children?

2. What does Nabokov experience in Crimea?

3. What evidence is there showing that Nabokov and Tamara's relationship is not as innocent as his parents may think it is.

4. Vladimir and his brother, Sergey, go through a series of nurses and governesses. Describe some of his memories of these women.

5. What is Nabokov's favorite Captain Mayne Reid novel? Why?

6. What jobs does Nabokov's father hold throughout his career?

7. How does Nabokov meet Mademoiselle after she leaves Russia?

8. Where do they head to from Paris? What do they do when they get there?

9. What happens to the family once they leave Russia?

10. What does the Russian revolution do to most of Russia's writers and artists?

(see the answer keys)

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