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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. Why, when Nabokov is a child, is he terrified of the dark?
(a) He is afraid his home will catch on fire.
(b) He thinks burglars will come into his room.
(c) He seems to lose himself in the pitch black.
(d) He is afraid of monsters under his bed.

2. How do the aristocrats confront the ocean waves?
(a) With the help of professional bathers.
(b) By diving in.
(c) By swimming in groups.
(d) On a boat.

3. To whom does Nabokov feel the strongest bond of kinship?
(a) His mother's maternal grandfather, Nikolay Illarionovich Kozlov.
(b) His father's maternal grandfather, Nikolay Illarionovich Kozlov.
(c) His mother's paternal grandfather, Nikolay Illarionovich Kozlov.
(d) His father's paternal grandfather, Nikolay Illarionovich Kozlov.

4. 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) Not very many butterflies, because most Russian varieties are extinct.
(b) He cannot find nearly as many butterflies as he thought he would.
(c) He is constantly finding new species.
(d) He cannot remember the outdoors without them.

5. Why is Nabokov disappointed to hear that one of his tutors marries a peasant girl?
(a) He thinks he should have married someone in a higher social class.
(b) He thinks he should have married his aunt.
(c) He thinks he should have married one of his sisters.
(d) He thinks of his tutors as people devoted to their art or profession.

Short Answer Questions

1. At the time the family moves, where are Nabokov and his brother?

2. What properties do the Nabokovs own until the Russian revolution?

3. What is one of his other memories?

4. What does the butterfly net in particular always invite?

5. When do they arrive in Paris?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why might be the reason for the Nabokov's leaving Europe?

2. What is known about the chapters prior to the writing of this book?

3. What is happening in the science of butterflies?

4. What memory leads to an important memory about his father?

5. He also had several art instructors. Who are they and what does he learn from them?

6. What does Nabokov experience in Crimea?

7. What is cause is Vladimir's passion?

8. Why is Nabokov angry with the Bolsheviks? What is the cause of this anger?

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

10. Describe Nabokov's mother.

(see the answer keys)

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