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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. Of what descent is Nabokov's mother?
(a) Aristocratic Swedish descent.
(b) Aristocratic English descent.
(c) Aristocratic German descent.
(d) Aristocratic Norwegian descent.

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

3. To what does Nabokov compare existence?
(a) A cradle rocking on the edge of an abyss.
(b) The seconds on a clock.
(c) The sands in an hourglass.
(d) A rollercoaster ride.

4. What does the butterfly net in particular always invite?
(a) Intriguing discussions.
(b) Awkward comments.
(c) Exciting questions.
(d) Curious visitors.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Where do the children bathe?

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

3. What is the first memory Nabokov drags from the darkness?

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

5. From where is the family returning to Russia?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What evidence from the text shows that Nabokov is beginning to have an interest in girls?

3. How are the Nabokov's affected by their son? What do we learn about Dmitri, as he grows?

4. How does Nabokov describe the final years in Europe?

5. How is Nabokov's experience at Cambridge?

6. Describe Nabokov's encounters with his cousin, Yuri.

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

8. How does Nabokov begin this final chapter?

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

10. In 1910, the Nabokov brothers acquire teeth braces. How does their father reward them for dealing with the dental sessions?

(see the answer keys)

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