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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. What does Anisim say that astonishes Varvara, his mother?
(a) That he does not believe in God.
(b) That she will go to hell.
(c) That he does not want to marry.
(d) That he is in love with Aksinya.

2. Whom does Grigory Petrovich generally have a softness for?
(a) Varvara.
(b) His eldest son and daughter-in-law Aksinya.
(c) His deaf son.
(d) His late wife.

3. In "On Official Business", where is the scene of death?
(a) The clerk's office.
(b) The Zemstvo's barn.
(c) The Zemstvo cottage.
(d) The village hall.

4. Why does Vasilisa have trouble writing a letter to her daughter?
(a) There is too much to say.
(b) Vasilisa is angry with her daughter but does not want to show it.
(c) She is only doing it for her husband.
(d) Vasilisa has no news to write about.

5. What renews Olga's youth?
(a) Finding her own independent passions.
(b) Mothering Sasha.
(c) Participating in a women's club.
(d) Being Vladimir's lover again.

Short Answer Questions

1. To what does Korolev equate the factory?

2. Why does Zhenya discontinue seeing the artist?

3. What does Lyzhin do for the beadle when he sees him at von Taunitz's?

4. What arrangement do Gurov and Anna make to continue seeing each other?

5. When Olga is alone, what thoughts does she have?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is going through Anisim's head as he is getting married? What might this foreshadow in his life?

2. Compare and contrast Olga's husbands and lovers. How are their personality types alike and different? How does this affect Olga as a person?

3. Dr. Starchenko from "On Official Business" mentions old folks disliking this "nervous age." What might this "nervous age" refer to?

4. In "On Official Business", what is the difference between the coroner and the doctor in the way they view life?

5. How does Olga become committed to Sasha?

6. How does the figurative language that describes Aksinya at the wedding reception show her true character?

7. In "On Official Business", why does the coroner believe the city is the center of Russia? What does he think of the village and countryside?

8. How is Pyotr different as a person and as a bishop?

9. What does Korolev theorize is the cause of imbalance between the strong and the weak?

10. What is life like for Pyotr?

(see the answer keys)

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