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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. As the Polish fought the Germans for control of Warsaw near the end of the war, how did a few people manage to survive?
(a) Swimming across the river.
(b) Turning themselves in as prisoners of war.
(c) Hiding with the underground resistance.
(d) Hiding in the surrounding forests.

2. Apart from his poetry, what was Delta's personality?
(a) Completely deceitful.
(b) Sly and fearful.
(c) Sly and gloomy.
(d) Optimistic and cheerful.

3. Catholic Communists gradually lose everything except what aspect?
(a) The language of religion.
(b) Their trust in the Virgin Mary.
(c) A basic belief in God.
(d) Their sense of guilt.

4. When man is faced with constant death and when life seems meaningless, how does dialectical materialism seem?
(a) Mathematical and calculating.
(b) Mysterious and full of meaning.
(c) Like a refuge.
(d) Useless and outmoded.

5. Where did the man Gamma grow up?
(a) The country.
(b) The city.
(c) A party member's home.
(d) An eighteenth-century palace.

6. During Gamma's youth, Poland gradually separated along what lines?
(a) Pro-Semitic and anti-Semitic.
(b) The traditional right and Soviet left.
(c) The capitalists and communists.
(d) The nationalistic right and socialist left.

7. In communist thought, where is there no division?
(a) Between what man does and what he thinks.
(b) Between man and society.
(c) Between man and woman.
(d) Between worker and peasant.

8. Why do Party dialecticians change the Method when necessary?
(a) Reality proves the Method to be unworkable.
(b) They want to stay one step ahead of the reactionaries.
(c) History has destroyed all other formulae which claim to be unerring.
(d) They are forced to modernize.

9. In Chapter 8, how does the party treat whatever is not expressed?
(a) It is most dangerous.
(b) It is not important.
(c) It does not exist.
(d) It is not dangerous.

10. While living in exile, how did Delta feel?
(a) A drunkard.
(b) Lonely and forgotten.
(c) Popular and well-liked.
(d) A poor writer.

11. After two years, Delta returned again to favor, and how did his future look?
(a) He could not be assured that it will last.
(b) He was returned only for the translation of a Shakespeare poem.
(c) He was given a ten-year contract.
(d) He could be assured that it will last.

12. In the context of Chapter 8, peasants are divided into three categories so that what happens?
(a) The Center can better govern them.
(b) Mutual hatred grows among them.
(c) Work is done most efficiently.
(d) They form ties outside their social class.

13. Why are peasants not particularly dangerous, according to Milosz?
(a) They are more easily involved in extensive underground work.
(b) They are happy with their lives.
(c) The state is the only buyer of what they grow.
(d) They have no education and thus cannot retaliate.

14. When do Beta's stories show that people are good?
(a) When life has meaning.
(b) Only while acting within civilization.
(c) Only when it directly benefits them.
(d) Inherently.

15. Why are workers told that it is a crime to strike?
(a) It is not in the best interests of the state.
(b) It has drastic negative effects on the entire nation.
(c) They are working for the state, which is to say for themselves.
(d) The highest goal of state factories is efficiency.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Russia, what organization did Gamma and several of his friends create?

2. Beta remained bitter because he was unable to see what?

3. What did Gamma's second wife wear?

4. As Milosz witnessed, why was becoming a communist a difficult decision?

5. Rather than condemning the four men about whom he writes, how does Milosz open Chapter 8?

(see the answer keys)

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