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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Luzhin's championship game against Turati, how does Turati open the game?
(a) With a laughingly stupid move.
(b) With a startlingly aggressive, unfamiliar move.
(c) With his usual, successful move.
(d) With an ordinary, banal move.

2. What habit of Luzhin's particularly annoys his future wife's mother?
(a) He looks at her shoes when he talks.
(b) He talks about himself in the third person.
(c) He talks into his hat.
(d) He sits with his back to her.

3. Why is Luzhin afraid of at school?
(a) That bullies will beat him up.
(b) That he will not be able to pass his classes.
(c) That others will find out his chess ability and make fun of him.
(d) That someone else will be better than him at chess.

4. What fundamental drive does Luzhin's future wife have?
(a) The need to feel superior to others.
(b) The need to romanticize herself to others.
(c) The need to help any creature that is suffering.
(d) The need to understand the world is a logical, organized way.

5. When does Luzhin's father return after going into town during the summer?
(a) Late, at 10:00.
(b) Late, at midnight.
(c) On time, at 7:00.
(d) Early, at 5:00.

6. Who does Luzhin's future wife make him think of, when he first meets him?
(a) His mother.
(b) A prostitute.
(c) A girl at his school.
(d) His aunt.

7. Who interrupts the chess game?
(a) The class bully.
(b) The janitor.
(c) A new student.
(d) The substitute teacher.

8. Where does Luzhin hide during the party?
(a) His father's office.
(b) A closet.
(c) The kitchen.
(d) The attic.

9. What does Luzhin do when he goes up to his room after he's met his future wife's mother?
(a) He works on his chess game.
(b) He writes a letter to his future wife.
(c) He takes a nap.
(d) He eats a meal.

10. How does Luzhin's first wife's mother find out Luzhin wants to marry her daughter?
(a) The mother is told by a stranger at the hotel.
(b) The mother overhears Luzhin and the daughter talking.
(c) Luzhin asks the mother for her daughter's hand.
(d) The daughter tells her mother.

11. What year does Luzhin's father begin to write a novel whose main character is a chess-playing boy like his son?
(a) 1938.
(b) 1958.
(c) 1928.
(d) 1948.

12. How does the woman Luzhin meets in Germany (his future wife) think of his father?
(a) She thinks he must have been sad, angry, and bitter toward Luzhin.
(b) She thinks he must have been selfish, ignorant, and jealous of Luzhin.
(c) She thinks he must have been naive, slow, and uncomprehending toward Luzhin.
(d) She thinks he must have been kind, earnest, and fond of Luzhin.

13. What excuse does Luzhin give the first day he skips school?
(a) That his grandmother died.
(b) That he twisted his ankle.
(c) Family circumstances.
(d) That he was sick.

14. When Luzhin's family arrives in the city, where does Luzhin run off to?
(a) A library.
(b) Nearby woods.
(c) The train station.
(d) A museum.

15. What is Luzhin's response to his father, when his father comes to visit him at school?
(a) Luzhin talks a mile a minute to his father.
(b) Luzhin cries and yells at his father.
(c) Luzhin is happy and wants his father to stay.
(d) Luzhin shows little interest in his father.

Short Answer Questions

1. On the first game that Luzhin's opponent doesn't beat him, what is the result?

2. What important historical events does Luzhin's father feel inhibited by having to include in every novel?

3. What business does Valentinov go into after leaving Luzhin?

4. What happens when Luzhin goes to visit his father's grave after his death?

5. What does Luzhin's father suspect his son of looking for in illustrated magazines?

(see the answer keys)

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