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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. How many floating orphanages are under the control of Dr. X?
(a) Seven.
(b) Ten.
(c) Twelve.
(d) Three.

2. What does Hackworth realize after watching a theatrical performance on a barge?
(a) Dr. X is the Alchemist.
(b) Hackworth is the Alchemist.
(c) Hackworth should return home to Gwendolyn.
(d) Fiona should return home to her mother.

3. How does Nell protect herself from what the Drummers have implanted in everyone's blood?
(a) She uses the power of free thought to fight the blood's influence.
(b) She brews and drinks a potion using a recipe from the Primer.
(c) She cuts her wrist to drain some of the blood from her body.
(d) She quickly designs a counter-organism.

4. In what way, other than academically, does Nell's time at the Academy expand her personality?
(a) Opportunities to interact with real people.
(b) Opportunities to read books besides the Primer.
(c) Virtual visits to other cities.
(d) Time spent using mediatrons.

5. When Nell sees Colonel Napier falling asleep, what does she decide to do?
(a) Alter the girls' script to extract information from him.
(b) Check his pockets for information.
(c) Serve him special drug-laced biscuits to make him tell the truth.
(d) Dance for him to gain his trust.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the Primer, after Princess Nell outwits King Coyote, what does the King do?

2. During the party for Carl Hollywood's return from abroad, what does he say to Miranda?

3. In the Primer, how does Princess Nell communicate with the Duke of Turing?

4. After Hackworth awakens from his dreams and crawls through the tunnels, what does he find?

5. When Hackworth goes to Seattle to see his ex-wife, how do the two communicate?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Carl Hollywood Returns from Abroad," when Miranda admits to Carl Hollywood that she thinks of Nell as a daughter, what reaction does Carl Hollywood have?

2. What are the three Graces taught at the Academy, and which Grace gives the students the most trouble?

3. In "Hackworth in China," what does Dr. X see as the destruction of Chinese society in the novel?

4. In "General Description of Life with the Constable," why does Constable Moore relive his past experiences through mediatrons?

5. In "From the Primer, Princess Nell Crosses the Trail of the Enigmatic Mouse Army," when grown-up Nell visits her ailing brother, Harv, what message does he share with her?

6. When Nell is called to Mrs. Matheson's deathbed in "From the Primer, a Visit to Castle Turing," what does the woman say to Nell that seems to foreshadow future events?

7. In the final scene of the novel when Nell rescues Miranda from the Drummers, how are various subplots tied together into one cohesive whole?

8. In "Orphans of the Han...," what does Judge Fang observe when he gives a young Han girl a copy of the Primer?

9. In "Carl Hollywood's Hack," how do Carl Hollywood's activities in a teahouse begin to tie together the various main characters and plots in the novel?

10. In "Nell's Life at Dovetail," why is Nell not allowed to live with the other girls at Miss Matheson's Academy of the Three Graces?

(see the answer keys)

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