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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Laura feel herself to be?
(a) Ghostlike: a presence that perceives.
(b) Loving and dutiful.
(c) Airy: like a wandering wisp of wind.
(d) Ungrateful and guilty.

2. Who does Laura desire?
(a) Dan.
(b) Kitty.
(c) Kitty and Clarissa.
(d) Both Kitty and Dan.

3. What surprises Sally about Oliver?
(a) That he is so short.
(b) That he is ordinary and ill-tempered.
(c) That he is gay.
(d) He is not much different from his movie persona.

4. What makes Richie frown in concentration?
(a) Making a wish as the birthday candles burn.
(b) Trying not to spill crumbs as he eats the birthday cake.
(c) The job of removing the candles from the cake.
(d) Trying to make out the letters on the cake.

5. With which particular person does Laura contrast her own life?
(a) Barbara.
(b) Clarissa.
(c) Virginia.
(d) Kitty.

6. What is the cause of Mary's emotional distress?
(a) She is upset by her encounter with Clarissa.
(b) She knows Julia will never love her the way she needs.
(c) The trauma of going shopping and having to face sales clerks.
(d) She is afraid Clarissa will steal Julia away from her.

7. What is disturbing about Virginia kissing Vanessa?
(a) It happens on the train to London.
(b) It is done behind Leonard's back.
(c) It is not quite innocent.
(d) It is done behind Nelly's back.

8. What does Richie sense he and his father might have in common?
(a) Restlessness and a feeling of dislocation.
(b) The need for emotional stability in their lives, as embodied by Laura.
(c) A love of the arts.
(d) The need to be strong and withstand Laura's pressures.

9. To Clarissa, what does Mary resemble?
(a) A feral child.
(b) A stray dog.
(c) An Amazon.
(d) A glamor-puss.

10. Where does Clarissa find Richard?
(a) Perched on the edge of the balcony.
(b) Perched on the window sill.
(c) In the bath.
(d) In his usual chair.

11. What is implied about Richmond station's yellow wooden benches?
(a) They are necessary and appreciated by travelers.
(b) They are comfortable.
(c) They are hard.
(d) They are attractive.

12. With what profession is Nelly's calm compared?
(a) With that of an executioner.
(b) With that of a test pilot.
(c) With that of a patient nanny.
(d) With that of an undertaker.

13. What does London mean to Virginia?
(a) Vanity.
(b) Crowds and complications.
(c) Freedom.
(d) Fear.

14. What drove Clarissa to part from Richard over thirty years ago?
(a) Her desire for a relatively ordinary life.
(b) The power of her suburban morality.
(c) Her desire to be famous.
(d) He love for Louis and Sally.

15. How does Virginia describe Vanessa's hand?
(a) Elegant and graceful.
(b) Skinny.
(c) Moist and fat.
(d) Plump.

Short Answer Questions

1. What world does Laura feel she now inhabits?

2. What is Nelly preparing for supper?

3. What is Louis' profession?

4. How much of her book has Laura now read?

5. According to Virginia, what makes a person technically insane?

(see the answer keys)

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