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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What reason does Nobby give for thinking that Harry will not be able to make a success of his singing career?
(a) He is easy to manipulate.
(b) He is Black.
(c) He is not talented.
(d) He sings the wrong kind of music.

2. Why does Gallows go to the market one Saturday afternoon?
(a) To meet women.
(b) To try to get a job.
(c) To sell his photographs.
(d) To spy on his friends.

3. What is de Nobriga's nickname?
(a) Deno.
(b) Nobby.
(c) Bridge.
(d) Iggy.

4. What word do the male characters often use to refer to a woman?
(a) Thing.
(b) Creature.
(c) Ride.
(d) Chick.

5. What kind of appeal is the narrator making when he says "being as I want to tell the truth, I have to say that that is how it happen" (14)?
(a) Appeal to authority.
(b) Appeal to pathos.
(c) Appeal to logos.
(d) Appeal to ethos.

6. What is the narrator's purpose in listing the English behaviors and beliefs that he lists on pages 3 and 4?
(a) He is making fun of religious and spiritual ways of interpreting the world.
(b) He intends to show that the English are superstitious people.
(c) He means to contrast these with West Indian behaviors and beliefs.
(d) He wants readers to question their own assumptions about science.

7. What causes the fuse in Bat's apartment building to blow?
(a) The tape recorder.
(b) The hotplate.
(c) The refrigerator.
(d) The alarm clock.

8. Why is Battersby thinking about money while he makes his morning tea?
(a) He is almost out of tea and other basic supplies.
(b) He has just lost his job.
(c) He is behind on his rent payments.
(d) His sister has asked him for a loan.

9. In the market, when Alfy calls out to Poor that he is "dying for a cigarette," what reason does he give for not smoking one (39)?
(a) Gallows might see him and tell Battersby.
(b) He is completely out of both cigarettes and money.
(c) His wife has demanded that he stop smoking.
(d) He is trying to save money for the house.

10. What time does Battersby usually wake up to get ready for work?
(a) 8:00 a.m.
(b) 7:00 a.m.
(c) 6:00 a.m.
(d) 5:00 a.m.

11. As Poor approaches his friends in the market, what detail of his appearance does the narrator mention?
(a) He walks with a barely noticeable limp.
(b) He has a habit of looking at the ground as he walks.
(c) He always has his hands in his pockets.
(d) He has a dimple on his left cheek, but not his right.

12. Which of Bat's friends hopes to live in the basement of the house they are planning to buy?
(a) Nobby.
(b) Alfy.
(c) Gallows.
(d) Syl.

13. What does Fitz claim he did when a former girlfriend suggested they get married?
(a) He broke up with her.
(b) He hit her in the head.
(c) He asked out her best friend.
(d) He told her he was already married.

14. In what area of London is the novel set?
(a) Putney.
(b) Hackney.
(c) Brixton.
(d) Chelsea.

15. What do Battersby and Harry go out to get when Battersby's friends gather at his apartment?
(a) A newspaper and a lottery ticket.
(b) Benne balls and sweet potato chips.
(c) Cigarettes and rum.
(d) Soda water and lime juice.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the author of The Housing Lark?

2. Why does Bat get angry at Gallows for trying to do during the brief blackout in Bat's apartment building?

3. What condition does Battersby put on his agreement to take Harry as a roommate?

4. What word does Battersby use to describe his sister?

5. Which of Bat's friends is the narrator describing when he says "As if, by himself, he can't exist, life too big for him to tackle" (36)?

(see the answer keys)

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