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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of his friends warns Bat to not get married?
(a) Fitz.
(b) Alfy.
(c) Nobby.
(d) Poor.

2. What does the expression "as if butter won't melt in his mouth" mean (8)?
(a) An insistence on high moral standards.
(b) A pretense of being innocent and sincere.
(c) A cold and distant attitude.
(d) An envious or jealous temperament.

3. What is the name of the song that Harry wrote himself?
(a) "Stone-cold Dead in the Market."
(b) "Brit'n, Lovely Brit'n."
(c) "The Weatherman Lying."
(d) "Old Lady You Mashing My Toe."

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

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

6. On page 32, when Fitz's attitude toward Teena is changing, to what does he compare her way of walking?
(a) The "steam rising from a boiling kettle."
(b) A "snake weaving through long grass."
(c) A "wave moving through deep water."
(d) The "wind rippling through the rice stalks."

7. What question does Harry ask Battersby when they are on their way to the store?
(a) How Alfonso and Poor got White girlfriends.
(b) Whether he knows any calypso songs.
(c) In what part of London they should look for a house.
(d) Whether Jean has a boyfriend.

8. When Harry and Jean go out into the hallway together, he decides to "make hay while the match was shining" (26). What does the expression "make hay" mean?
(a) To pursue a point by asking questions or interrogating someone.
(b) To sweet-talk someone and try to get them interested in you.
(c) To smoke--either a cigarette or marijuana.
(d) To get something done when the opportunity presents itself.

9. After Harry moves in, how does Bat's attitude about the apartment change?
(a) It starts to seem like not such a bad place.
(b) It suddenly feels too small.
(c) It starts to feel like a home where he could bring a wife.
(d) It seems even more run-down and embarrassing.

10. What does the narrator say is "the biggest thing that ever happen to Gallows" (37)?
(a) His accidental trip to England.
(b) His run-in with the man he threatened to kill.
(c) The plan to buy a house.
(d) The loss of his five-pound note.

11. Why does Battersby's sister warn Matilda about him?
(a) Battersby is known to lie all the time.
(b) Battersby did not treat his last girlfriend well.
(c) Battersby tries to sleep with all of her friends.
(d) Battersby already has an illegitimate child.

12. What word does Poor use to refer to a marijuana cigarette?
(a) Charger
(b) Bunt.
(c) Bone.
(d) Spliff.

13. When they are smoking in the park, where does Poor offer to take Harry later that evening?
(a) A Jamaican-owned club.
(b) Hyde Park.
(c) Piccadilly Circus.
(d) To meet Fitz's wife.

14. How did Fitz meet Teena?
(a) She worked with Syl.
(b) She was Alfy's girlfriend.
(c) She is Nobby's cousin.
(d) She lived in Poor's building.

15. What kind of man does Jean say she would like to marry?
(a) A man like Harry.
(b) A man like Bat.
(c) A rich man.
(d) A White man.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Nobby says that his motto is not to interfere in another man's business, what question is he responding to?

2. 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)?

3. On page 3, what does the narrator note that Battersby finds strange about living in England?

4. What is Gallows looking for when he comes into Battersby's apartment?

5. What does Fitz claim he did when a former girlfriend suggested they get married?

(see the answer keys)

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