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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who is it suggested was behind the assault on Eric Lopley?
(a) His employers.
(b) The Rent Tribunal.
(c) His landlords.
(d) The police.

2. In the page 1 sentence "Pound notes and fivers start to fall all about in the room, until is as if he is swimming in it, and the water-mark rising higher and higher," what technique is being used?
(a) Metaphor.
(b) Hyperbole.
(c) Simile.
(d) Personification.

3. Who comes to Battersby's apartment while he is trying to eat breakfast?
(a) His sister.
(b) Harry Banjo.
(c) Fitzwilliams.
(d) Charlie Victor.

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

5. When Matilda asks Jean about marrying Harry, what is Jean's first objection to Harry?
(a) His race.
(b) His intellect.
(c) His looks.
(d) His poverty.

6. When Battersby is daydreaming in the novel's opening, what kind of woman does he wish for?
(a) Nice.
(b) Beautiful.
(c) Smart.
(d) Generous.

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

8. What technique is used when the narrator says that "Up in the atmosphere thunder roll with laughter"?
(a) Hyperbole.
(b) Personification.
(c) Synechdoche.
(d) Metonymy.

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

10. What does Battersby mean when he says "You is one of we" (9)?
(a) All people are equal and have equal rights.
(b) The person he is speaking to is from the same background as Battersby.
(c) It is important to remember what we have in common with others.
(d) There are two people in the conversation and both viewpoints count.

11. What does Bat plan to do about the money missing from the house-buying fund?
(a) Tell everyone he was robbed.
(b) Borrow the money from Jean.
(c) Try to make it back by gambling.
(d) Work extra shifts to make it back.

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

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

14. What word does Battersby use to describe his sister?
(a) Shark.
(b) Fire.
(c) Storm.
(d) Bulldog.

15. What do Harry and Battersby's sister have a playful argument about when they meet?
(a) Big Ben.
(b) Aloo pie.
(c) Calypso music.
(d) England's monarchy.

Short Answer Questions

1. After Harry moves in, how does Bat's attitude about the apartment change?

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

3. 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)?

4. What word do the characters use that hints at the French colonial history of Trinidad?

5. What is the name of Battersby's sister?

(see the answer keys)

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