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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Westbourne Grove, when Pat refuses to let Syl touch her, what does Syl threaten to do?
(a) Make her pay for her own hotel.
(b) Hit her.
(c) Abandon her.
(d) Take her back to Bat's apartment.

2. Which phrase that Bat allegedly reads from the housing listings on page 61 is a clue that he might be lying?
(a) "Highly-residential houses."
(b) "Our mortgage facilities."
(c) "All part of the country."
(d) "Large selection."

3. When Bat finally suggests that they go try the hotels around Paddington Station, because he is "getting tired with all this preliminary," what does the narrator's use of the word "preliminary" suggest (80)?
(a) Bat is still hoping that both he and Syl will end up spending the night with Pat.
(b) The hotels near Paddington are on the way back to Bat's apartment, which is where he really wants to be.
(c) Bat is bored with the task of helping Syl and just wants to hurry up and get Syl a hotel room.
(d) The hotels near Paddington are where Bat expected to end up from the beginning of their quest.

4. On the summer night when everyone gathers at Bat's apartment, how does Bat prepare for their visit?
(a) He hides all of his valuables.
(b) He gets a loan from Jean to hide his own thefts.
(c) He goes to the market to get rum, limes, and soda.
(d) He hurries out and gathers housing listings.

5. When Matilda asks Bat why he called the name "Jeanie" while they were having sex, what literary technique is employed (52)?
(a) Paraprosdokian.
(b) Verbal irony.
(c) Litotes.
(d) Paronomasia.

6. Why is Nobby so anxious to make sure his landlady likes him?
(a) The landlady reminds him of his mother, back in Trinidad.
(b) He is interested in her daughter.
(c) He had a hard time finding a place to live and does not want to have to look again.
(d) He is several weeks behind in his rend payments.

7. Which British monarch lived at Hamdon Court?
(a) Richard I.
(b) Richard III.
(c) Henry VIII.
(d) Edward II.

8. How does Jean react when Gallows tells her about the legal danger Poor has placed Harry in?
(a) She mocks Harry's gullibility.
(b) She curses Poor.
(c) She offers to help find Harry.
(d) She feigns disinterest.

9. Which of the friends urges the others to give Bat a chance to explain what is happening with the housing plan?
(a) Nobby.
(b) Poor.
(c) Gallows.
(d) Alfy.

10. What time of year is it when the men first come up with the plan to buy a house?
(a) Spring.
(b) Winter.
(c) Fall.
(d) Summer.

11. What is Syl's solution to Nobby's unwilling dog ownership?
(a) He takes the dog and dumps it in Croyden.
(b) He gives the dog to Fitz for his wife, Teena.
(c) He leaves the dog on the train to Greenwich.
(d) He sells the dog to one of his colleagues.

12. What is Syl's constant cross-kissing meant to show about him?
(a) He is trying to impress Pat.
(b) He is very religious.
(c) He is trying to assimilate.
(d) He is superstitious and nervous.

13. When Bat tells Syl that a hotel room in the first area they go to is likely to cost two guineas or more, what does the narrator comment about Bat's motives?
(a) He is trying to get Syl to change his mind about getting a hotel.
(b) He is trying to get Syl to ask him to split the cost of the room.
(c) He is trying to demonstrate to Pat how poor Syl is.
(d) He is trying to demonstrate to Pat how cheap Syl is.

14. Why does Harry go into the phone booth?
(a) To call Poor.
(b) To call his agent.
(c) To call a hotel.
(d) To call the police.

15. Why does Gallows hope that he finds a wallet on the ground instead of finding loose money, as Alfy did?
(a) It would be less work to pick up.
(b) It would likely contain more money.
(c) It would be easier to pretend to have dropped.
(d) It might lead to a reward from the owner.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the narrator say makes it seem "as if a hoodoo on old Syl, or else the gods favouring Battersby" (79)?

2. On page 81, what description of his own demeanor does Bat give when he is persuading Syl to let him be the one to go into the final hotel to ask for a room?

3. What is a char-a-banc?

4. When Syl is in the first hotel asking for a room, what does Bat object to?

5. Where is Pat from?

(see the answer keys)

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