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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What does Harry plan to do to make "some big money" (15)?
(a) Rob a store.
(b) Get a construction job.
(c) Write home to his parents.
(d) Sell tapes of his music.

3. When Nobby says that his motto is not to interfere in another man's business, what question is he responding to?
(a) Whether they should tell Harry that Jean is a sex worker.
(b) Whether Gallows should report Harry for smoking.
(c) Whether they should tell Harry not to trust Bat.
(d) Whether they should ask Bat to drop Gallows from the plan to buy a house.

4. On page 3, what does the narrator note that Battersby finds strange about living in England?
(a) The weather.
(b) The prices.
(c) The dialects.
(d) The traffic.

5. Who is the author of The Housing Lark?
(a) Sam Selvon.
(b) Lawrence Scott.
(c) Derek Walcott.
(d) Junot Diaz.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do Harry and Battersby's sister have a playful argument about when they meet?

2. When Matilda asks Jean about marrying Harry, what is Jean's first objection to Harry?

3. Why is Battersby thinking about money while he makes his morning tea?

4. What technique is used when the narrator says that "Up in the atmosphere thunder roll with laughter"?

5. Why does Gallows go to the market one Saturday afternoon?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the narrator say to his audience about his decision not to offer more details about Poor's appearance and origins?

2. Why does the narrator say that weather forecasters should be "diplomats" (4)?

3. Describe the talent of Battersby's that the narrator talks about on pages 6 and 7.

4. What number does Bat imagine giving his apartment, and why is this important to him?

5. What is ironic about the difference between the food Battersby imagines on page 2 and the food he genuinely likes?

6. To whom does Battersby threaten to complain about his housing situation, and why does he decide against making a complaint?

7. What observations does the narrator make about hidden ambition before telling the story of how Gallows came to England?

8. How does Harry end up holding onto Poor's pack of cigarettes for him?

9. How did Gallows come to meet Battersby and his friends?

10. Other than the money, what do the things that Battersby imagines the genie bringing him all have in common with one another, and what does this demonstrate about Battersby himself?

(see the answer keys)

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