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

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

3. What is Battersby's sister irritated about when she comes downstairs to where Battersby's friends have gathered?
(a) They are all hitting on Matilda.
(b) They did not include her in their plans.
(c) They have made a mess.
(d) They are smoking marijuana.

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

5. What nation has the protagonist emigrated from?
(a) Trinidad.
(b) Guyana.
(c) Haiti.
(d) Jamaica.

Short Answer Questions

1. What objection does Battersby have to having Harry as a roommate?

2. What does Teena constantly try to prevent the men from doing?

3. 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?

4. What does the narrator say is "the biggest thing that ever happen to Gallows" (37)?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the sentence "I mean, you think it have a lot of obeah and black magic in the West Indies, but if you listen to some of these Nordics" illustrate the unusual aspects of this book's narrative voice?

2. Which of Bat's friends takes photographs, and what is comical about how he does it?

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

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

5. When Jean and Harry go out into the hallway to fix the fuse, what do they discuss?

6. What did Battersby often listen to on his radio, and why did he stop?

7. When the novel opens, what is Battersby doing?

8. Describe Matilda's conflicting thoughts about Jean's being a sex worker.

9. Describe Battersby's apartment.

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

(see the answer keys)

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