View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What excuse does Simon use when Gertie catches him leaving the apartment on the morning of the day he moves to San Francisco?
(a) He says that he is going to get a sandwich.
(b) He says that he is going to meet his boyfriend.
(c) He says that he has to feed the parking meter.
(d) He says that he is going to buy Klara a birthday card.

2. With whom does Simon begin an affair after the two cruise the Castro together?
(a) Adrian.
(b) Robert.
(c) Richie.
(d) Tommy.

3. How old is Daniel when his father Saul dies of heart failure?
(a) 20.
(b) 16.
(c) 26.
(d) 30.

4. How old is Varya upon the opening of the novel's prologue?
(a) 10.
(b) 16.
(c) 8.
(d) 13.

5. What feat does Klara tell Simon will be the main event within her magic show?
(a) A disappearing act.
(b) The Jaws of Life.
(c) A ventriloquism act.
(d) A mirror maze.

6. When a policeman asks Simon to come to the San Francisco police station, what does he tell Simon is the purpose of his visit?
(a) He tells Simon that he needs to file for legal emancipation.
(b) He tells Simon that he is under suspicion for two recent robberies.
(c) He refuses to tell Simon anything about its purpose.
(d) He tells Simon that he is suspected of vehicular manslaughter.

7. Even though Klara holds down two jobs as a receptionist and a restaurant hostess, she spends her weekends engaged in what activity?
(a) Scripting her magic show.
(b) Volunteering at the hospital.
(c) Working on her novel.
(d) Painting.

8. What reason does Klara state for not calling the family to notify them of Simon's illness?
(a) Simon had begged her not to.
(b) She did not want to worry Gertie.
(c) She had not known the depth of Simon's illness.
(d) It was not her right.

9. Where is Klara performing when Simon sees her act for the first time?
(a) At a jazz club in the Fillmore District.
(b) At Fisherman's Wharf.
(c) At a bookstore on the Embarcadero.
(d) At the public library.

10. Klara does not believe in the Jewish heaven because she considers it to be too what?
(a) Hopeless.
(b) Perfect.
(c) Sterile.
(d) Mysterious.

11. To whom does adult Daniel bear a resemblance, according to Klara?
(a) Their grandfather Otto.
(b) Their father Saul.
(c) Their sister Varya.
(d) His brother Simon.

12. For how long has Klara been performing her magic act when she runs into Raj again?
(a) Six years.
(b) Three years.
(c) Two years.
(d) Six months.

13. What do Klara and Varya find inside the lacquered box in Gertie's lingerie drawer?
(a) Photographs of Gertie's former beaus.
(b) Photographs of their maternal grandmother.
(c) Photographs of their second cousins.
(d) Photographs of their paternal uncle.

14. When Simon is promoted from understudy to another position within the ballet company, what position does he achieve?
(a) Full company member.
(b) Repertory member.
(c) Featured member.
(d) Company captain.

15. What does Daniel say he is doing when Simon asks?
(a) He is in culinary school.
(b) He is managing Saul's dressmaking business.
(c) He is in medical school.
(d) He is staying at home to care for his children.

Short Answer Questions

1. The title of the novel refers to what aspect of its plot?

2. Who spends the night with Simon in Ward 86 once he is diagnosed with the illness that will come to be known as AIDS?

3. Gali tells the members of his ballet company often that their "movements must have" (85) what?

4. What requirement does Klara have for the nightclubs at which she will perform?

5. What two items does Varya keep taped to the wall next to her bed?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 639 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample