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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What tradition does Gertie refuse to partake in at Saul's funeral?
(a) She refuses to give the eulogy.
(b) She refuses to greet the pallbearers.
(c) She refuses to kiss Saul one more time.
(d) She refuses to slit her clothes above her heart.

2. What does Simon NOT count among the events that occurred directly as a result of the fortune teller's intervention?
(a) His relationship with Robert.
(b) His arrival in San Francisco.
(c) His dance career.
(d) His deep connection with Klara.

3. What is Klara's reply when Raj asks her the secret of her Jaws of Life performance?
(a) Pray.
(b) Give the rope a tweak at the last minute.
(c) Just hold on.
(d) Count to ten before letting go.

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

5. The title of the novel refers to what aspect of its plot?
(a) Saul used to call thunder clouds The Immortalists.
(b) The Immortalist is the name of Klara's act.
(c) The Immortalists is the name of Varya's antique shop.
(d) Simon uses the term to refer to Klara's recklessness.

6. What is the one thing Simon tells Daniel when he calls him for the first time since leaving home?
(a) The date foretold to him as the date of his death.
(b) He loves Gertie.
(c) He misses Daniel.
(d) He is sick.

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

8. The Hindu family in the Gold family's building calls the fortune teller a "rishika" (5), which means a what?
(a) A savant.
(b) An imp.
(c) A seer.
(d) A spirit.

9. In what year does the novel's prologue begin?
(a) 1960.
(b) 1978.
(c) 1969.
(d) 1982.

10. What kind of job does Simon find when he and Klara arrive in San Francisco?
(a) Bouncer.
(b) Valet.
(c) Go-go dancer.
(d) Cook.

11. Simon remembers that he had drawn which same-suit cards from the deck during his encounter with the fortune teller?
(a) Four diamonds.
(b) Four hearts.
(c) Four clubs.
(d) Four spades.

12. In what type of venue does Klara NOT perform her act during her early days as a magician?
(a) Concert halls.
(b) A circus.
(c) Caesar's Palace.
(d) Dinner theaters.

13. The narrator states that the timing of Klara's Jaws of Life trick must be "perfect or" (104) it will be what?
(a) Chilling.
(b) Humiliating.
(c) Deadly.
(d) Disastrous.

14. What is the name of the policeman who roughs up Simon outside of the police station?
(a) Brian.
(b) Eddie.
(c) Marty.
(d) Jeffrey.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Klara do with the lacquered box once Gertie appears furious at its absence?

2. When the Gold children reach the fortune teller's door, Varya is surprised because she had thought that magic would be what?

3. Whom does Gertie coddle the most out of all of her children?

4. What is the address of the Gold family's apartment?

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

(see the answer keys)

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