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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. What is Helena doing the evening of the beginning of part two?
(a) Staying up late to read.
(b) Mending clothes all night.
(c) Going to bed early.
(d) Cleaning her house until the dawn.

2. What happened to Zemanek and Helena after the demonstration in Old Town Square?
(a) They parted ways.
(b) They joined the riot.
(c) They held hands and roamed through Prague.
(d) They decided to meet up after returning to University.

3. What did Zemanek say to Helena in the heat of an argument when their daughter was five?
(a) He was sorry they were fighting and he loves her.
(b) That he believed Zdena wasn't his daughter.
(c) Everyone loves in different ways.
(d) They married out of Party discipline.

4. The day following their one-day reunion, Ludvik phones Marketa. What happens?
(a) A stranger tells Ludvik that Marketa moved to Prague.
(b) A stranger tells Ludvik that Marketa moved to Bratislava.
(c) Marketa makes a date with him that night.
(d) Marketa makes a date with him that weekend.

5. When did Helena realize she was in love with Zemanek?
(a) After they married.
(b) On the anniversary of the Liberation in Old Town Square.
(c) While visiting Italy with their ensemble.
(d) At a meeting for the Youth League.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the name of Helena's daughter?

2. Where is the man Ludvik asks for at the booth at the gate of the hospital?

3. When does Helena believe her co-workers started disliking her?

4. How does Ludvik describe himself at university, in his second year?

5. What floor does Kostka live on?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens during Ludvik's shave that changes the experience for him, and how does Ludvik react to the rest of his shave?

2. What finally prompted Helena and Zemanek to get married?

3. How does Ludvik find out the identity of the woman who shaved him?

4. What were the common criticisms given to students at University in the Party? Ludvik describes them as "seeds" that all the students carried with them, to be used against themselves at a moment's notice.

5. Why does Ludvik feel frustrated when he leaves the barber for his shave?

6. Describe the story of the dwarfs Ludvik told Marketa.

7. Describe Moravia as Ludvik sees it upon his return at the beginning of "The Joke".

8. Why don't Helena's coworkers like her?

9. After Marketa and Ludvik speak candidly about the postcard, Ludvik suggests he could win Marketa despite everything. How, and what, does he do?

10. After their second meeting, Ludvik tells Helena that he is going to pick her up in front of the station the following day. What did they do on this outing?

(see the answer keys)

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