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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. Where does Kostka live?
(a) In the same hotel Ludvik is staying in.
(b) He has a room in the hospital.
(c) A bachelor flat in a new complex.
(d) A two-room flat in another town 30 miles away.

2. What is the state of Ludvik's hotel room?
(a) Welcoming; two chairs at the table.
(b) Cosy; very well furnished.
(c) Comfortable; a firm bed.
(d) Sparse; not exactly attractive.

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

4. What did Zemanek start after Togliatti spoke in Old Town Square?
(a) Fifty thousand people singing in Italian.
(b) A fight that crushed a girl he was dating.
(c) Fifty thousand people screaming a slogan.
(d) A fight that turned into a riot.

5. At the beginning of the novel, how long has the narrator been away from his home?
(a) Twenty years.
(b) Fifteen years.
(c) Five years.
(d) Ten years.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the narrator do at the beginning of part three?

2. Where is Marketa sent, at the end of her first year at university?

3. How did Helena meet Ludvik?

4. Who at Helena's work station likes her?

5. Ludvik, as the woman giving him a shave soaps his face, slips into what?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

3. What was Helena's first meeting with Ludvik like, according to Helena?

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. How does Ludvik describe Kostka?

6. How does Helena feel about the Party?

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

8. Why did Ludvik send Marketa the postcard?

9. What were the early days of Helena and Zemanek's relationship like?

10. How is Ludvik's attitude immediately following his move to Ostrava?

(see the answer keys)

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