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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the narrator sometimes do in her childhood room?
(a) She talks on the phone.
(b) She sews.
(c) She reads.
(d) She paints.

2. What detail about Anna does the narrator note was not mentioned in the newspaper accounts of the disaster?
(a) She was blind.
(b) She was pregnant.
(c) She was badly injured.
(d) She was Harold's wife.

3. What does the narrator say audience members ate while waiting for the act to begin?
(a) Hamburgers and French fries.
(b) Ice cream and candy.
(c) Popcorn and peanuts.
(d) Hot dogs and chips.

4. What weather condition resulted in the disaster Anna and her husband experienced during their act?
(a) A tornado.
(b) A tsunami.
(c) A blizzard.
(d) A gale.

5. What is the narrator's mother's name?
(a) Abbeth.
(b) Anna.
(c) Alice.
(d) Agnes.

6. What are some things the narrator says her mother has not kept from her youth?
(a) Old clothes and old friends.
(b) Essays or awards.
(c) Sequined costumes or posters.
(d) Journals or news clippings.

7. What did the ringmaster do to introduce the Flying Avalons on the day of the disaster?
(a) He cracked his whip and pointed to the ceiling.
(b) He blew a horn and jumped up and down.
(c) He gave a little background on their love story.
(d) He announced Anna and Harold to the crowd.

8. What does the narrator say her mother did the first time she owes her existence to her?
(a) She was born.
(b) She met her first husband.
(c) She saved her daughter's life.
(d) She saved herself.

9. What is something the narrator says happens when she is in her room and gets a "whiff of smoke from the stove downstairs" (para.2)?
(a) The stitches burn beneath her fingers.
(b) She knows her mother must be cooking something special.
(c) She panics and cannot breath.
(d) She scurries to make sure her mother is okay.

10. What metaphor is used in paragraph 5 to describe the way Anna and Harold would drop through the air during their act?
(a) Like two peas in a pod.
(b) Like dragonflies in the night.
(c) Like two doves in love.
(d) Like two sparkling birds.

11. What stands "cast in concrete" (para. 3) to commemorate the accident?
(a) A replica tent pole.
(b) A statue of trapeze artists.
(c) A feather boa.
(d) A sequined costume.

12. What is the name of the narrator's mother's act?
(a) The Floating Avatars.
(b) The Flying Avalons.
(c) The Fledgling Abyssinians.
(d) The Fluttering Angels.

13. What condition does the narrator's mother have as explained in paragraph 1?
(a) She is deaf.
(b) She has dementia.
(c) She is blind.
(d) She is paralyzed.

14. What phrase is used to describe the narrator's mother's movements in paragraph 2?
(a) Stealthlike manner.
(b) Graceless fumbling.
(c) Catlike precision.
(d) Like a bull in a china shop.

15. Where does the narrator and her mother live?
(a) Maine.
(b) Vermont.
(c) Rhode Island.
(d) New Hampshire.

Short Answer Questions

1. In paragraph 3, where does the narrator say she gets her information about her mother's disaster?

2. In paragraph 6, what does the narrator say her mother is able to live comfortably in?

3. How many times does the narrator say she owes her existence to her mother?

4. What would Harold show the audience members during part of their act?

5. How many acts performed before Anna and her husband's act on the day of the disaster?

(see the answer keys)

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