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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What did Harold and Anna use for part of their act?
(a) Puppies.
(b) Blindfolds.
(c) Strobe lights.
(d) Colorful scarves.

2. Where does the narrator say she used to live in paragraph 4?
(a) The West.
(b) The Far East.
(c) The North.
(d) The South.

3. 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) She knows her mother must be cooking something special.
(b) She scurries to make sure her mother is okay.
(c) The stitches burn beneath her fingers.
(d) She panics and cannot breath.

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

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

6. 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 announced Anna and Harold to the crowd.
(c) He blew a horn and jumped up and down.
(d) He gave a little background on their love story.

7. In paragraph 3, where does the narrator say she gets her information about her mother's disaster?
(a) Old newspapers.
(b) Her in-laws.
(c) Her father.
(d) Her mother.

8. Who was the other half of her mother's act?
(a) Henry Allen.
(b) Herman Adams.
(c) Harold Avalon.
(d) Hank Allendale.

9. What was the narrator's mother's former career as stated in the first sentence?
(a) Ballerina.
(b) Fire breather.
(c) Ringleader.
(d) Trapeze artist.

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

11. Who is the author of "The Leap"?
(a) Leslie Eldridge.
(b) Louise Erdrich.
(c) Leonora Ellis.
(d) Eleanor Lee.

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

13. What did Harold and Anna do in midair during their act according to paragraph 5?
(a) Embrace.
(b) Change costumes.
(c) Tell a joke.
(d) Kiss.

14. What does the narrator suggest may have been Harold's final thought as he fell into the crowd on the day of the disaster?
(a) A surprise that he did not have Anna's hands in his.
(b) I'm going to sue the tent company.
(c) I don't want to die.
(d) Anna is with child.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. In paragraph 2, what does the narrator say she sometimes thinks her mother has no memory of from her youth?

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

3. What is the name of the narrator's mother's act?

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

5. What metaphor is used in paragraph 5 to describe the way Anna and Harold would drop through the air during their act?

(see the answer keys)

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