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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

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

5. According to paragraph 4, during what month did Anna experience her disaster?
(a) June.
(b) February.
(c) September.
(d) November.

6. How many times does the narrator say she owes her existence to her mother?
(a) 9.
(b) 3.
(c) 2.
(d) Dozens.

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

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

9. 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) I don't want to die.
(b) I'm going to sue the tent company.
(c) A surprise that he did not have Anna's hands in his.
(d) Anna is with child.

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

11. 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 doves in love.
(b) Like two peas in a pod.
(c) Like dragonflies in the night.
(d) Like two sparkling birds.

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

13. What happened during Harold and Anna's act just before they were able to clasp hands in midair?
(a) Lightning struck the main tent pole.
(b) A blizzard forced everyone to run for shelter.
(c) Anna went into labor.
(d) A strong wind blew the tent away.

14. In paragraph 2, what does the narrator say she sometimes thinks her mother has no memory of from her youth?
(a) Double somersaults and heart-stopping catches.
(b) School dances and young love.
(c) Devouring books and writing poetry.
(d) Cramming for tests and getting good grades.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the narrator's mother's former career as stated in the first sentence?

2. What does the narrator point out in paragraph one about how her mother moves through the house?

3. What did Anna and Harold do "openly" as they performed according to paragraph 5?

4. What does the narrator sometimes do in her childhood room?

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

(see the answer keys)

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