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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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) 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.

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

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

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

7. 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) Journals or news clippings.
(d) Sequined costumes or posters.

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

9. How many acts performed before Anna and her husband's act on the day of the disaster?
(a) 7.
(b) 1.
(c) 3.
(d) 12.

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

11. What would Harold show the audience members during part of their act?
(a) His wedding ring.
(b) His blindfold.
(c) Anna's smear of lipstick near his mouth.
(d) A card trick.

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

13. 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.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What detail about Anna does the narrator note was not mentioned in the newspaper accounts of the disaster?

2. Where does the narrator and her mother live?

3. What does the narrator say her mother did the first time she owes her existence to her?

4. What did the ringmaster do to introduce the Flying Avalons on the day of the disaster?

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

(see the answer keys)

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