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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How did the fire get put out on the day of the disaster?
(a) Locals volunteers threw buckets of water on it.
(b) The fire department.
(c) By rain and men's jackets.
(d) The ringleader and other performers used a fire extinguisher.

2. What type of weather does the narrator describe in paragraph 12 when discussing her sister's grave?
(a) Snow.
(b) Sunshine.
(c) Rain.
(d) Humidity.

3. Where did Anna live after touring Europe when she was young?
(a) New York.
(b) Los Angeles.
(c) Paris.
(d) New Hampshire.

4. What does the narrator think must have happened to her mother after she was taken to the hospital the day of the disaster?
(a) She miscarried.
(b) She found out her husband died.
(c) She hemmorhaged.
(d) She lost her vision.

5. What happened to Anna's baby after the disaster?
(a) He was born and Anna named him Harold.
(b) She miscarried.
(c) It was stillborn.
(d) She was born premature.

6. What does the narrator say is the greatest difficulty of her mother's blindness in paragraph 15?
(a) Not being able to see her grandchildren.
(b) Not being able to look at old photographs.
(c) Not being able to read.
(d) Not being able to clean her own house.

7. Where was Harold Avalon buried?
(a) He was cremated.
(b) In the circus cemetery.
(c) In the cemetery near their house.
(d) In the family plot in the backyard.

8. What is the second thing Anna did the day of the disaster when she did not feel her husband's hands?
(a) She yelled for help.
(b) She changed direction.
(c) She tore off her blindfold.
(d) She grasped his ankle.

9. Where had the narrator's father "spent his war" as explained in paragraph 13?
(a) In Canada.
(b) At university.
(c) At an air force training grounds.
(d) In combat.

10. What did the narrator's mother once tell her one would be amazed by?
(a) How much money a trapeze artist makes.
(b) How scared she was each time she performed.
(c) How many things a mother can do.
(d) How many things you can do when falling.

11. Where did the narrator's mother and father meet?
(a) At the town pool.
(b) At the circus.
(c) In the hospital.
(d) At the library.

12. Where had the narrator's mother taught her to dive off a board?
(a) The town pool.
(b) Their backyard pool.
(c) Her cousin's pool.
(d) The YMCA.

13. How many people died during the disaster?
(a) 18.
(b) 1.
(c) 3.
(d) 60.

14. Who took care of Harold's body after he died?
(a) His uncle.
(b) His brothers.
(c) Anna.
(d) Harold's parents.

15. What word does the narrator use to describe her mother's time in the hospital?
(a) Vacation.
(b) Imprisonment.
(c) Rehabilitation.
(d) Confinement.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where did the narrator sometimes go when she was a child "just to sit" (para. 11)?

2. Why is the narrator easily able to pick her sister's gravestone from afar?

3. What does the narrator say seems to happen to her sister's grave as the years progress?

4. What is the narrator's father's occupation?

5. How did Anna's hands get burned during the disaster?

(see the answer keys)

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