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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. Where does the narrator say the tabloids carried the story of their town's disaster?
(a) Boston and L.A.
(b) Cincinatti and New York.
(c) Chicago and L.A.
(d) Boston and New York.

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 scurries to make sure her mother is okay.
(c) She panics and cannot breath.
(d) She knows her mother must be cooking something special.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What weather condition resulted in the disaster Anna and her husband experienced during their act?

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

3. What did Harold and Anna do in midair during their act according to paragraph 5?

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

5. After reading paragraph 1, what do readers learn about the narrator's mother's former partner?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Anna and Harold's typical trapeze performance.

2. How is the scene at the circus before the disaster described? What was the weather like? What was the audience doing?

3. Why does the narrator sometimes forget that her mother was part of the Flying Avalons?

4. Why does the narrator find it unsurprising that her mother was able to perform while seven months pregnant?

5. What type of performer was the narrator's mother? Where does she live and what is her medical condition?

6. What stands in the center of town as a reminder of the disaster? Where does the narrator find out about the events that day?

7. What events followed lightning striking the main tent pole while Harold and Anna were performing?

8. Why does the narrator say people in the East are at a disadvantage regarding weather changes than those in the West, where she used to live?

9. How does the narrator describe the way her mother moves through their home in New Hampshire in paragraph 1?

10. What detail about Anna was not mentioned in the newspaper accounts of the disaster?

(see the answer keys)

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