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

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

3. After reading paragraph 1, what do readers learn about the narrator's mother's former partner?
(a) He was unkind.
(b) He lives with them.
(c) He has died.
(d) They had a falling out.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Who is the author of "The Leap"?

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

4. What stands "cast in concrete" (para. 3) to commemorate the accident?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. 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?

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

(see the answer keys)

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