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

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

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What did Harold and Anna use for part of their act?

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

4. In paragraph 3, where does the narrator say she gets her information about her mother's disaster?

5. What condition does the narrator's mother have as explained in paragraph 1?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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. Describe Anna and Harold's typical trapeze performance.

7. 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?

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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