View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What stands "cast in concrete" (para. 3) to commemorate the accident?
(a) A sequined costume.
(b) A statue of trapeze artists.
(c) A replica tent pole.
(d) A feather boa.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. Where does the narrator say she used to live in paragraph 4?

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

5. How many acts performed before Anna and her husband's act on the day of the disaster?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 746 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample