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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 does the narrator point out in paragraph one about how her mother moves through the house?
(a) She acts as though her daughter is not there.
(b) She is quite clumsy.
(c) She never bumps into anything or knocks anything over.
(d) She barely moves so as not to disturb anything.

2. What metaphor is used in paragraph 5 to describe the way Anna and Harold would drop through the air during their act?
(a) Like two sparkling birds.
(b) Like dragonflies in the night.
(c) Like two doves in love.
(d) Like two peas in a pod.

3. Who is the author of "The Leap"?
(a) Louise Erdrich.
(b) Leonora Ellis.
(c) Leslie Eldridge.
(d) Eleanor Lee.

4. What was the narrator's mother's former career as stated in the first sentence?
(a) Ringleader.
(b) Ballerina.
(c) Fire breather.
(d) Trapeze artist.

5. What weather condition resulted in the disaster Anna and her husband experienced during their act?
(a) A gale.
(b) A tsunami.
(c) A blizzard.
(d) A tornado.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What did the ringmaster do to introduce the Flying Avalons on the day of the disaster?

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

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

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. 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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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