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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why did Leda drag her daughters to a pay phone when she returned from the conference?
(a) They could not afford their home phone anymore.
(b) To call Professor Hardy.
(c) To call Gianni when she was locked out of her apartment.
(d) To call her mother and ask if the girls could live with her.

2. What does Leda recall Bianca doing when she was 5 and Leda was working on an essay?
(a) Coloring all over her work.
(b) Screaming in her ear.
(c) Tearing up her work.
(d) Slapping her on the ear.

3. What does Nina say has happened to Elena since she lost her doll?
(a) She seems more grown up.
(b) She refuses to eat.
(c) She has stopped speaking.
(d) She has regressed.

4. What does Toni say to Leda when he sees her at the fair?
(a) He asks her to keep away from his wife.
(b) He asks if she is the one who stole the doll.
(c) He is happy Nina has found a friend.
(d) It is nice that she has nothing to do.

5. What excuse did Leda give to her professor when he invited her to a conference?
(a) She did not like that particular writer.
(b) She could not afford it.
(c) She could not leave her daughters.
(d) Her husband would never let her.

6. What are the Neapolitan children handing out on the beach when Leda arrives at the end of Chapter 18?
(a) Sunscreen.
(b) A flyer for the missing doll.
(c) Flyers for a concert.
(d) Handmade crafts.

7. What does Leda buy for Nina and Elena at the fair?
(a) An ice cream.
(b) A new doll.
(c) A hat pin.
(d) A blanket.

8. What does Leda say when Giovanni asks about the doll in her apartment?
(a) She says she found it and wanted to clean it before giving it back to Elena.
(b) She says she stole it from the child.
(c) She says she has no idea how it got there.
(d) She says it is her good luck charm.

9. How did Leda's professor convince her to go to the conference he invited her to when her children were young?
(a) He secured funding for her trip.
(b) He found a baby-sitter for her children.
(c) He spoke to her husband and convinced him to allow her to go.
(d) He told her she could be a guest speaker.

10. What does Nina tell Leda she wants when they discuss whether she really wants to use Nina's apartment to be with Gino?
(a) She just wants Toni to love her.
(b) She does not know what she wanted.
(c) She is afraid to say no to Gino.
(d) She just wants an escape.

11. What does Leda feel "reduced her to rotting matter without life" (75)?
(a) Her job.
(b) Her second pregnancy.
(c) Her marriage.
(d) Parenthood.

12. What did Brenda ask Leda for before they left after spending the night in Calabrese?
(a) Some food to take with them.
(b) Some money to go back to her family.
(c) A picture of her family.
(d) Something Leda had written.

13. What does Nina tell Leda she wants to do after Leda returns home?
(a) Write letters to Leda.
(b) Work with Leda.
(c) Visit Leda in Florence.
(d) Move to Florence with Leda.

14. What does Nina ask Leda when she calls on Sunday close to midnight in Chapter 25?
(a) She asks if she can take her to Florence.
(b) She asks her to help her leave Toni.
(c) She asks to meet her the next morning.
(d) She asks her to watch Elena.

15. What does Elena tell Leda about her doll?
(a) She is blind.
(b) She has a broken leg.
(c) She is scared.
(d) She is pregnant.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Elena do when Leda asked if she had found her doll?

2. Why was Leda worried Gianni would bring her daughters to her family in Naples after she left them?

3. What does Nina jab Leda with in her apartment at the end of the novel?

4. In Chapter 19, Leda reflects on a time her professor invited her to a conference on which writer?

5. Who dances with "a serious intensity" (79) at a dancing party in Chapter 23?

(see the answer keys)

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