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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was Ramanujan's religion?
(a) Tamil.
(b) Muslim.
(c) Hindu.
(d) Confucian.

2. What was Ramanujan's family's status?
(a) Poor.
(b) Impoverished.
(c) Wealthy.
(d) Not very rich.

3. What was the significance of Erode in Ramanujan's family?
(a) Where Ramanujan went to school.
(b) Ramanujan's mother's ancestral home.
(c) Where Ramanujan was buried.
(d) Ramanujan's hometown.

4. What does Kanigel say about Ramanujan's marriage?
(a) It had all the ingredients for a lovely match.
(b) Both parties resisted it.
(c) It was seen as fortuitous.
(d) There were omens of disaster.

5. How does Kanigel characterize Ramanujan's developing approach to math?
(a) Irreverent.
(b) Semi-religious.
(c) Materialistic.
(d) Pragmatic.

6. What was Hardy's experience of secondary education like, according to Kanigel?
(a) He loved it.
(b) He passed through without distinction.
(c) He hated it.
(d) It transformed him into an upstanding citizen.

7. How does Kanigel characterize Ramanujan's tutoring?
(a) Effective.
(b) Incoherent.
(c) Inspired.
(d) Unhelpful.

8. What class was Ramanujan raised in?
(a) Pancha-Gauda Brahmin.
(b) Maharashtra Brahmin.
(c) Pancha-Dravida Brahmin.
(d) Shaivite Brahmin.

9. What were Ramanujan's parents getting impatient with?
(a) Ramanujan's failure to win prizes.
(b) Ramanujan's sloth.
(c) Ramanujan's insubordination.
(d) Ramanujan's scribbling in notebooks.

10. When did Ramanujan win a scholarship for his math skills?
(a) During high school.
(b) After high school.
(c) After college.
(d) After middle school.

11. What is the British term for what Americans call private high schools?
(a) Finishing school.
(b) Public school.
(c) Technical school.
(d) Private school.

12. What did Ramanujan's parents do in response to their impatience?
(a) Apprentice him to a designer.
(b) Buy him a bureaucratic appointment.
(c) Marry him off.
(d) Send him to school.

13. Who was N. Ramanujachariar?
(a) Ramanujan's trainer.
(b) Ramanujan's math teacher.
(c) Ramanujan's rival.
(d) Ramanujan's roommate.

14. When was Ramanujan born?
(a) 1890.
(b) 1892.
(c) 1887.
(d) 1877.

15. What does Kanigel say Ramanujan learned from an old book?
(a) The theory of relativity.
(b) Calculus.
(c) Algebra.
(d) Analytic trigonometry.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who comprised the Apostles?

2. What was Ramanujan's father's employment?

3. Why did Ramanujan leave school?

4. Which god was Ramanujan's family devoted to?

5. What did Ramanujan need to do now that he was married?

(see the answer keys)

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