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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In what type of neighborhood do the Gangulis finally purchase a home?
(a) In the country, where there are no neighbors to look down on them.
(b) Where Ashoke can get to work quickly.
(c) An ordinary area where plastic wading pools are left out on the lawns.
(d) In an historic area where they will be steeped in tradition.

2. What changes about the planned visit to India when Gogol is about a year old?
(a) Another family from India joins them for the trip.
(b) Ashoke's schedule necessitates cancelling the trip.
(c) Ashima's father dies, necessitating her going early.
(d) Gogol gets sick and is in the hospital for most of the visit.

3. How does Gogol feel after leaving the courthouse with a changed name?
(a) He wonders if he now looks more like an American.
(b) He wants to tell passersby that his name is Nikhil.
(c) He wonders if he did the right thing.
(d) He is concerned that his family will no longer accept him.

4. What do guests say about Sonia at the rice ceremony?
(a) She is the true American.
(b) She'll always live between two cultures.
(c) She'll be important when she grows up.
(d) She doesn't want to know her future.

5. Who does Gogol meet on a train coming home from school during his freshman year in college?
(a) A fellow student from school, a girl he recognizes.
(b) A friend from childhood whom he barely remembers.
(c) A woman who moves because she doesn't like immigrants.
(d) A stranger who reminds him of his father.

6. How does Gogol/Nakhil feel when people who used to call him Gogol use his new name?
(a) He wonders how they can keep his names straight.
(b) He wishes they'd still call him Gogol, he's used to it.
(c) He is pleased that they understand how important it is to him.
(d) He finds it startling.

7. When does the idea to change his name first occur to Gogol?
(a) When school officials can't pronounce his given name.
(b) When reading an issue of Readers Digest.
(c) When relatives in India tell him it's not an Indian name.
(d) When Sonia tells him people laugh behind his back.

8. What does Ashoke remember when he and Ashima bring Gogol home?
(a) That he'd not wanted children so soon.
(b) The conversation on the train before the train wreck.
(c) That he has a meeting and must soon leave for a while.
(d) How beautiful Ashima had been when they first met.

9. Where does Gogol first begin to introduce himself to people as Nikhil?
(a) At the park where a little boy asks his name.
(b) His first day of school in New Haven.
(c) As soon as he gets home he introduces his new self to his family.
(d) At the bank where he gets a school loan.

10. On the plane, why is Gogol happy to sit apart from his parents?
(a) Because he enjoys being on his own.
(b) He's glad because Sonia irritates him with her questions.
(c) Because he thinks no one will know they are related to him.
(d) He isn't happy, he's secretly afraid.

11. What did Gogol do at his birthday party with friends that he'd never done before?
(a) He said no to a frosted cake and ice cream.
(b) He got presents from friends, something his parents had not allowed before.
(c) He finally had a frosted cake and ice cream.
(d) He had a boy-girl party with dancing.

12. What do Gogol's parents think of his wanting to change his name?
(a) They see it as an insult to his heritage and his family.
(b) They can't imagine why he'd want to do such a thing.
(c) They think it might improve his chances for a good job.
(d) They think it's too complicated and he's too old.

13. As Ashoke waits while Ashima gives birth, who does he thank for his survival and this miracle of new life about to begin?
(a) God, he is a very religious man.
(b) Gogol, the Russian writer who saved his life in the train wreck.
(c) The man who lent him the book that saved his life.
(d) All the people of his family who came before him.

14. What does Gogol give his mother as a gift when his baby sister is born?
(a) A pretty bow for her hair that his father helped him pick out at the store.
(b) A blanket for the baby.
(c) A picture of his family that he drew.
(d) A bracelet he made at school.

15. As a young boy, how does Gogol feel about his name?
(a) He wishes it was more American.
(b) He doesn't mind his name.
(c) He doesn't like it because he believes it marks him as different.
(d) He hates being Gogol Ganjuli.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Gogol hate about explaining his name to people?

2. How does Ashoke's career advance in Chapter 3?

3. What does Ashima try to make for a midnight snack?

4. How does Ashima's family keep in touch with her after Gogol's birth?

5. What two kinds of names do children in India usually receive?

(see the answer keys)

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