View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What error in speech does Ashima make when talking with the nurse?
(a) None, English was her best subject in Calcutta.
(b) She slips into her native tongue without realizing it.
(c) She forgets to use the plural when mentioning toes and fingers.
(d) She uses the wrong word for baby.

3. How does the breakup between Gogol/Nakhil and Ruth happen?
(a) Ruth's parents don't like her seeing an Indian so she ends it.
(b) Gogol's friends tell him Ruth isn't right for him.
(c) They have a huge fight and Gogol walks out on her.
(d) Ruth takes a class in England and that ends the affair.

4. What does Gogol think when his parents tell him they are going to India for eight months?
(a) That they are joking.
(b) That they are doing it only to acquaint him and Sonia with India.
(c) That they are homesick.
(d) That they think he's become too American.

5. How do Ashoke and Ashima give in to American customs?
(a) They buy season tickets to sporting events.
(b) They cease celebrating Indian holidays.
(c) They let Sonia and Gogol choose American food at the supermarket.
(d) They wear American clothes even in their own home.

6. Why is the principal confused about Gogol's name?
(a) She can't figure out how to pronounce the unfamiliar name.
(b) The birth certificate and Gogol's father state different names for him.
(c) She can't understand Ashoke's Indian accent.
(d) She doesn't understand about Indian pet names.

7. What place does Ashima recall while in labor?
(a) Her childhood home in India.
(b) The apartment she shares with her husband.
(c) No place, she's totally involved in her present situation.
(d) The lake she once visited as a child.

8. How do Gogol's parents explain his lack of an alternative identity to friends in India?
(a) They tell people he would only respond to Gogol.
(b) They say alternative identities are not used in America.
(c) They say the law about names in America makes such identities difficult if not impossible.
(d) They say they forgot such things after living in America.

9. What does the judge ask Gogol when he goes to court to change his name?
(a) Whether his family agrees.
(b) What problems his name has caused him.
(c) What is the reason for wishing to change his name.
(d) Whether he is a felon hiding from the law.

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

11. What difference does Ashima notice in her days before and after Gogol's birth?
(a) Now she can't seem to organize her days.
(b) Now friends stop by at all hours to see Gogol.
(c) Now she isn't the center of attention when Ashoke is home.
(d) Now she has something to occupy her time.

12. How many people come to Sonia's rice ceremony when she's six months old?
(a) Just a handful but they are good friends of the family.
(b) Practically none because they have few Indian neighbors.
(c) So many that the Gangulis rent a building on campus.
(d) The whole neighborhood, including their American friends.

13. Why doesn't Ashoke explain how Gogol came about his name when he gives him the book by Nikoli Gogol?
(a) He sees that Gogol is interested in other things.
(b) He doesn't want Gogol to know about the terrible train wreck Ashoke was in.
(c) He doesn't like the person his son has become.
(d) He feels Gogol should figure it out on his own.

14. What is the one complication about Gogol/Nikhil's new name?
(a) He only wishes he'd done it years earlier.
(b) He doesn't feel like a Nikhil.
(c) He can't remember to respond to his new name.
(d) He forgets and signs his old name every so often.

15. What two kinds of parties does Gogol have for his fourteenth birthday?
(a) One with family and one with school friends.
(b) One with friends from school and one with Indian friends of his family.
(c) One on his actual birthday, another on the weekend when it's convenient.
(d) One at home and one at a pizza parlor.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who will name Ashoke and Ashima's baby?

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

3. What is Ashima's second pregnancy like?

4. What happens when Gogol returns to school during his freshman year after meeting Ruth over the weekend?

5. After the train wreck, what did Ashoke do which he believes saved his life?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 957 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample