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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What does Ashima tell Ashoke as soon as they bring their baby home?
(a) She rebukes him for not having done the dishes.
(b) She says she can't do this.
(c) She says nothing; she is tired and needs her sleep.
(d) She tells him they are starting on a new journey in life.

3. What bad news does Ashima receive from her family in India soon after Gogol's birth?
(a) Her grandmother has had a stroke.
(b) Her father has lost his job.
(c) Her little brother's wedding has been called off.
(d) Their home was flooded and suffered extensive damage.

4. How many invited Indian immigrants come to Gogol's second birthday party?
(a) No one comes and the family is upset for Gogol's sake.
(b) Close to forty people.
(c) So many that they spill into the back yard.
(d) A handful because most are too busy to come.

5. What happens to Ashoke and Ashima within a decade of moving to America?
(a) They become true Americans.
(b) They seldom know what's going on with their families in India.
(c) They lose touch with their families in India.
(d) They both become orphans.

6. What does the Ganguli family do in the beginning of their life in their new home, in the evenings?
(a) They go for drives and explore their new environs bit by bit.
(b) They watch American programs on their television.
(c) They work on their English language skills.
(d) They sit outside and enjoy the luxury of a real yard.

7. How do Gogol and his friends celebrate his fourteenth birthday party?
(a) They go swimming at a nearby pool.
(b) They have pizzas and watched a baseball game on TV.
(c) They got to a baseball game and have pizza afterwards.
(d) They go to a pizza parlor where they play video games.

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

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

10. How does Gogol go about changing his school documents that were completed using the name Gogol?
(a) Only when necessary because paperwork doesn't match.
(b) He almost boasts to everyone about his name change.
(c) In stealth, not letting his classmates know about it.
(d) Methodically, one paper at a time but in no hurry.

11. Why does the principal finally end up registering Gogol by his pet name?
(a) He doesn't want to be called by any other name.
(b) She doesn't understand Indian culture.
(c) She feels Gogol is closer to an American name than Nikhil.
(d) She says the name on his birth certificate is his proper name.

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

13. Why doesn't the Ganguli baby get the name it was supposed to get before leaving the hospital?
(a) Indian babies are never named so early in life.
(b) The grandmother's letter never arrived.
(c) There was a mixup on the birth certificate.
(d) Ashoke and Ashima couldn't agree on a name.

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

15. How does a book save Ashoke's life?
(a) It doesn't have anything to do with his survival.
(b) It stops a piece of flying metal that could have killed him.
(c) The book is like a warning and he avoids disaster.
(d) He is reading it and, thus, is in a safe place during the train wreck.

Short Answer Questions

1. What appearance does the Ganguli home present to a casual observer?

2. What did Ashoke do after the train wreck when he had nightmares at night and couldn't sleep?

3. What kind of name does Ashoke consider Gogol to be when he chooses it for his son?

4. What was Ashoke doing the day he almost died?

5. On the plane, why is Gogol happy to sit apart from his parents?

(see the answer keys)

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