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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Ashima do before Christmas while Ashoke is in Ohio?
(a) She gets to know her neighbors better.
(b) She makes her own Christmas cards.
(c) She sits in the dark and misses her husband.
(d) She hires a maid just to have someone around.

2. Where had Moushumi been at the time of Ashoke's funeral?
(a) Traveling extensively, something she'd always wanted to do.
(b) In Paris.
(c) She was on an extended visit to India.
(d) At Brown University studying for her Ph.D.

3. Why doesn't Gogol bring things home from his father's apartment in Ohio for his mother?
(a) He doesn't want to make her cry.
(b) There's nothing of personal importance in the apartment.
(c) He doesn't have time to sort through things.
(d) It's not their way.

4. What does Gogol remember in the days after his first date with Moushumi?
(a) That he doesn't want to marry someone with a similar background to his.
(b) The way her hair blows in the wind.
(c) Things about her as a child that he'd forgotten.
(d) How she'd finished his sentences for him.

5. How do Gogol and Moushumi dress for their wedding reception?
(a) They wear formal Western clothes.
(b) They are comfortable in casual clothes.
(c) They dress for warm weather for their honeymoon.
(d) They revert to traditional Indian dress.

6. Why is it important to Moushumi to know that she is still capable of living on her own?
(a) Because being dependent makes her feel claustrophobic.
(b) Because she's not completely comfortable in her marriage.
(c) Because she wants to be like other American women.
(d) Because her mother still does not know how to drive.

7. What does Moushumi wear for her wedding?
(a) She wears a suit because she must return to work shortly.
(b) A dress chosen for her by her family as tradition decrees.
(c) A white flowing wedding dress.
(d) A traditional Indian sari.

8. Where do Moushumi and Dimitri first meet for lunch?
(a) His apartment.
(b) A cafe they both remember fondly.
(c) A cafe near the train station because they are both in a hurry.
(d) A park where they share bag lunches.

9. What does Gogol sense about Maxine's reaction to the neighborhood where he lives?
(a) That she doesn't like the style of the buildings.
(b) That she's horrified by the wide-open spaces and yards.
(c) That the landscape is foreign to her.
(d) That she feels at home in the normal, suburban environment.

10. Why does Ashima insist Gogol come home for a visit?
(a) Because Ashoke is leaving for a project in Ohio.
(b) Because she wants him to meet Sonia's new boyfriend.
(c) Because he's drifting farther and farther away from his roots.
(d) Because she hasn't seen him and misses him.

11. How does Gogol feel when he and Moushumi return from Paris to America and attend parties?
(a) He is relieved to have his wife back.
(b) He still feels left out because they are Moushumi's friends.
(c) He wishes they were still in Paris; at least people spoke to him there.
(d) He feels guilty that Moushumi is left out but he figures it's her turn.

12. How does Maxine treat Gogol's parents when they visit on their way to New Hampshire?
(a) She insults them by refusing to eat their Indian food.
(b) She ignores them, talking only to Gogol.
(c) She is polite and draws them out in conversation.
(d) She asks questions that are much too personal.

13. How often does Ashima see Ashoke while he's working in Ohio?
(a) His job doesn't allow for him to come home at all.
(b) Once a month, it's all the time off he can get.
(c) Every three weekends he comes home.
(d) Every weekend, though it is expensive that often.

14. What does Gogol do after window shopping with Moushumi?
(a) He drops her off at her apartment then goes home.
(b) He rushes home because he has work that's waiting.
(c) He buys a hat for her that she'd admired.
(d) He goes to a bar and has a quick drink.

15. What does the Ganguli family do on the eleventh day after Ashoke's death?
(a) They invite friends to mark the end of the mourning period.
(b) They return to India with Ashoke's ashes.
(c) They ask them if there is anything of Ashoke's that they can use.
(d) They dab themselves with mud and ashes for mourning.

Short Answer Questions

1. How has Dimitri changed since Moushumi first met him?

2. How does Gogol know that his mother is nervous about meeting Maxine?

3. Who wants to introduce Gogol to a girl he used to know as a child?

4. Was Moushumi's fiance comfortable with her Indian heritage?

5. What fact delights Moushumi as she begins her eighth semester at NYU?

(see the answer keys)

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