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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What hateful thing did Shonagon say some elderly people did when warming their hands over a brazier?
(a) Slept.
(b) Counted their age spots.
(c) Rubbed their hands together.
(d) Stretched out their wrinkles.

2. What item did Shonagon send to Normitsu in response to his letter asking if he could tell Tadanobu where she was?
(a) Seaweed.
(b) Twig.
(c) Shell.
(d) Hollyhock.

3. What does Shonagon say was depressing for a messenger who brought a gift to a house where a child was just born?
(a) The gift was returned unopened.
(b) The child had died.
(c) No reward was given.
(d) The messenger was ignored.

4. What was hung from the pillars of the Empress' palace during the Festival of the Fifth Month?
(a) Chrysanthemums.
(b) Herbal balls.
(c) Pear blossoms.
(d) Cherry blossoms.

5. What did Shonagon say that women at the palace did not do as other women did?
(a) Serve tea.
(b) Hide their faces behind fans and screens.
(c) Bow to men.
(d) Walk about with their hair unkempt.

6. What color robe did Korechika wear when he came to report to His Majesty while the ladies sat discussing the painting on a sliding screen?
(a) Golden yellow.
(b) Cherry-colored.
(c) Wistaria.
(d) Black.

7. What was painted on the screens carried in the Empress's apartments on the day after the Naming of the Buddhas?
(a) The sea.
(b) Heaven.
(c) Hell.
(d) A temple.

8. Who asked Narimasa to arrange a meeting with Shonagon about the small gate?
(a) The Empress.
(b) The Emperor.
(c) Narimasa's brother.
(d) The palace architect.

9. What was the old nun who came on the second day of the Perpetual Readings asking for?
(a) A place to stay.
(b) New clothes.
(c) Leftovers from the altar.
(d) A job.

10. Who did the Empress refer to as "heavenly maidens floating in the air?"
(a) Her attendants.
(b) Young women at a wedding.
(c) Little girls at a festival.
(d) Her daughters.

11. What shade of plum blossom brought Shonagon the most pleasure?
(a) Yellow.
(b) White.
(c) Blue.
(d) Red.

12. What did Shonagon think small children and babies should look like?
(a) Tall.
(b) Puppies.
(c) Plump.
(d) Willow trees.

13. What tree did Shonagon say had a vulgar name?
(a) Cypress.
(b) Chinese hawthorn.
(c) Pear tree.
(d) Oak.

14. What was wrong with the appearance of the escorts that Shonagon saw while visiting the palace to see the horses on the first day of the First Month?
(a) Their hair was unkempt.
(b) Their feet were too large.
(c) Their faces were improperly powdered.
(d) They were too tall.

15. What was painted on the paper-door of Lord Akinobu's house?
(a) Birds.
(b) Horses.
(c) The Palace.
(d) Hell.

Short Answer Questions

1. What gate at the house of the Senior Steward was too small for the carriage Shonagon and the other ladies rode in?

2. During what festival did people decorate with irises?

3. What did one of the women ask the old nun to do, which the Empress found degrading?

4. During what cool month of heavy showers and fierce winds did Shonagon like to nap?

5. Where did the women plan to go to hear a hototogisu sing during the Abstinence of the Fifth Month?

(see the answer keys)

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