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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What did Shonagon say gentlemen should always have lest she find them boring?
(a) Quick tongues.
(b) Nice clothes.
(c) Money.
(d) Escorts.

2. What color did Shonagon say a cat's back should be?
(a) Orange.
(b) Grey.
(c) White.
(d) Black.

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

4. What was Yukinari's title?
(a) Emperor.
(b) Controller First Secretary.
(c) Middle Counsellor.
(d) Chamberlain.

5. 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) They were too tall.
(b) Their hair was unkempt.
(c) Their feet were too large.
(d) Their faces were improperly powdered.

6. What color of under-robe was depressing in the Eighth Month?
(a) Red.
(b) Blue.
(c) White.
(d) Black.

7. What did Shonagon say a well-bred young man should never do when visiting a woman of lower rank?
(a) Give her gifts.
(b) Kiss her.
(c) Call out her name.
(d) Let anyone see him.

8. What did Lord Akinobu say he had picked with his own hands?
(a) Seaweed.
(b) Rice.
(c) Fern sprouts.
(d) Cherries.

9. What did Shonagon see someone spreading on the ground while traveling in her carriage one day?
(a) Clothing.
(b) Straw mats.
(c) Seeds.
(d) Flowers.

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

11. What color were the horses that members of the nobility came to see on the first day of the First Month?
(a) Blue.
(b) White.
(c) Green.
(d) Chestnut.

12. 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.

13. What did stout men strike Shonagon as being?
(a) Sloppy-looking.
(b) Sleepy-looking.
(c) Lazy.
(d) Dumb-looking.

14. What did His Majesty ask Shonagon and the others to write down on a folded piece of paper following dinner?
(a) Their names.
(b) A passage from a book of philosophy.
(c) Their lineage.
(d) The first ancient poem that came to mind.

15. What kind of plant did Shonagon find pretty when it floated on the water of a pond?
(a) Lotus leaves.
(b) Hollyhock.
(c) Water-plantain.
(d) Water oats.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Yukinari tell Shonagon he was saying to the woman she saw him speaking with near the garden fence?

2. What did the Empress give the old nun?

3. What was painted on the sliding screen in the back of the hall at Seiryo Palace?

4. In what month did the peach trees come into bloom?

5. How many women got in the carriage to go hear the hototogisu singing?

(see the answer keys)

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