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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. In the section called "Hateful Things," what hateful thing happened when an admirer came for a clandestine visit?
(a) The door was locked.
(b) The admirer got lost.
(c) A maid caught the visitor.
(d) A dog barked.

3. While the Empress was staying in the building of the Empress's Office, what was reported to be in the main room?
(a) A demon.
(b) A ghost.
(c) A rat.
(d) A burglar.

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

5. What dried plant evoked a memory from the past in the section titled "Things That Arouse a Fond Memory From the Past?"
(a) Cherry blossom.
(b) Hollyhock.
(c) Violet.
(d) Rose.

Short Answer Questions

1. What kind of bird was said to make its nest in the paulownia tree?

2. Who asked Narimasa to arrange a meeting with Shonagon about the small gate?

3. What was the weather like in the Seventh Month?

4. Who did the Empress refer to as "heavenly maidens floating in the air?"

5. What did the pictures hung for the Perpetual Readings depict?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did the Emperor walk toward the Empress' building while playing his flute?

2. Why did Tsunefusa begin calling Shonagon Grass Hut?

3. Why did Shonagon send her brother a piece of seaweed in reply to his letter?

4. Why did Shonagon say a wickerwork carriage should move swiftly?

5. Why didn't the women write their hototogisu poems after going on an outing to hear them sing?

6. Why didn't Shonagon like the husbands of nurse-maids?

7. Why did Shonagon offer a gardener a reward to see to it that the snow mountain did not melt until after the fifteenth of the First Month?

8. Why was it depressing for someone to wear a white under-robe in the Eighth Month?

9. In "Smaller Shirakawa," why did Shonagon and her companions leave the morning service early?

10. Why did the women hit one another with gruel sticks?

(see the answer keys)

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