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

2. What was the five-year-old boy that Shonagon saw while traveling her carriage one day holding?
(a) A bucket.
(b) Flowers.
(c) A puppy.
(d) A bow and stick.

3. What did one of the women ask the old nun to do, which the Empress found degrading?
(a) Bow.
(b) Clean their clothing.
(c) Sing and dance.
(d) Cook a meal.

4. What does the name of the kotonashi shrub mean?
(a) Grass that endures.
(b) High face.
(c) Nothing wrong.
(d) Shining leaves.

5. Who did most people consider as "unimportant as a piece of wood?"
(a) A fishwife.
(b) A gardener.
(c) A priest.
(d) A courtier.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did the Empress give the old nun?

2. What did Shonagon think small children and babies should look like?

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

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

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Why did Shonagon change her opinion of the blossom of the pear tree?

4. What made Shonagon come into the Empress's apartments after she left because the screens with the paintings of Hell frightened her?

5. Why did Shonagon and the other women often have to stay away from the Palace?

6. Why did the Empress give the old nun, whom the women later dubbed Hitachi no Suke, one of her own robes?

7. Why did the women laugh at the paintings on the sliding screen in Seiryo Palace?

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

9. How did Shonagon describe the life of a priest?

10. Why was it considered such a bad thing for Masahiro to leave his shoes on the serving-board?

(see the answer keys)

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