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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. Why does Bahka not immediately apologize when he is accused of bumping the man in the street?
(a) He thinks the idea of ritual pollution is ridiculous.
(b) He does not think he really bumped the man.
(c) He does not hear what the man is saying, at first.
(d) He is paralyzed with fear.

2. What does the street urchin accuse Bakha of?
(a) Insulting a god.
(b) Improper behavior with a woman.
(c) Beating him.
(d) Theft.

3. What did Lakha borrow money from Ganesh Nath, the bania, to pay for?
(a) His daughter's dowry.
(b) His wife's funeral.
(c) Sweeping equipment.
(d) A cow.

4. What is Lakha's purpose in having Sohini call for her brothers?
(a) He intends to get them to do his work as well as their own.
(b) He wants to scold them for not doing their work properly.
(c) He wants to ask them about Lachman's intentions toward Sohini.
(d) He needs them to escort Sohini to and from the temple.

5. When Bakha is in the street where he has to step over the cow, what does he notice about his surroundings?
(a) There are not as many people out as is usual for the time of day.
(b) His sister has not cleaned the street as she was supposed to have done.
(c) Many of the shopkeepers are staring at him as if they have already heard gossip about him.
(d) The number of British goods for sale has increased since he was last in the town.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Bakha's first response when he hears the priest cry out "Polluted, polluted, polluted" (50)?

2. What is a tonga-wallah?

3. After he is finally free of the crowd in the street, what does Bakha suddenly realize is at the root of all of his problems?

4. What does the narrator say Charat Singh's offer "called forth" in Bakha (10)?

5. What is the job of the young man who is interested in Sohini?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Bakha feel as he enters the temple courtyard, and why does he have these feelings?

2. Describe the conditions in which Bakha's family lives.

3. What rhetorical purpose is served by the long passage in which Pundit Kali Nath thinks about all of the foods he has recently eaten?

4. What altercation does Sohini get into at the well, and why does it happen?

5. What is the "fashun" that Bakha and his friends adhere to, and why do they do it? (4)

6. What seems ironic to Bakha when he thinks about the reason that schools will not admit outcaste students?

7. Describe the dynamic between Bakha and his friends.

8. Why is the man that Bakha bumps into in the street so angry?

9. Describe Bakha's father.

10. What does the description of the town as Bakha enters it emphasize, and how does this foreshadow what will happen later, when Bakha bumps into someone?

(see the answer keys)

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