View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What rumor has Mir Nihal heard about Nisar Ahmad?
(a) He uses powerful charms to acquire customers.
(b) He sells impure ghee in his business.
(c) He has rare dappled pigeons for sale.
(d) He has a Farangi girlfriend.

2. In Part II, Chapter 5, what do the friends agree is the missing ingredient in the Jama Masjid prescription?
(a) A golden flower.
(b) Faith.
(c) A bitter green herb.
(d) Heat.

3. What does Mushtari Bai mean when she compares Asghar to "the moon of Eed" (53)?
(a) She feels betrayed by the way Asghar has treated her.
(b) She knows that Asghar does not really love her.
(c) She suspects that Asghar has fallen in love with someone else.
(d) She gets frustrated waiting to see Asghar.

4. When Begam Nihal tells her husband that he can buy more pigeons to replace those that have died, how does he react?
(a) He announces that he is giving up flying pigeons.
(b) He tells her about Babban Jan and her death.
(c) He tells her that she knows nothing about him or his life.
(d) He stands up and walks out of the house.

5. What is ironic about Asghar's characterization of their days in Bhopal as "happy" (35)?
(a) The reader is aware that Asghar is not really capable of happiness.
(b) The two stories he recalls from that time are not really happy ones.
(c) He has repeatedly told Bundoo how unhappy he was in Bhopal.
(d) Begam Waheed argued against him being sent to live with her.

6. What caused Ahmed Ali to be unable to return to India?
(a) The outbreak of World War I.
(b) His decision to renounce his Indian citizenship.
(c) The Indian government's anger over his writings.
(d) The partition of India and Pakistan.

7. In Part I, Chapter 4, who asks Asghar, "When are we going to hear the good news of your marriage?" (20)?
(a) Bundoo.
(b) Mir Nihal.
(c) Bilqeece.
(d) His sister-in-law.

8. In Part I, Chapter 3, what does the narrator point out there are "ever so many" of, "young ones and old ones" (14)?
(a) Imams.
(b) Muezzins.
(c) Beggars.
(d) Vendors.

9. What hobbies does Mir Nihal pursue in Chapter 5?
(a) Kite fighting and poetry.
(b) Medicine and alchemy.
(c) Poetry and medicine.
(d) Alchemy and kite fighting.

10. What caused the abolition of Persian, Sanskrit, and Arabic from Indian schools?
(a) The intervention of the Catholic Church.
(b) The defeat of an attempted Afghan invasion of India.
(c) The British attempt to anglicize Indians.
(d) The elevation of Warren Hastings to Governor.

11. Who has been urging Mir Nihal to retire?
(a) His wife.
(b) His mistress.
(c) His sons.
(d) His doctor.

12. What causes Mir Nihal to be so depressed that he does not fly his pigeons one afternoon in Chapter 2?
(a) His concern over the illness of Begam Jamal and Masroor.
(b) The diminishing role he plays in his own household.
(c) The heat-related deaths of some of his birds.
(d) His worries over Babban Jan.

13. What is the "prescription written on the southern gate of the Jama Masjid" a recipe for (88)?
(a) A "universal elixir."
(b) An antidote to poison.
(c) A powerful charm.
(d) Gold.

14. Why is Mir Nihal hurrying home at the beginning of Part II, Chapter 1?
(a) He wants to bring some mangoes to his family to make sherbet.
(b) He has heard that Begam Nihal has arranged Asghar's marriage.
(c) He has heard that Babban Jan has sent a message to his house.
(d) He has forgotten to give his pigeons water.

15. What question does Mehro asks the beggar Gul Bano?
(a) How she has managed to evade the British for so long.
(b) How she prevents herself from falling into despair.
(c) Whether she spent much time with her famous grandfather.
(d) Whether coronations are better under the English than under the Mughals.

Short Answer Questions

1. What word do the older people like Begam Nihal use to refer to the place where they live?

2. Besides being "piercing," what other quality does the narrator say Mushtari Bai's eyes have (52)?

3. Who is Mehro Zamani?

4. What was the cause of Asghar, Begam Waheed, and Begam Nihal being sent away to live somewhere else when Asghar was a child?

5. As Mir Nihal hurries to Babban Jan's on Friday night, what does he hear both a song and a poem about?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 730 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample