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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What do Begam Nihal and Begam Waheed decided to do to celebrate Asghar's engagement?
(a) Donate money to the mosque.
(b) Have a meelad read.
(c) Buy Asghar some charms and amulets.
(d) Invite the qawwali singers to the house.

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

3. By what year does the Introduction say the British East India Company had established control of India?
(a) 1852.
(b) 1835.
(c) 1757.
(d) 1818.

4. When Begam Waheed first arrives and asks her mother why Asghar looks thin and pale, what does her mother tell her is bothering him?
(a) His father's criticism.
(b) The heat.
(c) His love life.
(d) Missing his sister.

5. On Saturday morning, what is Mir Nihal's reaction to seeing the cat that attacked his pigeons?
(a) He considers whether it might be better to keep cats than pigeons.
(b) He tries to beat it to death.
(c) He prays to God to deliver him from his anger.
(d) He curses it and chases it from the roof.

6. What do the adults tell the children causes dust storms?
(a) The ifrit are rising up from their underground caves.
(b) The jinns are getting ready to celebrate a wedding.
(c) One of the children has told an elder a lie.
(d) The heat is trying to chase the rain away.

7. What is implied by the snippet of poetry that Mir Nihal thinks about at the end of Part II, Chapter 1?
(a) He is unlikely to recover well from any further disappointments.
(b) He understands that his love for Babban Jan is impious.
(c) His mental state is much more precarious than others realize.
(d) He wishes that he felt about Begam Nihal the way he feels about Babban Jan.

8. Which residents of Delhi are described in the first page and a half of Part II, Chapter 6?
(a) Soldiers.
(b) Vendors.
(c) Beggars.
(d) Islamic clergy.

9. What does Mir Nihal tell his wife will happen if Asghar insists on marrying Bilqeece?
(a) He will divorce Begam Nihal.
(b) He will disown Asghar.
(c) He will kill Asghar.
(d) He will cut off financial support to Begam Nihal.

10. Who is Nisar Ahmad?
(a) Mir Nihal's son-in-law.
(b) The muezzin at Mir Nihal's mosque.
(c) Mir Nihal's partner in the lace business.
(d) A former lover of Babban Jan's.

11. Besides being "piercing," what other quality does the narrator say Mushtari Bai's eyes have (52)?
(a) They are "shaded with uncertainty."
(b) They are "full of night."
(c) They are "luminous."
(d) They are "poisonous."

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

13. During the dust storm, who eavesdrops on Begam Waheed and Begam Nihal's conversation about Asghar?
(a) Anjum Zamani.
(b) Mehro.
(c) Begam Jamal.
(d) Dilchain.

14. What is Mizra Nasirul Mulk's relationship to Bahadur Shah?
(a) He is Bahadur Shah's son.
(b) He is Bahadur Shah's Lord Governor's son.
(c) He is Bahadur Shah's nephew.
(d) He is Bahadur Shah's great-grandson.

15. What changes about the weather just before Begam Waheed's departure for Bhopal?
(a) The breeze dies and the heat becomes unbearable.
(b) There is a storm that floods the roads out of Delhi.
(c) A cooler breeze begins and rain finally blows into Delhi.
(d) There is a period of unseasonable cold.

Short Answer Questions

1. After Begam Waheed gives Asghar the good news about his mother deciding he can marry Bilqeece, what advice does she give Asghar?

2. Which Nihal family member is said to be everyone's favorite?

3. Why does Mir Nihal go to the Chowk on Friday evening?

4. What happy news do the Nihals receive in Part I, Chapter 5?

5. What does Asghar's strategy seem to be in bringing up the death of Begam Waheed's husband?

(see the answer keys)

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