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

2. When Mir Nihal arrives home at the beginning of the story, what does his wife tell him about their son?
(a) He is spending time with a family she dislikes.
(b) He should get a job soon.
(c) He should get married soon.
(d) He was seen in the company of a dancing girl.

3. What creature does Mir Nihal kill in Part I, Chapter 1?
(a) A wild dog.
(b) A binturong.
(c) A civet.
(d) A snake.

4. To what animal does the narrator compare the city of Delhi in the story's opening pages?
(a) An elderly bull.
(b) A beaten dog.
(c) A starving tiger.
(d) An overburdened donkey.

5. What word do the older people like Begam Nihal use to refer to the place where they live?
(a) Bharat.
(b) Hindustan.
(c) Aryavarta.
(d) Nabhivarsha.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Who is Nisar Ahmad?

3. During the discussion of alchemy, what does Kambal Shah say would happen if everyone had equal wealth?

4. What is significant about the year that Begam Nihal compares the summer's heat to?

5. By what year does the Introduction say the British East India Company had established control of India?

Short Essay Questions

1. What contrast do Begam Jamal and Begam Nihal make between the processions held by Mughal emperors and their expectations for the procession about to be held by the English?

2. In what way were E. M. Forester and Virginia Woolf involved in the publication of Twilight in India?

3. How does the cat end up getting into Mir Nihal's pigeon loft?

4. What does the reader learn in Chapter 3 about Mir Nihal's real reason for working at the lace shop, and how does this shed light on his feelings about his family?

5. What is the Ghadar of 1857?

6. What did the ironsmith teach Mir Nihal to find, and how did he teach him to find it?

7. Who is Hameed, and what light does Asghar think Hameed's situation throws on his own?

8. What is Begam Nihal's objection to Bilqeece's family?

9. What do Khwaja Ashraf Ali, Mir Nihal, and Hakim Bashir argue about, and what story does Khwaja Ashraf Ali tell to end the argument?

10. What criticisms does Mir Nihal make about his son Asghar in Chapter 1?

(see the answer keys)

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