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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What kind of food were the children fed at the convent that Lessing stayed in as a child?
(a) German peasant food.
(b) French peasant food.
(c) English peasant food.
(d) Traditional Rhodesian food.

2. What do Lessing's parents do in preparation for their next voyage?
(a) They had their teeth removed.
(b) They studied French.
(c) They saved money scrupulously.
(d) They drew up a legal will.

3. To which of the following illnesses did Lessing's brother often succumb?
(a) Pneumonia.
(b) Bronchitis.
(c) Emphysema.
(d) Migraine headaches.

4. How many biographers were writing about Lessing at the time that she wrote the book?
(a) Five.
(b) Two.
(c) Eight.
(d) Four.

5. How long before this book was written did Europeans arrive in Southern Rhodesia?
(a) 34 years.
(b) 54 years.
(c) 23 years.
(d) 103 years.

6. According to Lessing, where do most of the good biographers live?
(a) Germany.
(b) United States of America.
(c) Britain.
(d) France.

7. Which of the following names does Lessing give the personality that would comes out of her while under the influence of drugs?
(a) The Guide.
(b) The Cynic.
(c) The Hostess.
(d) The Recluse.

8. What did Lessing's parents think of the Whiteheads when they first met them?
(a) That they could betray them at any time.
(b) That they were shifty and unsatisfactory.
(c) That they should return to England.
(d) That they would be useful in developing relationships.

9. Which of the following did Lessing delight in telling the other children at the school?
(a) That being naughty was much worse than lying.
(b) That lying would make their face stick in a horrible position.
(c) That a lie was worse than being naughty.
(d) That being naughty was more fun than behaving.

10. During the 1930's what did Lessing and her brother hear all of the adults discussing?
(a) The Empire.
(b) The War.
(c) The Native Problem.
(d) The Slump.

11. To which of the following religions did Lessing suddenly convert?
(a) Anglicanism.
(b) Christianity.
(c) Roman Catholicism.
(d) Judaism.

12. Which of the following areas was the homeland of Lessing's mother's doctor?
(a) Johannesburg.
(b) Persia.
(c) Zimbabwe.
(d) Sinoia.

13. What was the name of Lessing's nanny?
(a) Beth.
(b) Betsy.
(c) Biddy.
(d) Betty.

14. How did Lessing's mother cure Lessing's lice problem?
(a) By shaving her head.
(b) With expensive shampoo.
(c) By washing her hair with scalding hot water.
(d) With paraffin.

15. How many family members went to visit Lessing's house in Persia?
(a) Three.
(b) Six.
(c) Four.
(d) Two.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did Lessing's mother convey her distaste for Emily McVeagh?

2. Which of the following was the "chief wrong" that Lessing's mother cited in her diatribe against the Catholic Church?

3. How much capital did Lessing's father take to Southern Rhodesia?

4. Which of the following conditions ailed the author's father?

5. Why did Lessing not like the clothes that her mother had made for her?

(see the answer keys)

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