View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What made Lessing and her brother weep at the end of Chapter 5?
(a) Their father died.
(b) Their mother shaved her head.
(c) Their mother died.
(d) Their servants were fired for stealing.

2. What was Lessing's name for her outward personality?
(a) Winnie the Pooh.
(b) Joey.
(c) Igor.
(d) Tigger.

3. What did Lessing refuse to have on her bed at night?
(a) A quilt.
(b) A blanket.
(c) A kaross.
(d) A mosquito net.

4. According to the quote at the opening of Chapter 1, the girl in Lessing's mother's favorite saying only cared about which of the following?
(a) Books and studying.
(b) Cats and flowers.
(c) Singing and prancing.
(d) Horses and dancing.

5. In Chapter 8, what does Lessing reference as a common theme throughout her childhood?
(a) Fires.
(b) Trees.
(c) Dreams.
(d) Adventures.

6. Which of the following killed one of the chickens and took off with a couple of eggs?
(a) A mischievous child.
(b) A snake.
(c) A cat.
(d) A mongoose.

7. How did Lessing rebel while aboard the ship?
(a) By sneaking out of the cabin.
(b) By stealing things and lying about them.
(c) By speaking disrespectfully to the nanny.
(d) By staying up late.

8. What image from the photograph album does Lessing describe?
(a) A visit to a swimming bath.
(b) A trip to the market.
(c) A visit to her father's workplace.
(d) Her first day in the Persian house.

9. What type of animals frequently made their way into the Tayler house?
(a) Beetles.
(b) Cats.
(c) Lizards.
(d) Snakes.

10. How many trek oxen hauled the wagon carrying Lessing's family?
(a) 12.
(b) 14.
(c) 18.
(d) 16.

11. To which book did Lessing often compare her childhood?
(a) The Little Princess.
(b) The Jungle Book.
(c) Pride and Prejudice.
(d) Toe-Rags.

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

13. Which of the following books did Lessing use to illustrate the difference in transitioning from the consciousness of a child to that of an adult?
(a) Pride and Prejudice.
(b) The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
(c) Hamlet.
(d) Tristram Shandy.

14. How was Aunt Betty Cleverly like most women of her generation?
(a) Aunt Betty's lover was killed in the War.
(b) Aunt Betty was committed to Victorian values.
(c) Aunt Betty was unhappily married.
(d) Aunt Betty had decided not to marry.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the name of Lessing's nanny?

2. What remained unaffected by the Lessings' existence for 20 years?

3. How many acres of land did James Tayler own in 1851?

4. In Chapter 4, what city did Lessing's mother insist on traveling through on the way back to England?

5. According to Lessing, where do most of the good biographers live?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 469 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample