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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. 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 lying would make their face stick in a horrible position.
(c) That a lie was worse than being naughty.
(d) That being naughty was much worse than lying.

3. Which of the following conditions ailed the author's father?
(a) Schizophrenia.
(b) Insomnia.
(c) Shell Shock.
(d) Bulimia.

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

5. Which company offered loans to the farmers in Lessing's region?
(a) The British National Bank.
(b) The National Bank of Southern Rhodesia.
(c) Land Bank.
(d) Southern Rhodesian Farming Association.

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

7. What did Doris insist on having with her in the photograph for which she posed?
(a) Her teddy bear.
(b) Her cat.
(c) A flower that she picked herself.
(d) A book.

8. What type of play did Lessing write while at the Convent?
(a) An English tragedy.
(b) An Aristophanean comedy.
(c) A Ciceronian tragedy.
(d) A one-act Shakespearean play.

9. At what age did Emily McVeagh die?
(a) 23.
(b) 32.
(c) 42.
(d) 35.

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

11. How many bouts of illness did Lessing's family experience?
(a) Two.
(b) One.
(c) Four.
(d) Three.

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

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) Hamlet.
(c) Tristram Shandy.
(d) The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. To which of the following religions did Lessing suddenly convert?

2. Growing up, what was Lessing always told about the family's financial status?

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

4. In Chapter 8, what does Lessing reference as a common theme throughout her childhood?

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

(see the answer keys)

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