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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 mother shaved her head.
(b) Their father died.
(c) Their servants were fired for stealing.
(d) Their mother died.

2. What stove brand did Lessing's family use?
(a) Carron Dover.
(b) McVeagh's.
(c) Liberty's.
(d) Smith & Son's.

3. How did Lessing's mother pack differently for her new life in Africa than she did for Persia?
(a) She pared down her possessions before leaving for Africa.
(b) She took more extravagant things to Africa.
(c) She packed more food stuffs before leaving for Africa.
(d) She did nothing differently and packed all of the same items.

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

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

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

7. What remained unaffected by the Lessings' existence for 20 years?
(a) The trees.
(b) The wildcats.
(c) The bush.
(d) The natives.

8. What did Biddy O'Halloran's skin resemble?
(a) Red jelly and cream.
(b) Peaches and cream.
(c) Olives.
(d) Bronze.

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

10. 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.

11. Where was John McVeagh born?
(a) Rhodesia.
(b) Portugal.
(c) England.
(d) Persia.

12. Which of the following song for children made Lessing's mother cry?
(a) "Ring Around the Rosie".
(b) "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star".
(c) "Baa Baa, Black Sheep".
(d) "Humpty-Dumpty".

13. How did Lessing's friend make a living in New York to support herself and her daughter?
(a) Writing.
(b) Acting.
(c) Prostitution.
(d) Modeling.

14. Which of the following sparkled in every rock that surrounded the Lessings' home?
(a) Gold.
(b) Pyrite.
(c) Quartz.
(d) Diamonds.

15. Why did Lessing not like the clothes that her mother had made for her?
(a) Because her mother always made her clothes look too youthful.
(b) Because her mother was a poor seamstress.
(c) Because her mother always insisted on making clothing that was too big.
(d) Because her mother had poor taste in clothing design.

Short Answer Questions

1. What image from the photograph album does Lessing describe?

2. Which of the following areas was the homeland of Lessing's mother's doctor?

3. What type of animals frequently made their way into the Tayler house?

4. Where did Lessing's father work after he was discharged from the Army?

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

(see the answer keys)

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