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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What historical event happened just before the birth of Lessing's daughter?
(a) The detente.
(b) The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
(c) The Atlantic Charter.
(d) The outbreak of WWII.

2. What aspect of her childhood determined that Lessing would never separate herself from politics?
(a) Listening to her parents' impossible ideas.
(b) Listening to the way that her parents treated the servants.
(c) Listening to the BBC each day.
(d) Listening to the ideas of the African workers whom her family employed.

3. What did Lessing do most afternoons with the new baby?
(a) Lessing would walk around with the baby in the pram.
(b) Lessing would prepare evening meals.
(c) Lessing would visit Gottfried at the office.
(d) Lessing would drive out to see her father.

4. Which of the following was NOT one of the things that Lessing and Frank had in common?
(a) Both had read the Communist Manifesto.
(b) Both had seditious thoughts about "The Native Problem".
(c) Both subscribed to the New Statesman.
(d) Both lived in Persia as children.

5. In Chapter 9, which year does Lessing describe as a "make or break" year in her life?
(a) Her 14th year.
(b) Her 17th year.
(c) Her 12th year.
(d) Her 16th year.

6. Which of the following phenomenons did Frank and Lessing consistently criticize?
(a) English customs celebrated in Rhodesia.
(b) Classism.
(c) White superiority.
(d) Pretensions about education.

7. Which of the following was NOT a language commonly spoken in the Lessing home?
(a) German.
(b) Spanish.
(c) French.
(d) Russian.

8. In what year was Gottfried Lessing born?
(a) 1921.
(b) 1912.
(c) 1917.
(d) 1907.

9. Which book on the experience of Communism does Lessing cite in this chapter?
(a) Darkness at Noon.
(b) Das Kapital.
(c) Stalin's journals.
(d) The Communist Manifesto.

10. What did the Portuguese woman give to Lessing?
(a) A red shawl.
(b) A red dress.
(c) A red hat.
(d) A red evening bag.

11. Why was it especially dangerous for Gottfried to carry on an affair?
(a) Because he was a high-ranking official.
(b) Because he was a career criminal.
(c) Because he was an enemy alien.
(d) Because he was a married man.

12. With whom did Lessing talk at the Meikles Hotel Lounge?
(a) An RAF member.
(b) A philandering artist.
(c) A former Nazi.
(d) A committed Communist.

13. What did Lessing do while she spent her days with John?
(a) Lessing entertained wild fantasies.
(b) Lessing wrote poems in her mind.
(c) Lessing pined for simpler days.
(d) Lessing planned her escape from domestic life.

14. At which establishment was Frank known as "one of the boys"?
(a) The Sports Club.
(b) The local bar.
(c) The Left Book Club.
(d) The Yacht Club.

15. Where did Kurt claim his real education occurred?
(a) World War II.
(b) Cambridge.
(c) Auschwitz.
(d) Cafes in Vienna.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where did the young people in Lessing's circles get their beer?

2. In Chapter 10, which of the following countries was Lessing thinking about as she stood at the edge of the tobacco field?

3. How many eggs did Lessing attend to on the farm?

4. What does Lessing mention as the one thing that would have stopped her from marrying Frank?

5. Who vouched for Gottfried Lessing to get him out of jail?

(see the answer keys)

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