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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What did all the women assume about Lessing's marriage to Frank?
(a) That their sex life was a failure.
(b) That they had married too soon.
(c) That they fought constantly.
(d) That they did not love each other.

2. In Chapter 16, which part of Esther and Kurt's house was exclusively Esther's?
(a) The kitchen.
(b) The laundry room.
(c) The garden.
(d) The sewing room.

3. What did Lessing notice about the workers at the Guardian?
(a) Lessing noticed that there were many women working in important positions.
(b) Lessing noticed that all classes of people were employed there.
(c) Lessing noticed that very few people ran the operation.
(d) Lessing noticed that whites worked alongside "Indians and Coloured people".

4. Who was the editor of The New Rhodesia?
(a) Lessing.
(b) Frank Wisdom.
(c) Gottfried Lessing.
(d) N.H. Wilson.

5. Why would Gottfried and Lessing often drive into the suburbs?
(a) To shop for specialty goods.
(b) To avoid the noise of the city.
(c) To visit Lessing's dying father.
(d) To stay in the suburbs with friends.

6. Where did Frank and Lessing go on their honeymoon?
(a) Umtali.
(b) Beira.
(c) Capetown.
(d) London.

7. What did Lessing's father assume when she and Frank showed up at the family farm?
(a) Lessing's father assumed that she was pregnant.
(b) Lessing's father assumed that Lessing had finally settled down.
(c) Lessing's father assumed that Frank was interested in the family's money.
(d) Lessing's father assumed that she was in love.

8. What type of culture existed in Southern Rhodesia?
(a) A smoking culture.
(b) A sexually permissive culture.
(c) A drinking culture.
(d) A racially-integrated culture.

9. To what activity does Lessing compare learning the skills of her new job?
(a) To learning to walk.
(b) To learning to write the alphabet.
(c) To riding a bicycle.
(d) To learning to speak.

10. What was the highest ambition of Black workers in Salisbury?
(a) To work in a White family's house.
(b) To work for the Guardian.
(c) To work for the government.
(d) To work for the telephone company.

11. How does Lessing describe the letters that she received from her mother?
(a) Furious.
(b) Refreshing.
(c) Docile.
(d) Frantic.

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

13. How did Lessing feel about World War II at that time?
(a) She felt that it was a necessary war.
(b) She felt that it was a catastrophic mistake.
(c) She felt that it was an abomination.
(d) She felt that it was a good war.

14. What was the name of the building in which Lessing and Gottfried rented their flat?
(a) Cambridge Woods.
(b) Grand Meikles.
(c) Leander House.
(d) Jameson Hotel.

15. What did Dr. Rosen suggest to Lessing when she went in for surgery to repair her retroverted uterus?
(a) Abortion.
(b) Sterilization.
(c) Birth control pills.
(d) Fertility testing.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the primary battle between Lessing and her mother centered upon?

2. Which of the following phenomenons did Frank and Lessing consistently criticize?

3. Who is the central character of Lessing's "The Good Terrorist"- a book that Lessing references in this chapter?

4. Where did Lessing and Gottfried go with friends?

5. What book does Lessing cite in her discussion of the Russian front?

(see the answer keys)

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