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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What kind of trees do the silkworms come from?
(a) Willows.
(b) Maples.
(c) Mulberries.
(d) Oaks.

2. What baseball legend was Balakian reading about while he was sick with the measles?
(a) Babe Ruth.
(b) Roger Maris.
(c) Willie Mays.
(d) Jackie Robinson.

3. In what part of Manhattan did Aunt Anna live?
(a) Soho.
(b) Upper West Side.
(c) Morningside Heights.
(d) Upper East Side.

4. What sports implement was hanging in the office of Dr. Cooley, the headmaster of Balakian's new private high school?
(a) A baseball bat.
(b) A lacrosse stick.
(c) A soccer ball.
(d) A tennis racket.

5. What American author was NOT mentioned as the topic of one of Aunt Anna's published literary books?
(a) William Faulkner.
(b) Kurt Vonnegut.
(c) F. Scott Fitzgerald.
(d) Carson McCullers.

6. How many Crusades passed through Byzantium on the way to the Holy Land?
(a) Three.
(b) Two.
(c) Five.
(d) Four.

7. For what did Balakian win a trophy at the end of his first year at the private high school?
(a) English student of the year.
(b) Most popular freshman.
(c) Freshman athlete of the year.
(d) Most likely to succeed.

8. What anniversary was the Soviet Armenian Republic celebrating when Balakian's father wrote to his son at college urging him to learn more about the country?
(a) 40th.
(b) 30th.
(c) 25th.
(d) 50th.

9. What was Peter shocked to see his grandmother doing as she read late at night?
(a) Smoking a pipe.
(b) Smoking a cigar.
(c) Drinking whiskey.
(d) Drinking a beer.

10. What color were the kitchen cabinets in the Balakian's new home in Tenafly?
(a) Maple.
(b) Cherry.
(c) Pine.
(d) Oak.

11. What does odar mean?
(a) Other.
(b) Non-believer.
(c) Turk.
(d) Infidel.

12. What college did Balakian's father say was "better than its name"?
(a) Kalamazoo.
(b) Dartmouth.
(c) Harvey Mudd.
(d) Brown.

13. About how many words did the World Book encyclopedia have on Armenia when Balakian tried to research his culture?
(a) 100.
(b) 200.
(c) 400.
(d) 500.

14. To what town was Balakian taking his girlfriend when he refused to return home for his grandmother's memorial service?
(a) Cambridge.
(b) Amherst.
(c) Princeton.
(d) Boston.

15. What is the significance of Mt. Ararat?
(a) It is where Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son.
(b) It is where the Ten Commandments were handed down.
(c) It is where Noah's Ark reportedly landed.
(d) It is where the Armenian people accepted Christianity.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many months worth of canned evaporated milk were Americans advised to have on hand during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

2. What kind of food did Balakian's mother claim was not fresh at the French restaurant?

3. What colors were the threads on the brocade of Mr. Blumenthal's yarmulke?

4. In what New Jersey town did Bedros Aroosian work in the silk mills?

5. Whose biography was Peter's grandmother reading when he came down late at night to get a bite to eat?

(see the answer keys)

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