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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What technique is used in the phrase "toward a train lurking behind other trains"?
(a) Personification.
(b) Conceit.
(c) Hyperbole.
(d) Cacophony.

2. How does Ivanovich get to the train on the morning of his departure?
(a) He takes a taxi.
(b) He takes a streetcar.
(c) He walks.
(d) The narrator drives him.

3. What "fancy-style" item does Ivanovich buy for his trip (3)?
(a) An enormous backpack.
(b) A walking stick.
(c) A flannel shirt.
(d) A pair of hiking boots.

4. Who hosted the charity ball where Ivanovich won the tour?
(a) Russian refugees.
(b) The German government.
(c) A German tourism trade group.
(d) The narrator's business.

5. The narrator describes a hill covered with "verdure"; what is this hill covered with?
(a) Sprouting plants.
(b) Cultivated plants.
(c) Rotting plants.
(d) Flourishing plants.

6. What is Ivanovich expected to carry during the second day of the tour?
(a) Sausage.
(b) Bread.
(c) His own boots.
(d) An extra rucksack.

7. In the phrase "several people, alas, were taking part in the excursion," what is the word "alas" meant to convey (4)?
(a) Ivanovich's preference to do things on his own.
(b) Ivanovich's concern that the train will be overcrowded.
(c) The narrator's belief that travel is unnecessary.
(d) The narrator's belief that the excursion will be dull.

8. The group leader wears "Tyrolese" clothing. What is true of his clothing?
(a) It is traditionally worn in the Black Forest region.
(b) It is traditionally worn by shepherds.
(c) It is traditionally worn by servants.
(d) It is traditionally worn in the Austrian Alps.

9. Who greets Ivanovich at the inn near the lake?
(a) A pretty girl.
(b) A goose.
(c) The innkeeper.
(d) A puppy.

10. Who is the author of "Cloud, Castle, Lake"?
(a) Leo Tolstoy.
(b) Vladimir Nabokov.
(c) Anton Chekhov.
(d) Ivan Turgenev

11. What is unusual about the four people who work together?
(a) All of them quit their jobs right before this trip.
(b) They work for the same employer but have never met until this trip.
(c) Two have the same last name and two have the same first name.
(d) The men are married to the two women's sisters.

12. When the narrator says that the road "undulated," what is being said of this road (12)?
(a) It gently rises and falls.
(b) It abruptly ends.
(c) It curves sharply.
(d) It varies in width.

13. What does Ivanovich enjoy reading?
(a) English metaphysical poetry.
(b) Russian lyrical poetry.
(c) French Baroque poetry.
(d) German Classical poetry.

14. What word does the narrator say describes the appearance of "all creatures still unknown to us" (4)?
(a) "Formidable."
(b) "Innocent."
(c) "Cryptic."
(d) "Drowsy."

15. Which detail of the group leader's appearance is associated with authoritarianism?
(a) Knapsack.
(b) Hobnailed boots.
(c) Walking stick.
(d) Tyrolese clothing.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is special about the room at the inn by the lake?

2. What is the tour group doing in the passage that says "they raised dust along a highway" (12)?

3. Which character is said to have "lustreless eyes and a vague velvety vileness" (6)?

4. What does Ivanovich do to distract himself from "the absurdity and horror of the situation" (6)?

5. Where is Ivanovich told he will need to get a "certificate of non-absence from the city for the summertime" (3)?

(see the answer keys)

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