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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Codell come to realize about the teaching education she received?
(a) It was the best time of her young life.
(b) It did little to prepare her for the realities of teaching children.
(c) It was invaluable, and surprisingly effective at preparing her for all sorts of emergencies.
(d) It was entirely too expensive considering its true value.

2. According to Esme, how do her new students in her new school (as of the Epilogue) behave?
(a) Like little angels.
(b) Like gangster thugs.
(c) Like weird aliens.
(d) Like spoiled brats.

3. What kind of film does Codell show for sexual education?
(a) A cartoon of two goldfish mixing egg and sperm.
(b) A Discovery channel series about sexual reproduction in the animal kingdom.
(c) Basketball star Magic Johnson talking about how he acquired HIV.
(d) A film clip from the Michael Douglas film Basic Instinct.

4. What does Codell allow Kyle to do in order to perform better at math?
(a) Yell at the top of his lungs.
(b) Stand on his head.
(c) Run two circles around the classroom.
(d) Go to the bathroom to splash water on his face.

5. In the Epilogue, what emotion does Esme associate with her former students?
(a) Regret.
(b) Anger.
(c) Bitterness.
(d) Euphoria.

6. When Mr. Turner sees Codell and several of her students wearing saris, what does he think?
(a) He believes Codell is performing an open act of defiance.
(b) He believes Codell is having a cultural festival.
(c) He believes Codell is mocking his own wearing of a sari two weeks earlier.
(d) He believes Codell is a terrible influence on her students.

7. Which student does Codell want as her little sister?
(a) Vanessa.
(b) Samantha.
(c) Esther.
(d) Asha.

8. What is Codell's response when Rowisha tells her about B. B.'s horrible home life?
(a) Codell mocks Rowisha, making matters worse.
(b) Codell is so moved by the tragic story that she gives Rowisha two hundred dollars.
(c) Codell and Rowisha cry together, and later they become friends.
(d) Codell believes that even bad home circumstances are no excuse for bad behavior at school.

9. What is one of the songs Codell hears in her mind when Mr. Turner is frustrating her?
(a) "Perpetuum Mobile" by Novacek.
(b) "Nothing from Nothing" by Billy Preston.
(c) "Control Yourself" by Jackie and Roy Kral.
(d) "It's Not Unusual" by Tom Jones.

10. What is the former occupation of Esme's current principal (as of the Epilogue)?
(a) Civil engineer.
(b) Army colonel.
(c) College professor.
(d) School librarian.

11. What does Esme think about the physical appearance of her former students at the graduation ceremony?
(a) They look just about the same.
(b) They look very different.
(c) They seem huge, like little adults.
(d) They are smaller than she remembers them.

12. What misbehavior does Melanie have a propensity to commit?
(a) Exposing herself to others.
(b) Beating up kids.
(c) Arson.
(d) Stealing.

13. In Codell's reading group method, what role does the "literary luminary" play?
(a) Reading passages out loud.
(b) Making questions up about the book.
(c) Guessing what comes next in the plot of the book.
(d) Defining difficult words in the text.

14. How successful is the film Codell shows for sexual education?
(a) It successfully answers most of the students' questions.
(b) It leads to more confusion than clarity.
(c) It makes several students cry.
(d) It sparks a valuable debate.

15. Which is NOT one of the reasons, according to Jim Trelease, that Educating Esme is "terribly relevant"?
(a) It provides a realistic snapshot of American education.
(b) Although Codell's students didn't learn the "right" things, they had a ton of fun along the way.
(c) Codell was a success, and her students learned.
(d) Codell is young, and represents the future.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to the end of Part II, what is Codell's ultimate career aspiration?

2. What is the plot of the story "The Pudding Like the Night on the Sea"?

3. Why does B. B. start to misbehave around 1:20 PM every day?

4. What ultimate fear does Codell express about Melanie?

5. What is the "last straw" that causes Codell to force Mr. Turner to suspend B. B.?

(see the answer keys)

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