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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was the title of the introduction Gurdjieff had originally planned for the thirtieth book?
(a) "Why I Am Against Contemporary Literature"
(b) "Why I Became a Writer"
(c) " The Meaning of Life as I Discovered It"
(d) " A New World Devoid of Illusions"

2. What did Dean Borsh teach Gurdjieff?
(a) geography and other subjects
(b) Scripture and other subjects
(c) mathematics and other subjects
(d) history and other subjects

3. How did Gurdjieff and Pogossian secure passage on a ship to Egypt?
(a) The bribed a ship's captain to take them to Egypt.
(b) They got jobs as crew members on an Egyptian ship.
(c) They sneaked on board a ship destined for Alexandria
(d) They came to the aid of some English sailors in a fight.

4. How did Gurdjieff 's father react when misfortunes befell him?
(a) He wept and wailed
(b) He sought comfort from his friends and family
(c) He had an inner calm and detachment
(d) He cursed God and his fate

5. What is the title of the anecdote Gurdjieff uses to show the inferiority of modern life to ancient wisdom showing that modern life and literature are poison to the human race.
(a) "The Conversation of Two Swallows"
(b) "The Conversation of Two Crows"
(c) "The Conversation of Two Robins"
(d) "The Conversation of the Two Sparrows"

6. What did Bogachevsky counsel men to do in order to live a moral life?
(a) a man should try to please others
(b) a man should travel the world and observe people
(c) a man should study many subjects and become educated
(d) a man should follow his own conscience and not heed others

7. What, in Gurdjieff's opinion, has harmed contemporary literature?
(a) readers who are easily taken in by inferior, sensational writing
(b) writers seeking fame rather than quality
(c) not enough good writers
(d) the grammars of all languages

8. What was awakened in Gurdjieff while listening to Bogachevsky and his friends' discussions around the samovar?
(a) a feeling of inferiority when he compared himself with them
(b) an interest in mathematics
(c) an interest in becoming a member of the Essene Brotherhood
(d) an interest in abstract questions and spiritualism

9. Where did Captain Pogossian spend his childhood?
(a) in Russia, on the Black Sea
(b) in Greece, on the island of Patmos
(c) in Transcaucasia, in the town of Kars
(d) in Turkey, in Ephesus

10. Why did the subject of spiritualism make a strong impression on Gurdjieff?
(a) because his dead sister appeared to him in a dream
(b) because of the recent death of his favorite sister
(c) because he wanted to believe in immortality
(d) because he wanted to take part in a seance

11. What language did the bards sing when they competed in contests?
(a) Russian
(b) Turkish
(c) Turko-Russian
(d) Turko-Tartar

12. Who, in Gurdjieff's opinion, invents the grammar of languages?
(a) university professors
(b) people who are on a lower level than ordinary simple people
(c) learned, well-educated grammarians
(d) linguists

13. Gurdjieff read books on various subjects written in what languages?
(a) Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek
(b) Greek, Armenian and Russian
(c) Greek, Turkish and Latin
(d) Greek, Hebrew and Turko-Tartar

14. Who was the fortuneteller whom Gurdjieff's aunt consulted?
(a) the idiot , Ivan Ivanovich
(b) the half-wit, Eoung-Ashokh Mardiross
(c) the psychic, Feodor Moussorsky
(d) the half-wit, Nicolai Brandikoff

15. How does Gurdjieff first meet Dean Borsh?
(a) after joining the cathedral choir
(b) in his father's workshop
(c) on a street in Kars, his childhood home town
(d) at a funeral of a family friend

Short Answer Questions

1. What is it impossible to do even if one is an excellent linguist?

2. With whom did Bogachevsky share lodgings?

3. What was Pogossian bitten by?

4. Which two animals did Gurdjieff feel a man should embody?

5. When did Gurdjieff meet Pogossian and become friends with him?

(see the answer keys)

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