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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Ira wear on her wedding day?
(a) A red flower lei.
(b) A strand of mango leaves.
(c) Rukmani's purple sari.
(d) Rukmani's red sari.

2. When Rukmani becomes sick as she leaves her parents' home, what is her new husband's reaction?
(a) He ignores her.
(b) He yells at her.
(c) He returns to her parents' home.
(d) He soothes her.

3. What does Rukmani set aside at the end of every month?
(a) Some thread for Ira's wedding sari.
(b) Some rice to sell in the village.
(c) Some money for Ira's dowry.
(d) Some new writings to sell when money gets tight.

4. At the beginning of Chapter 11, why does Nathan leave the village?
(a) He is going to attend a relative's funeral.
(b) He is going to the city to buy new rice seed.
(c) He is searching for Arjun.
(d) He is searching for a new husband for Ira.

5. When the villagers learn that Rukmani can write, there are mixed reactions. Which one of the villagers marvels at Rukmani's writing skill?
(a) Kunthi.
(b) Kali.
(c) Biswas.
(d) Janaki.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Deepavali?

2. Arjun and Thambi leave the village to work in Ceylon. Where are they working?

3. At the beginning of Chapter 4, what news does Arjun bring to the family?

4. After the monsoon, what does the family gather when they drain the rice terraces?

5. How old is Rukmani when she marries Nathan?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Rukmani first meets the village doctor, why does she stare at him?

2. How does Rukmani learn that there is trouble at the tannery?

3. When Rukmani and Nathan meet Murugan's wife, what does she tell them?

4. When Kenny offers to help Rukmani after she confides she has no sons, what is Rukmani's initial reaction to his offer of help?

5. Why do Rukmani and Nathan not stay with Murugan's wife?

6. On his deathbed, what does Nathan tell Rukmani to comfort her?

7. What does Rukmani learn from the three women she met at the river about her new home?

8. Rukmani muses that her husband is indeed a patient man for putting up with her in the early days of her marriage. Why does she feel this way?

9. When the men start building the tannery, they seem pleased to have drawn such a loud crowd. How does the overseer in particular behave?

10. What is a negative consequence of the construction workers suddenly appearing in the village?

(see the answer keys)

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