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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What type of author do the students seem most interested in studying?
(a) Authors who show the benefits of a religious society.
(b) Authors who have female characters with strong opinions.
(c) "Revolutionary" authors who are tied to current political ideologies.
(d) "Non-revolutionary" authors such as Joyce, Nabokov, Woolf, and Austin.

2. At the beginning of Chapter 16, what are Nafisi and her male acquaintance discussing?
(a) The types of literature that should be discussed in a private study group.
(b) What happened when the University of Tehran was closed.
(c) Where to find food and books in Tehran.
(d) How life in the Islamic Republic has turned everyday activities into exciting secret missions.

3. Why do Ministry of Education officials ask the faculty at Nafisi's school if they thought they were in Switzerland?
(a) Because Switzerland is the model for the type of government the Ministry of Education is trying to establish.
(b) Because Switzerland has schools with conservative values just like the conservative values of the University of Tehran.
(c) Because the University of Tehran is the most liberal campus in Iran, and Switzerland is the byword for Western lax and decadent behavior.
(d) Because the officials believe the University of Tehran is too conservative and should be more like schools in Switzerland.

4. Why does the professor ask Nima if his wife brainwashed him?
(a) Because the professor valued the opinions of women more than the opinions of men.
(b) Because Nima always relied on his wife to answer questions.
(c) Because the professor believed Nima's wife was a better student.
(d) Because Nima and his wife both voted against the professor's views.

5. Why is Mashid jailed?
(a) Because she is associated with a dissident organization.
(b) Because she steals flowers.
(c) Because she tells her parents she was translating Islamic texts into English.
(d) Because people find out she was studying literature.

6. Why do the intruders want access to Nafisi's house?
(a) She is able to provide them with safety.
(b) They are searching for contraband.
(c) They want to see what was happening on her neighbor's property.
(d) They think she is selling and using drugs.

7. What are students at Nafisi's school regularly asked to do?
(a) Attend funerals of martyrs for the Iranian Revolution.
(b) Homework in the Persian language.
(c) Bring in their friendship bracelets so that everyone has one to wear.
(d) Participate in a ritualistic stomping and burning the American flag while shouting "Death to America!"

8. What would happen if the "Blood of God" militia saw a girl with nail polish or a strand of loose hair?
(a) The militia would not permit the girl to continue studying literature.
(b) The girl would be punished and humiliated for violating laws.
(c) The girl would be beheaded as an example of an evil woman.
(d) The girl would be escorted home, where her family would forbid her to go out of the house unescorted.

9. Why are Nafisi's students like ghosts when they are walking through the streets of Tehran?
(a) Because they wear a veil, their skin is very white like a ghost.
(b) They hope to be invisible to the militia and arrive at their destination without confrontation.
(c) They have learned to walk with a gliding motion, barely touching the ground.
(d) Their black clothes hide them when they are walking at night.

10. What scene opens Chapter 12?
(a) The class sitting around a table in Nafisi's apartment.
(b) Nafisi search for books in a bookstore.
(c) Nafisi teaching a class at the University.
(d) The members of the class arriving at Nafisi's house.

11. What is the main point of Chapter 12?
(a) To provide the reader with an understanding of how "Lolita" was sold in Tehran.
(b) Copies of books are not readily available in Tehran.
(c) The students enjoy reading "Lolita."
(d) To provide the reader with a sketch of the class meeting to discuss "Lolita."

12. Why does Nafisi see a parallel between Humbert and contemporary Iranian society?
(a) Because members of Iranian society would act like Humbert if they were permitted to do so.
(b) Because Humbert's actions would be prohibited in Iranian society.
(c) Because Humbert and the ayatollahs share similar views about sex.
(d) Because the ayatollahs also blame others and hide the truth.

13. In Chapter 14, what question does Mitra ask about "Lolita"?
(a) Why are we reading this novel?
(b) Why do people find pleasure in reading such a horrible story?
(c) Why does Humbert try to control Lolita?
(d) Why does Lolita continue to stay with Humbert?

14. How does the professor solve problems of literary criticism?
(a) By telling students that literary criticism is not important.
(b) By talking to his colleagues on the University faculty.
(c) By finding critical essays that support his viewpoint.
(d) By asking the class to vote on matters of interpretation.

15. Where does Nafisi write her class notes?
(a) Lined paper tablets.
(b) Big diaries.
(c) Small scraps of paper.
(d) Pocket calendars.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Nafisi's apartment lack matching furniture and fancy window dressings?

2. Who was Nafisi's father?

3. What does Nafisi describe as the crux of the problem in "Lolita"?

4. What object becomes popular in Iran?

5. How does Nafisi's acquaintance describe her students?

(see the answer keys)

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