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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. To what is Nabokov's mother quite sensitive?
(a) Insect bites.
(b) Insults.
(c) Seemingly small events.
(d) Perfume.

2. What does Nabokov reveal about his mind?
(a) He has depression.
(b) He hallucinates.
(c) He always associates sounds with colors.
(d) He has a great short-term memory.

3. How long does the family stay in Paris?
(a) One month.
(b) One night.
(c) Six months.
(d) One week.

4. What is the first memory Nabokov drags from the darkness?
(a) Being fed by his nanny.
(b) Holding hands with his mother and father, as the three of them walk along a garden path in 1903,
(c) Playing in the yard on the estate.
(d) Going on a picnic with his mother and father.

5. Who are some of the ancestors on Nabokov's paternal, Russian side?
(a) A prominent Caholic cardinal, a physician, and Dmitri Nabokov, an inventor.
(b) A lawyer, scientist, and Dmitri Nabokov, a well-known actor.
(c) A government leader, an opera singer, and Dmitri Nabokov, the surgeon.
(d) An explorer, the sister of a prominent Decembrist, and Dmitri Nabokov, the author's grandfather, who served as Minister of Justice for eight years.

Short Answer Questions

1. What has Nabokov always had difficulty doing?

2. To whom is Chapter Five devoted?

3. What is the common name for Boletusoften?

4. What is seen as a dreaded event?

5. What does Nabokov's mother do on the trip to Paris?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens after the revolution to Nabokov's family?

2. How does Nabokov describe the final years in Europe?

3. What happens to Dimitri Nabokov after his retirement?

4. The local schoolmaster is brought in to give the children a crash course in the Russian language. What takes place at a meeting between the father, son, and schoolmaster?

5. What evidence is there showing that Nabokov and Tamara's relationship is not as innocent as his parents may think it is.

6. What happens to the family once they leave Russia?

7. The aristocratic Nabokov house is stocked with English and French amenities. What are some of the amenities?

8. Who are the tutors hired to educate the Nabokov children?

9. What evidence does the chapter give of Nabokov's bourgeois, aristocratic life?

10. How does young Nabokov react to rumor that his father has challenged someone to a duel?

(see the answer keys)

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