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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Simon NOT count among the events that occurred directly as a result of the fortune teller's intervention?
(a) His deep connection with Klara.
(b) His arrival in San Francisco.
(c) His relationship with Robert.
(d) His dance career.

2. When Klara researches her grandmother Klara Kline, what is NOT one of the things she finds out?
(a) She never married.
(b) She was Jewish.
(c) She got her start in vaudeville.
(d) She was a daredevil for a living.

3. Gali tells the members of his ballet company often that their "movements must have" (85) what?
(a) Integrity.
(b) Luminescence.
(c) Grace.
(d) Structure.

4. At what location do Raj and Klara scavenge for wood to build Klara's magician's cabinet?
(a) In the Haight district.
(b) The bookstore called A Clean and Well-lit Place.
(c) Ghiradelli Square.
(d) Fisherman's Wharf.

5. The Hindu family in the Gold family's building calls the fortune teller a "rishika" (5), which means a what?
(a) A spirit.
(b) A seer.
(c) An imp.
(d) A savant.

6. What is the name of the policeman who roughs up Simon outside of the police station?
(a) Marty.
(b) Brian.
(c) Eddie.
(d) Jeffrey.

7. What is the title of the homemade flier Simon and his friends see taped to a window?
(a) HELP WANTED.
(b) LEATHER GATHERING.
(c) THE GAY CANCER.
(d) NO TRESPASSING.

8. What is NOT one way in which Simon describes his father Saul?
(a) Courageous.
(b) A man who skirts conflict.
(c) Timid.
(d) Decorous.

9. What words does Klara whisper to her audience at the conclusion of every show?
(a) Right this way.
(b) Thanks for your kindness.
(c) Look around you often.
(d) I love you all.

10. Who steps in and stops the policeman's harassment of Simon outside of the police station?
(a) Klara.
(b) Daniel.
(c) Robert.
(d) Gertie.

11. How old does Raj say he was when he came from India to the United States?
(a) 10.
(b) 6.
(c) 18.
(d) 14.

12. What years are covered in Part One, Chapter One, when Simon's story is focused upon?
(a) 1978-1982.
(b) 1969-1979.
(c) 1975-1977.
(d) 1980-1986.

13. What does Klara do with the lacquered box once Gertie appears furious at its absence?
(a) She sneaks it back into her mother's drawer.
(b) She burns it.
(c) She buries it in a vacant lot.
(d) She hides it in the attic.

14. In contrast to her brothers' bar mitzvahs, Klara's bat mitzvah takes place not individually but in a group of how many girls?
(a) 10.
(b) 3.
(c) 7.
(d) 6.

15. What excuse does Simon use when Gertie catches him leaving the apartment on the morning of the day he moves to San Francisco?
(a) He says that he is going to meet his boyfriend.
(b) He says that he is going to buy Klara a birthday card.
(c) He says that he is going to get a sandwich.
(d) He says that he has to feed the parking meter.

Short Answer Questions

1. What requirement does Klara have for the nightclubs at which she will perform?

2. What name does Ruby's mother call her?

3. How old is Daniel when his father Saul dies of heart failure?

4. How old is Varya upon the opening of the novel's prologue?

5. How long after Simon's death is AIDS given its official name?

(see the answer keys)

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