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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What stands "cast in concrete" (para. 3) to commemorate the accident?
(a) A feather boa.
(b) A statue of trapeze artists.
(c) A sequined costume.
(d) A replica tent pole.

2. What does the narrator sometimes do in her childhood room?
(a) She reads.
(b) She paints.
(c) She talks on the phone.
(d) She sews.

3. What would Harold show the audience members during part of their act?
(a) His blindfold.
(b) His wedding ring.
(c) Anna's smear of lipstick near his mouth.
(d) A card trick.

4. What is the narrator's mother's name?
(a) Agnes.
(b) Alice.
(c) Abbeth.
(d) Anna.

5. What did Harold and Anna do in midair during their act according to paragraph 5?
(a) Tell a joke.
(b) Change costumes.
(c) Kiss.
(d) Embrace.

6. What was the narrator's mother's former career as stated in the first sentence?
(a) Trapeze artist.
(b) Ballerina.
(c) Ringleader.
(d) Fire breather.

7. What metaphor is used in paragraph 5 to describe the way Anna and Harold would drop through the air during their act?
(a) Like dragonflies in the night.
(b) Like two doves in love.
(c) Like two sparkling birds.
(d) Like two peas in a pod.

8. In paragraph 2, what does the narrator say she sometimes thinks her mother has no memory of from her youth?
(a) Double somersaults and heart-stopping catches.
(b) Cramming for tests and getting good grades.
(c) Devouring books and writing poetry.
(d) School dances and young love.

9. How many acts performed before Anna and her husband's act on the day of the disaster?
(a) 1.
(b) 12.
(c) 3.
(d) 7.

10. What does the narrator say her mother did the first time she owes her existence to her?
(a) She saved herself.
(b) She saved her daughter's life.
(c) She was born.
(d) She met her first husband.

11. Where does the narrator say she used to live in paragraph 4?
(a) The Far East.
(b) The West.
(c) The South.
(d) The North.

12. What condition does the narrator's mother have as explained in paragraph 1?
(a) She is deaf.
(b) She is paralyzed.
(c) She is blind.
(d) She has dementia.

13. What detail about Anna does the narrator note was not mentioned in the newspaper accounts of the disaster?
(a) She was blind.
(b) She was pregnant.
(c) She was Harold's wife.
(d) She was badly injured.

14. How many times does the narrator say she owes her existence to her mother?
(a) 2.
(b) 9.
(c) Dozens.
(d) 3.

15. What did Anna and Harold do "openly" as they performed according to paragraph 5?
(a) Sing and dance.
(b) Laugh and flirt.
(c) Fumble and fall.
(d) Yell and argue.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Harold and Anna use for part of their act?

2. What is the name of the narrator's mother's act?

3. What are some things the narrator says her mother has not kept from her youth?

4. What does the narrator point out in paragraph one about how her mother moves through the house?

5. Where does the narrator say the tabloids carried the story of their town's disaster?

(see the answer keys)

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