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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. Who was the other half of her mother's act?
(a) Harold Avalon.
(b) Herman Adams.
(c) Henry Allen.
(d) Hank Allendale.

3. In paragraph 6, what does the narrator say her mother is able to live comfortably in?
(a) Extreme poverty.
(b) The spotlight.
(c) Their farmhouse.
(d) Extreme elements.

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

5. Who is the author of "The Leap"?
(a) Eleanor Lee.
(b) Leslie Eldridge.
(c) Leonora Ellis.
(d) Louise Erdrich.

6. What is something the narrator says happens when she is in her room and gets a "whiff of smoke from the stove downstairs" (para.2)?
(a) She knows her mother must be cooking something special.
(b) The stitches burn beneath her fingers.
(c) She panics and cannot breath.
(d) She scurries to make sure her mother is okay.

7. What did Harold and Anna use for part of their act?
(a) Puppies.
(b) Blindfolds.
(c) Strobe lights.
(d) Colorful scarves.

8. According to paragraph 4, during what month did Anna experience her disaster?
(a) September.
(b) November.
(c) June.
(d) February.

9. What phrase is used to describe the narrator's mother's movements in paragraph 2?
(a) Like a bull in a china shop.
(b) Stealthlike manner.
(c) Catlike precision.
(d) Graceless fumbling.

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

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

12. What does the narrator say audience members ate while waiting for the act to begin?
(a) Popcorn and peanuts.
(b) Ice cream and candy.
(c) Hot dogs and chips.
(d) Hamburgers and French fries.

13. 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 met her first husband.
(d) She was born.

14. What are some things the narrator says her mother has not kept from her youth?
(a) Journals or news clippings.
(b) Old clothes and old friends.
(c) Sequined costumes or posters.
(d) Essays or awards.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the narrator's mother's name?

2. How many acts performed before Anna and her husband's act on the day of the disaster?

3. What stands "cast in concrete" (para. 3) to commemorate the accident?

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

5. How many times does the narrator say she owes her existence to her mother?

(see the answer keys)

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