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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

4. What does the narrator suggest may have been Harold's final thought as he fell into the crowd on the day of the disaster?
(a) I'm going to sue the tent company.
(b) Anna is with child.
(c) I don't want to die.
(d) A surprise that he did not have Anna's hands in his.

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

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

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 two peas in a pod.
(b) Like two doves in love.
(c) Like dragonflies in the night.
(d) Like two sparkling birds.

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

9. Where does the narrator say the tabloids carried the story of their town's disaster?
(a) Boston and L.A.
(b) Cincinatti and New York.
(c) Chicago and L.A.
(d) Boston and New York.

10. 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.

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

12. What does the narrator point out in paragraph one about how her mother moves through the house?
(a) She acts as though her daughter is not there.
(b) She is quite clumsy.
(c) She never bumps into anything or knocks anything over.
(d) She barely moves so as not to disturb anything.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who was the other half of her mother's act?

2. After reading paragraph 1, what do readers learn about the narrator's mother's former partner?

3. What does the narrator say her mother did the first time she owes her existence to her?

4. What does the narrator say audience members ate while waiting for the act to begin?

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

(see the answer keys)

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