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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. Who joins the Neapolitan family at the start of Chapter 6?
(a) Nina's husband.
(b) Nina's siblings.
(c) Nina's grandparents.
(d) Nina's parents.

2. How old does Leda think the pregnant member of the Neapolitan family is?
(a) Around 40.
(b) Early 20s.
(c) Early 30s.
(d) Late teens.

3. What does Leda find near her spot on the beach after swimming to ease her back pain at the end of Chapter 9?
(a) Elena's hat.
(b) A wad of cash.
(c) A dead cicada.
(d) Elena's doll.

4. What does Leda think was the only thing the young Neapolitan mother desired as she watched her and her daughter play in the water in Chapter 4?
(a) The sun.
(b) Escape.
(c) Other men.
(d) Her child.

5. What does Leda learn happened when she wakes at the start of the novel?
(a) She nearly drowned.
(b) She drove into a guardrail.
(c) Her daughter died.
(d) She lost her job.

Short Answer Questions

1. What subject does Leda teach?

2. What hits Leda as she walks back to her apartment in Chapter 7 after first talking with Rosaria?

3. What is Leda's oldest daughter's name?

4. What does Leda think Gianni would do if he saw Elena playing on the beach alone?

5. What does Gino tell Leda about Nina's family when discussing how Leda refused to move for them on the beach?

Short Essay Questions

1. What contentious interaction does Leda witness between Nina and her husband at the end of Chapter 9? What changes as a result of their interaction?

2. What was Leda's routine her first few days of vacation?

3. What does Leda think her daughters would do if they saw her walking with Gino? Why?

4. Who joins the Neapolitans in Chapter 6? How does this impact other bathers on the beach?

5. How old was Leda when she had her first child? How did her life change after becoming a mother? In what way is that different from her husband's life after parenthood?

6. Why did Leda give her childhood doll to Bianca when she was young? What toy did Bianca prefer to the doll Leda gave to her?

7. What childhood memories returned to Leda as she drives in Chapter 1 and pictures seeing a red flag on an empty beach?

8. Who is Giovanni? Describe Leda's first interaction with him when she arrives at her vacation apartment.

9. Where does Leda wake up at the start of Chapter 1? Why? Who is there with her?

10. How is Leda's mother portrayed when Leda was a child?

(see the answer keys)

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