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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. How does Kanigel describe the trip to England?
(a) Sublimely beautiful.
(b) Petrifying.
(c) Arduous.
(d) Perilous.

2. What did Ramanujan and Hardy develop for working with partitions?
(a) Nested square roots.
(b) The circle method.
(c) A precise method for determining partitions for prime numbers.
(d) A refinement of Euler's suggestion.

3. What does Kanigel say characterized Indian intellectuals' experience at Cambridge?
(a) Frustration.
(b) Disorientation.
(c) Alienation.
(d) Depression.

4. How does Kanigel say Ramanujan passed his time on the ship?
(a) Sick.
(b) Playing games.
(c) Working feverishly.
(d) Reading novels.

5. What was the doctor's prescription for Ramanujan's condition?
(a) Radiation.
(b) Surgery.
(c) Physical activity.
(d) Rest and care.

Short Answer Questions

1. What aspect of the English does Kanigel say affected Ramanujan?

2. Who is NOT included in the list of people who have benefited from Ramanujan's work, in Kanigel's account?

3. How does Kanigel describe John Littlewood?

4. How long did the trip from India to England take?

5. Who learned of Ramanujan's arrival by the newspapers?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Ramanujan's condition when he returned to India?

2. What did Hardy do with Ramanujan's letter?

3. What problems did Ramanujan have on account of his Indian cultural practices?

4. What did Ramanujan discover when P. C. Mahalanobis read him a puzzle one evening?

5. Describe the decline of Ramanujan's health.

6. What did Ramanujan write to Hardy?

7. What cultural practices did Ramanujan hold on to from India?

8. How was Ramanujan treated on his return to India?

9. What was Ramanujan's response when Hardy asked him for proofs?

10. In what way was Ramanujan's experience of England similar to Ghandi's?

(see the answer keys)

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