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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. What caused the abolition of Persian, Sanskrit, and Arabic from Indian schools?
(a) The British attempt to anglicize Indians.
(b) The intervention of the Catholic Church.
(c) The elevation of Warren Hastings to Governor.
(d) The defeat of an attempted Afghan invasion of India.

2. What question does Mehro asks the beggar Gul Bano?
(a) Whether coronations are better under the English than under the Mughals.
(b) How she has managed to evade the British for so long.
(c) How she prevents herself from falling into despair.
(d) Whether she spent much time with her famous grandfather.

3. What do the adults tell the children causes dust storms?
(a) The jinns are getting ready to celebrate a wedding.
(b) The heat is trying to chase the rain away.
(c) One of the children has told an elder a lie.
(d) The ifrit are rising up from their underground caves.

4. In Part I, Chapter 3, what does the narrator point out there are "ever so many" of, "young ones and old ones" (14)?
(a) Beggars.
(b) Vendors.
(c) Muezzins.
(d) Imams.

5. What principle does Saeed Hasan say a man should put first when he is looking for a wife?
(a) Suitability.
(b) Faithfulness.
(c) Moderation.
(d) Reciprocity.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Begam Nihal is asked to tell the story of the Mutiny, the word "Farangis" is used (6). What does this word mean?

2. During the discussion of alchemy, what does Kambal Shah say would happen if everyone had equal wealth?

3. What is ironic about Asghar's characterization of their days in Bhopal as "happy" (35)?

4. What creature does Mir Nihal kill in Part I, Chapter 1?

5. What advice does Bari give Asghar about his love life?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Khwaja Ashraf Ali, Mir Nihal, and Hakim Bashir argue about, and what story does Khwaja Ashraf Ali tell to end the argument?

2. What suggestion does Begam Jamal make to Begam Nihal about Asghar?

3. Who is Hameed, and what light does Asghar think Hameed's situation throws on his own?

4. What does the reader learn in Chapter 3 about Mir Nihal's real reason for working at the lace shop, and how does this shed light on his feelings about his family?

5. When Asghar sees the sad-looking old man on the street, what realization does he have about his own life, and why?

6. What does Mir Nihal find happening when he returns home at the beginning of Chapter 2, and what finally causes him to become angry?

7. What contrast do Begam Jamal and Begam Nihal make between the processions held by Mughal emperors and their expectations for the procession about to be held by the English?

8. In what way were E. M. Forester and Virginia Woolf involved in the publication of Twilight in India?

9. What does Kambal Shah say caused the loss of the Mugal Empire?

10. What is the Ghadar of 1857?

(see the answer keys)

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