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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following books did Lessing use to illustrate the difference in transitioning from the consciousness of a child to that of an adult?
(a) Tristram Shandy.
(b) Pride and Prejudice.
(c) Hamlet.
(d) The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

2. What was the difference between African huts and English huts?
(a) English huts were much larger.
(b) African huts were made of straw.
(c) English huts had windows.
(d) African huts were two-story.

3. Which of the following names does Lessing give the personality that would comes out of her while under the influence of drugs?
(a) The Guide.
(b) The Cynic.
(c) The Recluse.
(d) The Hostess.

4. According to the quote at the opening of Chapter 1, the girl in Lessing's mother's favorite saying only cared about which of the following?
(a) Singing and prancing.
(b) Books and studying.
(c) Horses and dancing.
(d) Cats and flowers.

5. Which of the following was the "chief wrong" that Lessing's mother cited in her diatribe against the Catholic Church?
(a) Slavery.
(b) Imperialism.
(c) The Counter Reformation.
(d) The Inquisition.

6. According to Lessing, what happens to women as time passes?
(a) Women are dropped from memory, then history.
(b) Women fade into the domestic sphere.
(c) Women assert themselves as powerful people.
(d) Women become more significant to a culture's public culture.

7. Which of the following song for children made Lessing's mother cry?
(a) "Humpty-Dumpty".
(b) "Baa Baa, Black Sheep".
(c) "Ring Around the Rosie".
(d) "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star".

8. What event in Lessing's childhood does she describe as having left her inconsolable?
(a) The death of her cat.
(b) The first day of school.
(c) The move to Africa.
(d) The beginning of war.

9. What does Lessing say about memory?
(a) Memory is a careless and lazy organ.
(b) Memory is an astonishing record.
(c) Memory must be recorded in books.
(d) Memory cannot be trusted.

10. What was the name of Lessing's nanny?
(a) Betty.
(b) Betsy.
(c) Beth.
(d) Biddy.

11. In Chapter 8, what does Lessing reference as a common theme throughout her childhood?
(a) Trees.
(b) Adventures.
(c) Fires.
(d) Dreams.

12. What year did Lessing leave Southern Rhodesia?
(a) 1949.
(b) 1934.
(c) 1945.
(d) 1919.

13. Where did Lessing's father work after he was discharged from the Army?
(a) The Scotland Yard.
(b) National Hospital of England.
(c) Imperial Bank of Persia.
(d) A small farm in Rhodesia.

14. What remained unaffected by the Lessings' existence for 20 years?
(a) The wildcats.
(b) The bush.
(c) The trees.
(d) The natives.

15. What do Lessing's parents do in preparation for their next voyage?
(a) They saved money scrupulously.
(b) They drew up a legal will.
(c) They studied French.
(d) They had their teeth removed.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where did Lessing's family live before they found property?

2. Which of the following drugs does Lessing admit to having taken once?

3. What did Lessing's father think of his Persian business partners?

4. Why did Lessing's father miss the Battle of the Somme?

5. At what age did Emily McVeagh die?

(see the answer keys)

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