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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 aspect of her childhood determined that Lessing would never separate herself from politics?
(a) Listening to her parents' impossible ideas.
(b) Listening to the BBC each day.
(c) Listening to the way that her parents treated the servants.
(d) Listening to the ideas of the African workers whom her family employed.

2. To what activity does Lessing compare learning the skills of her new job?
(a) To learning to walk.
(b) To riding a bicycle.
(c) To learning to write the alphabet.
(d) To learning to speak.

3. What did Sonny Jameson borrow from Lessing?
(a) Her short stories.
(b) Her fountain pen.
(c) Her typewriter.
(d) Her collection of Everyman books.

4. What did Lessing do while she spent her days with John?
(a) Lessing wrote poems in her mind.
(b) Lessing planned her escape from domestic life.
(c) Lessing pined for simpler days.
(d) Lessing entertained wild fantasies.

5. In Chapter 18, which of the following is NOT one of the dictators whom Lessing lists?
(a) Khomeni.
(b) Mao.
(c) Pol Pot.
(d) Idi Amin.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the highest ambition of Black workers in Salisbury?

2. Who recommended that Lessing see a particular doctor for an abortion?

3. What time of day would Gottfried get up to go to the tobacco auctions?

4. In Chapter 19, what was the white population of Salisbury?

5. Who did Lessing work for at this point in her life?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did John react to the birth of his little sister?

2. Ultimately, why did Lessing think that she and Gottfried were mismatched?

3. How did Lessing respond to increasing unhappiness with her marital and home situation?

4. Discuss Lessing's mini-vacation to Capetown.

5. Describe Lessing's entrance into love and romance as she describes it in Chapter 10.

6. Describe the beginning of Lessing's relationship with Gottfried.

7. What did Lessing realize when she was diagnosed with Low Fever and sent to the mountains to recover?

8. In Chapter 13, how did Lessing rationalize her decision to leave Frank and their two children?

9. How did Lessing describe Kurt in Chapter 16?

10. Describe Lessing's activities in Capetown in Chapter 17.

(see the answer keys)

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