THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST – TEST - M3

NAME: ________________________ DATE: _______________________ ___/44

PART 1- general understanding

Answer the following questions as indicated:

a. Indicate if the following statements are true or false and correct the false ones. ___/6

STATEMENT TRUE FALSE

1 Changez comes from a very wealthy family.

2 Changez plays soccer.

3 Changez meets Erica in Central Park N.Y.

4 The American’s name is Jeff.

5 Underwood Samsons hires Changez just out of Princeton University.

6 All the people at Underwood Sasmson are good-looking and tall.

7 The book is a dialogue.

8 Wainwright is one of Changez’s colleagues and a friend.

b. These words or expressions appear in the book. Match them with their explanation on the right.____/4

WORDS/EXPRESSIONS EXPLANATIONS
1 BULWARK A plain, in poor conditions
2 MUGGER B walls which protect a castle or a city
3 TO WREAK AVOC C an independent, daring person
4 SHABBY D an inhabitant
5 TO LINGER E a person who steals/robs in the streets
6 DWELLER F enthusiastic, really wanting something
7 MAVERIK G to cause a lot of mess, to disrupt
8 EAGER H to spend a lot of time on something or around something
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

c. On a separate piece of paper, answer the following questions using your own words: ____/18
1. How do the relationships between Changez and Erica and Changez and America compare? Give at least 2
elements? Use between 60 and 80 words. 5 pts – (3.5 content and 1.5 language)
2. Why does Changez say that he immediately feels a New Yorker but not necessarily an American? 20 words –
2 points – (1.5 content and 0.5 language)
3. What is the role of Juan-Bautista in Changez’s life? Use approximately 50-60 words. 4 pts – (3 content and 1
language)
4. Describe the role of Jim in the novel. Give at least 3 elements. Use between 50 to 60 words. 4 pts – (3
content and 1 language)
5. “I was a modern-day janissary, a servant of the American Empire” Changez, chapter 10 What does Changez
mean with this sentence? 3 points – (2.5 content and 0.5 language)
PART 2- passage analysis Name: _________________

Read the following passage and answer the questions below. For the open questions, 3 points out of 10 will be
counted for language. ___/10
1 I see from your expression that you do not believe me. No matter, I am confident of the truth of my words. In any case, it was
impossible to ask the boy himself about the matter, as he had disappeared—whisked away to a secret detention facility, no
doubt, in some lawless limbo between your country and mine. He and I were not particularly well acquainted, as I have
repeatedly testified, but I remembered his shy smile and aptitude for cash-flow statements, and I found myself filled with rage
5 at the mystery surrounding his treatment. When the international television news networks came to our campus, I stated to
them among other things that no country inflicts death so readily upon the inhabitants of other countries, frightens so many
people so far away, as America. I was perhaps more forceful on this topic than I intended.
Later, it occurred to me that in addition to expressing my dismay, I was possibly trying to attract attention to myself; I had, in
my own manner, issued a firefly’s glow bright enough to transcend the boundaries of continents and civilizations. If Erica was
10 watching—which rationally, I knew, she almost certainly was not—she might have seen me and been moved to correspond. I
was tugged at by an undercurrent of loss when she did not do so. But my brief interview appeared to resonate: it was replayed
for days, and even now an excerpt of it can be seen in the occasional war-on-terror montage. Such was its impact that I was
warned by my comrades that America might react to my admittedly intemperate remarks by sending an emissary to intimidate
me or worse.
15 Since then, I have felt rather like a Kurtz waiting for his Marlow. I have endeavored to live normally, as though nothing has
changed, but I have been plagued by paranoia, by an intermittent sense that I am being observed. I even tried to vary my
routines—the times I left for work, for example, and the streets I took—but I have come to realize that all this serves no
purpose. I must meet my fate when it confronts me, and in the meantime I must conduct myself without panic.
Most of all, I must avoid doing what you are doing in this instant, namely constantly looking over my shoulder. It seems to me
20 that you have ceased to listen to my chatter; perhaps you are convinced that I am an inveterate liar, or perhaps you are under
the impression that we are being pursued. Really, sir, you would do well to relax. Yes, those men are now rather close, and
yes, the expression on the face of that one—what a coincidence; it is our waiter; he has offered me a nod of recognition—is
rather grim. But they mean you no harm, I assure you. It seems an obvious thing to say, but you should not imagine that we
Pakistanis are all potential terrorists, just as we should not imagine that you Americans are all undercover assassins.
25 Ah, we are about to arrive at the gates of your hotel. It is here that you and I shall at last part company. Perhaps our waiter
wants to say goodbye as well, for he is rapidly closing in. Yes, he is waving at me to detain you. I know you have found some
of my views offensive; I hope you will not resist my attempt to shake you by the hand. But why are you reaching into your
jacket, sir? I detect a glint of metal. Given that you and I are now bound by a certain shared intimacy, I trust it is from the
holder of your business cards.

1. Situate the passage in the book (say what comes before and after, briefly explain what is happening)2 points
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2. On line 1, Changez repeats that he is telling the truth. Do we believe him? Why? 2 points
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3. Comment the underlined quote of line 18: What does Changez mean, in your opinion? 2 points
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4. Comment on the open ending of the passage/book. Are there any instances of open ending? Why do you
think the author chose this technique? – 4 points
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Find synonyms for the following words in the passage: ____/6

ll. 1-7: problem ……………………. taken, kidnapped ……………………
anger ……………………
ll. 19-23: stopped …………………… followed ……………………
gloomy, stern ……………………