Q.1
Which of the following best describes Tollington?
  • Tollington is a wealthy suburb of Wolverhampton
  • Tollington is a rural village with a mostly working class population
  • Tollington is a wealthy, rural village
  • Tollington is a poor, urban housing estate
Q.2
Where is the novel set?
  • West Midlands
  • Northumbria
  • County Durham
  • Essex
Q.3
With which industry was Tollington associated?
  • The steel industry
  • Car manufacturing
  • The paper industry
  • Mining
Q.4
"It was a constant source of embarrassment to me that our front garden was the odd one out in the village, a boring rectangle of lumpy grass bordered with various herbs that mama grew to garnish our Indian meals. 'This is mint, beti,' she would say, plucking the top of a plant and crushing the leaves under my nose, 'This one ...coriander I mean...this lemon verbena, you can make tea from this...' I did not want things growing in our garden that reminded me of yesterday's dinner; I wanted roses and sunflowers and manicured hedges and fountains where the blackbirds would come and sip." Which of the following is correct?
  • Meena is embarrassed by her mother's poor gardening skills
  • Meena wishes for an ornamental English garden, like those of her neighbours, rather than the practical garden her parents keep
  • Meena believes that sunflowers, roses and hedges are more practical than herbs
  • All of the above
Q.5
Syal depicts Tollington as a close-knit community. Which one of the following settings does NOT contribute to this depiction?
  • The shared alleyways between houses
  • The village school
  • The quarry pond
  • The "yard"
Q.6
Where does Anita and Meena's "gang" meet?
  • In the park
  • In a pigsty
  • In the schoolyard
  • By the quarry pond
Q.7
Which of the following is associated with Meena's kitchen?
  • Clutter
  • The smell of spices
  • Busy, sweating, efficient women
  • All of the above
Q.8
"When I looked at Mrs Christmas' frocks, I thought of tea by an open fire with an autumn wind howling outside, horses' hooves, hats and gloves, toast, wartime brides with cupid bow mouths laughing and waving their hankies to departing soldiers, like I'd seen on that telly programme, ." Contemplating Mrs Christmas' clothing transports Meena to which of the following?
  • The Big House, circa the 1920s
  • Tollington, in its heyday as a mining village
  • The India of the 1950s
  • A nostalgic version of Englishness
Q.9
Which one of the following does NOT feature as a setting in the novel?
  • The hospital
  • The Big House
  • India
  • Anita's kitchen
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