White Teeth Quizzes

White Teeth Quiz 1

By Tania Asnes · Edited by Christina Shelby · Last reviewed May 16, 2006

1 What advice does Smith give the reader in the opening quote from E.M. Forster?

Forget the past in favor of the future.

Do not underestimate the power of the subconscious mind.

Read the book once forwards and once backwards.

Pay attention to details.
2 How does Archie attempt suicide?

By inhaling carbon monoxide.

With the cleaver Mo Hussein-Ishmael uses to kill pigeons.

He merely contemplates suicide, but does not attempt it.

By choking himself with a vacuum cleaner hose.
3 Why does Archie choose to die on Cricklewood Broadway?

His car runs out of gas there while he is driving to the cinema parking lot.

He wants Mo Hussein-Ishmael to be the one to find his body.

He thinks it fitting of his marriage: incongruous and loud.

He thinks it fitting of his life: quiet, urban, and unnoteworthy.
4 Why does Mo Hussein-Ishmael save Archie?

He is merely enforcing the no-parking rule on his street.

Archie is betrothed to his neice.

He is merely trying to ask Archie to help him kill pigeons.

Out of his deep sense of morality.
5 What spurred Archie's suicide attempt?

His first wife, Ophelia, left him.

His in-laws ridiculed him to the point of despair.

He lost his job.

He could no longer bear memories of the War.
6 What is wrong with Ophelia?

She is mentally unsound.

She cannot bear children.

She refuses to consummate her marriage.

She is unfaithful.
7 What is Archie's job at MorganHero?

He manages the affiliated Indian restaurant.

He manages door-to-door Hoover vacuum sales.

He designs press releases for postage stamps.

He designs the way in which things should be folded.
8 Which of the following does not apply to Horst Ibelgaufts?

He tied Archie at the 1948 London Olympics.

He is Swedish.

He is Ophelia's former lover.

He is a gynecologist.
9 Why does Archie like track cycling?

The athlete can improve with each lap.

It is the only thing that has ever given him true joy.

It allows him to remain seated.

The athlete is pitted against only himself.
10 What is Archie's unique talent in cycling?

He developed a one-of-a-kind folding bicycle.

He got precisely the same time on every lap.

He consistently improved each lap by .01 seconds.

He always came in thirteenth, no matter what.
11 Of whom does Archie last think before passing out in his car?

Daria, the prostitute with whom he slept after the Olympics.

His old cycling buddy, Horst Ibelgaufts.

His best friend, Samad Iqbal.

His future second wife, Clara Bowden.
12 Samad becomes a "parent-governer." What does that mean?

He is chairman of the school governer's meetings.

He keeps very strict rules in his household.

He no longer has to work in the restaurant.

He is very involved in his children's education.
13 Why is Samad against the Harvest Festival?

He wants it replaced by a Hindu holiday.

It occurs on a fast day, so his sons cannot join in.

It is pagan.

He wants it replaced by a Muslim holiday.
14 What does Poppy tell Samad she supports?

His prioritization of Magid over Millat.

His motion against the Harvest Festival.

His strict parenting.

His introducing Indian music to her pupils.
15 Why does Samad feel guilty when he is talking to Poppy?

He thinks she is ugly.

Alsana is waiting in the parking lot.

He knows she fancies him.

He gets an erection.
16 What does Samad do to try to make his erection subside?

He repeats his favorite sayings in his head.

He thinks of Alsana.

He recites passages from the Qu'ran.

He brings Archie into the conversation.
17 What saying does Samad use to justify masturbation?

"All work and no play make Jack a dull boy."

"Can't say fairer than that..."

"Spare the rod, spoil the child."

"To the pure all things are pure."
18 What saying does Samad use to justify exchanging masturbation for drink?

"The early bird gets the worm."

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

"Can't say fairer than that..."

"To the pure all things are pure."
19 According to Shiva, why don't relationships with English women work out?

English women are accustomed to asexual Englishmen.

English women expect too many material things.

Historical and cultural differences.

English women are all liars.
20 Why does Samad offer to drive the children to school?

Because he misses them.

To be closer to Poppy.

To stop the budding romance between Magid and Irie.

To see to their education personally.
21 Why do Magid and Irie take a vow of silence?

In remembrance of Indira Gandhi.

In protest of the Harvest Festival's demise.

In protest of the shortening of summer vacation.

Because they hate Music class with Poppy.
22 What did Magid do in order to defy his parents?

Promised himself in marriage to Irie.

Made his friends call him Mark Smith.

Brought cornucopias to school for the Harvest Festival.

Spoke openly against them at a school governer's meeting.
23 What does Samad do in Poppy's office?

Declares his love for her.

Masturbates.

Renounces his love for Alsana.

Kisses her.
24 Why do the children visit J.P. Hamilton?

As charity on behalf of Irie's church.

As charity in honor of the Harvest Festival.

As community service for their demerits at school.

He is an old friend of Archie's from the Olympics.
25 On what does J.P. Hamilton lecture the children?

The Second Coming of Christ.

The importance of caring for their teeth.

The ravages of war.

The dangers of living in his neighborhood.

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