The Endless Steppe

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Why did Esther stop going to nursery school?

A) Mama refused to buy her silk gloves.

B) The Russian soldiers forced her family onto cattle trains.

C) The school stopped accepting Jewish children.

D) She insulted Miss Rachel.

2. What food do the Russian soldiers give to the people on the train?

A) Stale bread and sheep cheese

B) None

C) Cabbage soup

D) Tough strips of dried reindeer

3. Why does Esther hate the flies?

A) They fly into her ears and mouth.

B) They carry disease.

C) They spoil the family's food.

D) They are free to go where they please.

4. What impresses Esther the most when she and Grandmother visit Rubtsovsk for the first time?

A) The movie theater

B) The market square

C)  The school

D) The huts on the edge of the village

5. In what genre is The Endless Steppe written?

A) Biography

B) Novel

C) Memoir

D) Epistolary

6. How does Father react when the secret police offer him food?

A) He remains silent.

B) He cries.

C) He breaks down and agrees to spy.

D) He prays.

7. Why does Esther want to cut off her braids?

A) They are stiff with clay.

B) Svetlana envies them.

C) A teacher makes an insulting remark about Jews.

D) She has lice.

8. What is the steppe like in the springtime?

A) An ocean of mud

B) Green and beautiful

C) Covered in snow

D) Hot, windy, and dusty

9. What incident leads to Esther's realization that she must help earn money for the family?