The Master and Margarita, Chapter 4: The Chase quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What first sets Ivan's mind linking the accident to the professor's prediction?

   • A newspaper headline about the tram
   • The driver crying out about her brakes
   • A policeman reading out Berlioz's name
   • Correct answer: A woman shouting the name Annushka

   Of everything the woman shouts, the word Annushka lodges in Ivan's brain and starts the chain that leads to the professor.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What does the professor claim when Ivan demands, 'Confess, who are you?'

   • That he is waiting for the police to arrive
   • Correct answer: That he cannot understand or speak Russian
   • That he is a German professor of history
   • That he had nothing to do with Berlioz

   He answers in broken words that he does not understand Russian, though he spoke it excellently minutes earlier.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What does the choirmaster do when Ivan asks him to help detain the criminal?

   • Runs off to fetch a policeman from the corner
   • Offers Ivan money to forget what he has seen
   • Correct answer: Gets Ivan to shout for help, then stays silent
   • Grabs the professor by the sleeve, then lets go

   He proposes they shout 'Help!' together on a count, then bluffs and says nothing, leaving Ivan to shout alone.

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4. 4

   Question 4. According to the narrator, what is the real marvel that the conductress and passengers miss?

   • Correct answer: The cat is planning to pay its fare
   • The cat is wearing a grey beret
   • The cat is speaking to the crowd
   • The cat is carrying a walking stick

   The narrator says the essence of the matter is not that a cat was boarding but that it was going to pay.

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5. 5

   Question 5. Inside apartment 47, where does Ivan reason the professor must be hiding?

   • In a trunk in the front hall
   • Correct answer: In the bathroom off the corridor
   • On the roof above the stairwell
   • In the kitchen behind the stove

   Ivan rushes down the corridor thinking, of course, he's hiding in the bathroom, and finds a woman in the bath instead.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What does Ivan find when he comes back up the steps after his swim?

   • Nothing but the bearded man's worn boots
   • A grey beret and the professor's stick
   • His own suit, soaked and muddied through
   • Correct answer: Striped drawers, a torn blouse and his candle

   His clothes and the bearded man are gone; left behind are striped drawers, the torn Tolstoy blouse, the candle, the icon and matches.

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7. 7

   Question 7. Why, the narrator says, did no one ask Ivan why he thought the professor was at the Moscow River?

   • Correct answer: Because the lane was completely empty
   • Because Ivan was running far too fast
   • Because the people nearby feared him
   • Because passers-by thought he was drunk

   The narrator notes that someone ought to have asked, but there was no one to ask him: the lane was completely empty.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What does 'inimically' mean as used in: 'looked at the poet as if he were seeing him for the first time, and answered inimically'?

   • In a warm, good-humored way
   • In a confused, hesitant manner
   • Correct answer: In a hostile, unfriendly way
   • In a slow and puzzled way

   Inimically means in a hostile way, which fits the professor's sudden coldness toward Ivan.

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9. 9

   Question 9. What does 'quarry' mean as used in: 'the distance between him and his quarry never diminished'?

   • A crowd of curious onlookers
   • A trusted friend or companion
   • A pit where stone is dug out
   • Correct answer: The one who is being chased

   Quarry here means the hunted target: the trio Ivan is chasing across Moscow.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What does 'ubiquitous' mean as used in: 'tormented by the ubiquitous orchestra'?

    • Badly played and out of tune
    • Hidden somewhere out of sight
    • Correct answer: Present everywhere at once
    • Small, with only a few players

    Ubiquitous means found everywhere; the polonaise pours from every window, door and courtyard Ivan passes.

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11. 11

    Question 11. Which of these events happen near the Patriarch's Ponds in Chapter 4?

    • Ivan bites his hand until it bleeds.

      Happened

      After he sees the head bounce along the pavement, Ivan drops on to the bench and bites his hand until it bleeds.

    • Ivan telephones the police from a corner booth.

      Didn't happen

      Ivan makes no telephone call; he shouts for help and threatens to hand the choirmaster over to the police himself.

    • The choirmaster blocks Ivan by dodging left and right.

      Happened

      Each time Ivan dashes right or left, the choirmaster dashes the same way and gets under his feet.

    • The professor shows Ivan his foreign passport.

      Didn't happen

      The professor shows no papers; when Ivan demands them, he only twists his mouth, shrugs and soon walks away.

    • Two girls shy away from Ivan after he shouts.

      Happened

      Ivan's lone, hoarse cry for help makes two girls shy away from him, and he hears the word drunk.

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12. 12

    Question 12. Which of these events happen after Ivan loses the professor?

    • A little girl of about five opens the apartment door.

      Happened

      At apartment 47 a little girl of about five opens the door and goes off without asking Ivan anything.

    • Ivan finds the professor hiding in the bathroom.

      Didn't happen

      The professor is not in the bathroom; Ivan finds a naked woman in the bath tub, who takes him for someone called Kiriushka.

    • Ivan takes a wedding candle and a paper icon.

      Happened

      In the kitchen Ivan takes one of the two wedding candles from behind the icon, along with the little paper icon pinned under it.

    • Ivan's Massolit card is left behind with the drawers.

      Didn't happen

      The card is not left behind: after his swim Ivan realizes that his Massolit identification card is gone.

    • Ivan heads for Griboedov's through back lanes.

      Happened

      Ivan sets off for Griboedov's and keeps to the back lanes so that fewer passers-by will stare at his drawers.

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