The Ultimate Safari MCQs

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Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature


Updated on: October 23, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 11 min

Nadine Gordimer MCQs

1. What type of publication did someone ask Nadine Gordimer to contribute a story to?

A. Political essays
B. Literary magazine
C. Children’s anthology
D. Creative writing textbook

C. Children’s anthology
The story’s frame narrative begins with the author being asked to write for a children’s book.

2. How did the author describe her windowpanes when reflecting on fear?

A. Steel reinforced
B. Thin as rime, easily shattered
C. Covered by heavy curtains
D. Bulletproof

B. Thin as rime, easily shattered
This description emphasizes the psychological fragility and vulnerability despite physical barriers.

3. What was the actual cause of the creaking sound that woke the author?

A. A passage prowler
B. The cat is climbing a shelf
C. House settling due to gold mines
D. Loose attic floorboard

C. House settling due to gold mines
The sound originates from the shifting earth above the mine tunnels beneath Johannesburg.

4. How far beneath the author’s bed were the stopes and passages of the gold mines?

A. Three hundred feet
B. Thirty feet
C. Three thousand feet
D. Thirty thousand feet

C. Three thousand feet
The story specifies this depth, highlighting the hidden geological reality under the surface.
5. The author compared her heart’s misbeats to the muffled flourishes on which instruments?

A. Hide drums
B. Chopi/Tsonga wooden xylophones
C. Steel drums
D. Worn-out piano

B. Chopi/Tsonga wooden xylophones
This connects her internal fear to the sounds associated with the miners whose labor created the underground tunnels.

6. What was the family’s first precaution mentioned regarding their child’s safety?

A. Self-defense classes
B. Fencing the swimming pool
C. Installing a panic button
D. Buying a watchdog

B. Fencing the swimming pool
This ordinary precaution contrasts sharply with the extreme security measures adopted later.

7. Who was the “wise old witch” who warned the couple against hiring anyone “off the street”?

A. Trusted housemaid
B. Husband’s mother
C. Neighbourhood Watch leader
D. Police Chief

B. Husband’s mother
The grandmother represents the ingrained fears and prejudices of the white suburban community.

8. What was the warning message lettered on the plaque supplied by the Neighbourhood Watch?

A. BEWARE: ARMED RESPONSE
B. PROPERTY PROTECTED
C. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
D. DOG ON DUTY

C. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
This plaque signifies the community’s reliance on deterrence through signage.

9. Why did the husband claim the silhouette of the would-be intruder on the plaque was not racist?

A. The figure was painted green.
B. The figure was masked, color unknown.
C. It showed a female intruder.
D. It featured two figures, one black, one white.

B. The figure was masked, color unknown.
He attempts to dismiss the racial undertones by pointing out the mask obscures the figure’s identity.
10. Where were the riots taking place that fueled the wife’s fear?

A. Right outside their gates
B. Outside city, where people of another color were quartered
C. Central business district
D. In neighboring countries

B. Outside city, where people of another color were quartered
The fear originates from the segregated townships, physically separate but psychologically close.

11. To appease his wife, what new security measure did the husband first install?

A. An electric fence
B. Police surveillance
C. Electronically-controlled gates
D. A moat

C. Electronically-controlled gates
This marks an early stage in the escalation of security measures around the home.

12. The little boy used the new electronic gate device as what during play?

A. A microphone
B. A walkie-talkie
C. A listening device
D. A doorbell

B. A walkie-talkie
The child innocently repurposes the security intercom for his games.

13. Why did the couple finally install burglar bars and an alarm system?

A. Insurance required it
B. The gardener was arrested
C. Housemaid’s friend was tied up
D. They read an article in the newspaper

C. Housemaid’s friend was tied up
A robbery affecting someone connected to their household staff intensifies their fear.

14. What creature repeatedly set off the newly installed house alarm?

A. A mouse
B. The dog
C. The little boy
D. The pet cat by the fanlight

D. The pet cat by the fanlight
The family pet triggers the sensitive alarm, showing the intrusive nature of the security system.
15. What eventually happened to the constant sounds of burglar alarms in the suburb?

A. They were often reported
B. They were replaced by quiet laser grids
C. Everyone became accustomed to the din
D. The police installed jammers

C. Everyone became accustomed to the din
The alarms became background noise, losing their power to signal real danger.

16. Intruders sometimes drank what specific liquor found in cabinets?

A. Wine
B. Beer
C. Single malt whiskey
D. Sparkling water

C. Single malt whiskey
This specific detail emphasizes the violation of personal space during burglaries.

17. Why were many people who were not trusted employees hanging about the suburb?

A. They were waiting for a bus
B. They were unemployed
C. They were holding a demonstration
D. They were visiting family

B. They were unemployed
Poverty and unemployment drove people to seek work near affluent areas, perceived as a threat by residents.

18. What did the wife try to send out to the hungry, unemployed people?

A. Water and fruit
B. Money
C. Bread and tea
D. Clothes

C. Bread and tea
Her impulse towards charity is quickly suppressed by fear and warnings from others.

19. What item belonging to the little boy did the husband start bringing into the house nightly for security?

A. His bicycle
B. His remote-controlled car
C. His pet cat
D. His tricycle

D. His tricycle
The fear of theft extends even to the child’s outdoor playthings.
20. Who paid for the extra bricks to make the wall higher?

A. The local church
B. The husband’s mother
C. The insurance company
D. The itinerant gardener

B. The husband’s mother
The grandmother contributes to the fortification of the house, reinforcing the cycle of fear.

21. What did the little boy receive from the “wise old witch” (his grandmother) for Christmas, besides a Space Man outfit?

A. A video game
B. A pet hamster
C. A book of fairy tales
D. A new tricycle

C. A book of fairy tales
This gift contains the story that tragically inspires the boy’s fatal action.

22. How did the cat manage to get over the seven-foot wall after it was heightened?

A. It used the ladder
B. The gardener lifted it
C. Effortlessly, bracing forepaws down
D. It stayed inside

C. Effortlessly, bracing forepaws down
The cat’s natural ability easily bypasses the mán-made barrier meant to keep intruders out.

23. Which security measure involved “pieces of broken glass”?

A. Lining the pool bottom
B. Embedded in cement along wall tops
C. Placed in flowerpots
D. Sprinkled on the lawn

B. Embedded in cement along wall tops
This crude method represents another level of defense added to the perimeter wall.

24. The couple concluded that only one security style was worth considering, which they described as:

A. Spanish Villa style
B. Neo-classical style
C. Pure concentration camp style
D. High-tech laser grid style

C. Pure concentration camp style
This chilling comparison reveals the extreme and inhumane nature of the ultimate security measure.
25. What was the central feature of the “ugliest but the most honest” security measure?

A. Deep trenches filled with water
B. Continuous coil of jagged metal blades
C. Electrified vertical wires
D. Trained guard dogs

B. Continuous coil of jagged metal blades
This refers to the installation of razor wire along the top of the wall.

26. What was the name of the firm that installed the “Total Security” device?

A. Total Wall Builders
B. Guaranteed Protection Services
C. Razor Wire Specialists
D. DRAGON’S TEETH

D. DRAGON’S TEETH
The aggressive name of the company reflects the violent nature of the product.

27. How did the husband reassure his wife about the cat potentially interacting with the new security coil?

A. He promised a leash
B. Cats always look before they leap
C. The cat would be declawed
D. The coil was harmless

B. Cats always look before they leap
His assumption about the cat’s caution proves tragically incorrect when applied to his son.

28. After the final security coil was installed, what did the cat do?

A. It was injured
B. Continued climbing the wall daily
C. Slept inside, kept to the garden
D. It ran away from home

C. Slept inside, kept to the garden
The cat sensed the danger of the razor wire and avoided the wall, unlike the child.

29. What specific fairy tale character did the little boy pretend to be when he tried to climb the razor-bladed coils?

A. Jack, climbing the beanstalk
B. The Prince who braves the thorn thicket
C. Peter Pan
D. Hansel, leaving breadcrumbs

B. The Prince who braves the thorn thicket
He reenacts the scene from Sleeping Beauty, mistaking the deadly razor wire for the protective thorns in the story.
30. Who first ran to the boy after he became entangled in the security coil?

A. The man and his wife
B. The police
C. Housemaid and gardener
D. The neighbors

C. Housemaid and gardener
The household staff, representing the ‘othered’ group the security was meant to deter, are the first responders to the tragedy.

Brief Overview

The Ultimate Safari is a short story by Nadine Gordimer. An unnamed young girl from Mozambique narrates it. The story follows her family’s desperate flight from the violence of a civil war.

The war has killed the girl’s father and caused her mother to disappear. The narrator, her brother, her grandmother, and her grandfather decide they must flee their village. They join a large group of refugees walking south toward the promised safety of South Africa.

The journey is long and brutally challenging. They walk for weeks through the vast, wild Kruger National Park. The family suffers greatly from hunger, thirst, and exhaustion. The grandmother, who is the strongest figure, constantly encourages the children to keep walking.

The “safari” of the title is not a tourist trip but a grim journey of survival. They face real dangers from wild animals and from soldiers. They successfully crossed the border into South Africa.

The family is eventually taken to a crowded refugee camp. Life there is safer but still harsh and uncertain. They live in a tent, waiting for news of the narrator’s missing mother.

The grandfather, feeling useless and sad, eventually leaves the camp to try and find a job. The story ends with the narrator’s simple, enduring hope for a more normal, stable life.

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