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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the narrator give as a response to the narrator’s question of whether he was going to stay with his work?
(a) It would be hard to take a pay cut
(b) What were the options?
(c) It pays the bills
(d) I haven’t had any other offers

2. What do the narrator and his wife offer the blind man as they smoke marijuana in the story?
(a) More pie
(b) A blanket
(c) A pillow
(d) A cup of coffee

3. Of the blind man’s eyes, the narrator says there’s too much white where?
(a) In the iris
(b) In the pupil
(c) In the retina
(d) In the cornea

4. What does the narrator say that he, his wife, and the blind man did after scarfing down their dinner in the story?
(a) For a few moments, we sat as if stunned
(b) We wondered if each of us could keep it all down
(c) After that we could not even look at the pie
(d) We all wondered if anyone would take another serving

5. What kind of pie does the narrator’s wife serve at dinner?
(a) Apple pie
(b) Peach pie
(c) Banana cream pie
(d) Strawberry pie

6. The blind man tells the narrator when he arrives that he hadn’t been on a train in almost how long?
(a) 10 years
(b) 20 years
(c) 40 years
(d) 30 years

7. On the television show about the Church, the narrator describes a famous cathedral shown in what city?
(a) Paris
(b) Zurich
(c) Berlin
(d) Warsaw

8. What term describes a movement where a literary or artistic work is set out to expose the essence or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts?
(a) Critical
(b) Focused
(c) Minimalism
(d) Truism

9. What word from the story refers to a hooded garment worn by monks?
(a) Mukluk
(b) Anorak
(c) Cowl
(d) Kimono

10. What does the protagonist in “Cathedral” gain by the end of the story?
(a) Money and security
(b) Anger and resentment
(c) Political favor
(d) Empathy and understanding

11. The narrator notes in the story that “A wink is the same thing as” what “to a blind man”?
(a) A kick
(b) A jump
(c) A wave
(d) A nod

12. The narrator says that the “was having a drink and” doing what when he “heard the car pull into the drive” with his wife and the blind man?
(a) Reading the paper
(b) Listening to the radio
(c) Watching TV
(d) Doing a crossword puzzle

13. What was the last part of the blind man’s tape that the narrator heard when his wife played it for him?
(a) He sounds like a great man
(b) From all you’ve said about him, I can only conclude—
(c) I can picture the type
(d) You can certainly do better

14. Where did the other half of the coin go that the blind man was left with, according to the narrator?
(a) In his wife’s coffin
(b) In a frame on the wall
(c) In a safe deposit box
(d) In his wallet

15. What does the narrator say his wife writes one or two of every year?
(a) Essays
(b) Poems
(c) Short stories
(d) Novels

Short Answer Questions

1. The narrator says of the blind man that he’d done “a little bit of everything, it seemed, a regular” what?

2. How does the narrator’s wife look at him when he turns on the television during the talk with the blind man after dinner?

3. What does the blind man do as the narrator attempts to explain cathedrals to him?

4. At the end of the story, the narrator says, “I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn’t feel like I was” what?

5. How long does the narrator say he’s been in his current position (of employment) when asked by the blind man?

(see the answer keys)

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