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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where was the narrator's grandmother driving him to in the example he cites of her use of the unxclamation point?
(a) Karate.
(b) School.
(c) Piano lessons.
(d) Work.

2. What did the speaker's father say to his children after the argument with the stranger as he held his hand to his heart?
(a) Don't be a whimp like your old man.
(b) That guy was a jerk.
(c) I should have stood up to him.
(d) It's never, ever worth it.

3. What were the speaker and his father discussing on the phone when the silence mark was used as per his example?
(a) His brother's upcoming wedding.
(b) His father's recent angioplasty.
(c) His own grades in college.
(d) His father's recent job loss.

4. What does the narrator say he has never had with any member of his family?
(a) An enjoyable conversation.
(b) A heated argument.
(c) A nice time.
(d) A disappointing visit.

5. During what type of conversation with his grandmother does the speaker say the silence mark most often appears?
(a) When discussing his grandfather's illness.
(b) When discussing her heart condition.
(c) When discussing her children.
(d) When discussing her life in Europe before the war.

6. Where was the narrator and his family during the only instance he recalls use of the extraexclamation point?
(a) His parent's house.
(b) His apartment.
(c) The mall parking lot.
(d) The National Zoo parking lot.

7. What does the speaker's mother suggest he may be ashamed of when discussing his relationships with girls?
(a) His jewish heritage.
(b) His brother.
(c) The girl or his mother.
(d) His family health history.

8. What did the man continue to yell at the speaker's father in the example he uses of the extra exclamation point?
(a) Go away, asshole.
(b) Give it up, fucker.
(c) Out of my way, jackass.
(d) Get over it, loser.

9. Who is the author of "A Primer for the Punctuation of Heart Disease"?
(a) Jonathan Sears.
(b) Jonathan Swift.
(c) Jonathan Safran Foer.
(d) Jonathan Franzen.

10. How many heart attacks does the speaker say his family has "and counting" (1)?
(a) 65.
(b) 18.
(c) 41.
(d) 3.

11. What shape symbolizes the silence mark?
(a) Circle.
(b) Triangle.
(c) Rhombus.
(d) Square.

12. What does the pedal point signify?
(a) A thought that never ends.
(b) An incomplete thought.
(c) An interrupted thought.
(d) A thought that dissolves into a suggestive silence.

13. Which punctuation mark does the speaker say is the "staple of familial punctuation"(1)?
(a) The willed silence mark.
(b) The insistent question mark.
(c) The confusion mark.
(d) The silence mark.

14. What symbol represents the unxclamation point?
(a) Two exclamation points, one up and one upside down.
(b) An exclamation point with a X over it.
(c) A sideways exclamation point.
(d) An upside down exclamation point.

15. The narrator says he has never had sex with whom?
(a) Someone who loved him.
(b) Someone who knew his name.
(c) Someone who did not love him.
(d) Someone from his hometown.

Short Answer Questions

1. What symbol represents the pedal point?

2. What symbol represents the willed silence mark?

3. Which of the speaker's family members most uses the pedal point with him?

4. What did the speaker's grandmother say to him in his example of the unxclamation point?

5. What punctuation is used the double question mark as its symbol?

(see the answer keys)

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