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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What example does the speaker use of the should have brackets when his father asks him if he hears static in the phone?
(a) {I'm crying into the phone}.
(b) {I'm no longer listening}.
(c) {I cannot hear anything}.
(d) {I'm hanging up the phone}.

2. While weeding, what did the speaker's father say had happened to his brother?
(a) He had become very affectionate.
(b) He had become a yes man.
(c) He had become disagreeable.
(d) He had become distant.

3. How many heart attacks had the speaker's father suffered when he told his son the secret to his successful marriage?
(a) 4.
(b) 22.
(c) 19.
(d) 1.

4. What do the should have brackets denote?
(a) When you realize what you should have said after the fact.
(b) Words that were not spoken but should have been.
(c) Words someone thinks you should have said but did not.
(d) Words you know you were expected to say but could not.

5. Why does the speaker think he has become a yes man?
(a) He likes to keep busy.
(b) He likes to make people happy.
(c) He is afraid of dying.
(d) He has low self-esteem.

6. When is the reversible colon used?
(a) To show that both sides of the sentence cancel each other out.
(b) To show that two sides of a sentence explain each other.
(c) To show that one side of a sentence does not need the other.
(d) To show that one side of a sentence is better than the other.

7. What did the speaker's brother learn after he ended up in intensive care several weeks ago?
(a) He had cancer.
(b) He had been having one long heart attack for six years.
(c) He had been experiencing panic attacks for six years.
(d) He had contracted Lyme disease.

8. What phrase is an example a sentence never uttered by the speaker or any member of the speaker's family?
(a) My heart is no good, and I'm afraid of dying, and I'm also afraid of saying I love you.
(b) I don't want you in my life, but that does not mean I don't care.
(c) My life is full of pain, and it's not your fault, but I'm so sad.
(d) I don't know how to have a relationship with you, but I know I love you.

9. Which of his family members does the speaker say he loved more than he loved himself?
(a) His grandmother.
(b) His brother.
(c) His father.
(d) His mother.

10. What does the speaker say low points tend to do in his communication with family?
(a) Confuse the situation.
(b) Not change anything.
(c) Make things better.
(d) Make things worse.

11. What symbol represents "the end of a unique familial phrase" (5)?
(a) The surprised face emoji.
(b) The snowflake.
(c) The high five.
(d) The spiral.

12. What is the purpose of the backup?
(a) It is used to replay a sentence and discover what might have been missed.
(b) It is used to repeat what you said so the person to whom you are speaking can understand.
(c) It is used to erase what you said and rephrase.
(d) It is used to restart a conversation when you were too distracted to listen.

13. What were the speaker and his father recently doing, despite his father's doctor telling him not to?
(a) Running.
(b) Stacking wood.
(c) Pulling weeds.
(d) Lifting weights.

14. What discussion between the speaker's father and mother does he use to exemplify the corroboration mark?
(a) A talk about groceries.
(b) A talk about what to cook for dinner.
(c) A talk about their marital problems.
(d) A talk about what to watch on TV.

15. What does the father say in should have brackets to Jonathan about his dreams during the final conversation in the story?
(a) Jonathan's mother was crying while pulling weeds from his chest.
(b) Jonathan was laughing as he pulled weeds from his chest.
(c) Jonathan was the one pulling weeds from his chest.
(d) His father was really pulling weeds from his brother's chest.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many heart attacks has the speaker's father suffered?

2. How may fights have the speaker's parent had in all of their marriage?

3. What does the speaker call the severed web symbol?

4. What are some things the speaker might be doing when he imagines his family's versions of the should-haves?

5. What did the narrator's father realize after his first fight with his wife?

(see the answer keys)

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