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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. From context, which is a reasonable interpretation of the simile "They had separate rooms, like staterooms, like passengers on a fading boat" (36)?
(a) Brenda, Frank, and Alan no longer enjoy each other's company.
(b) Europe is a boring place to visit.
(c) Brenda, Frank, and Alan are getting older.
(d) Europe is a snobby and elitist place.

2. In Padua, where does Alan go for a walk by himself in the early morning?
(a) A museum.
(b) The market.
(c) Along the river.
(d) The grounds of a church.

3. What is the narrator implying about Brenda's discussion of her children with the comment "The first act was over.... Now came the plot" (37)?
(a) Brenda has something she is afraid to tell Frank and is killing time by talking about her children.
(b) Brenda was just using the discussion of her children to introduce her real objective.
(c) Brenda is no longer interested in her children--they are part of a past she wants to leave behind.
(d) Brenda is not being honest about what great kids her daughters are.

4. Why does Frank give the portiere 40,000 lire?
(a) To give to Eda when she leaves Frank's room.
(b) To ignore Eda's presence in Frank's room.
(c) To drive Eda to Frank's hotel and home again.
(d) To pretend to Eda's parents that Eda has a job at the hotel.

5. When Frank tells Alan that he can drive Brenda to Rome himself, what does Brenda tell Frank?
(a) That he is a lawyer even in his personal life.
(b) That he has no idea how to treat women.
(c) That one day Alan will get fed up with him.
(d) That he should have become a politician.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the restaurant in Spoleto, what is Frank distracted by?

2. Which word is twice used to describe the way Eda looks?

3. What is Alan's life being compared to in the sentence, "It seemed that his life was being clarified, the sediment was drifting down" (39)?

4. What does Eda's father do for a living?

5. At what time of year are Frank and Alan in Venice?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens between Frank and Eda in his hotel room?

2. In the hotel bar in Spoleto, what does Alan tell Frank about Europe, and what is Frank's response?

3. What is Eda's reaction to Frank's explanation of the situation with Alan, and how does Frank treat her decision?

4. When the second part of the story opens, where are Alan and Frank, and who is with them?

5. In the story's closing paragraphs, what is Alan thinking about, and why?

6. Whom do Frank and Alan meet in Arezzo, and how do they meet her?

7. What has happened in Brenda's life since she and Frank broke up?

8. What does Brenda suggest to Frank about New York, and what is it implied that she is hinting about?

9. When Frank and Alan are leaving a Spoleto restaurant with Eda between them, what does the clerk say, and what is his meaning?

10. What does Frank decide not to tell Alan about his conversation with Eda, and why?

(see the answer keys)

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