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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How did the narrator respond to the surprising question his lover asked him in bed one day?
(a) He told her to stop asking silly questions.
(b) He said a diet would not hurt.
(c) He said her body was beautiful.
(d) He said she should do whatever she wants.

2. What colors does the narrator use to describe his lover's hair when he recalls her looking up at him from the newspaper she was reading?
(a) Dark brown, auburn, white.
(b) Golden, gray, red.
(c) Black, plum, dark brown.
(d) Light brown, red, gold.

3. What does the narrator think may happen if he kisses his lovers eyelids?
(a) She will wake up and yell at him.
(b) She will wake up and kiss him.
(c) She will frown in her sleep.
(d) She will punch him.

4. How much does the narrator calculate his love making cost?
(a) $3 or $4 an hour.
(b) $15 - 20 an hour.
(c) $80-$100 an hour.
(d) $33-$50 an hour.

5. What is the narrator staring at at the start of "Break it Down"?
(a) A piece of paper.
(b) His cell phone.
(c) A cup of coffee.
(d) A blank computer screen.

6. What is the narrator trying to do at the start of the story?
(a) Negotiate a better salary.
(b) Write his grocery list.
(c) Break down the cost of an affair.
(d) Do his annual household budget.

7. When the narrator describes watching his lover as she sleeps, what does he say that makes the reader know their time together is temporary?
(a) "She is here today and will be gone tomorrow."
(b) "She is by my side for the time being."
(c) "She's next to me and isn't away from me like she will be later."
(d) "Our time together is as fleeting as the night."

8. What else did the narrator see in his dreams beyond the dark frame of empty space?
(a) A bed.
(b) A garden.
(c) A child.
(d) A house.

9. How many hours a day does the narrator estimate he spends either with his lover or thinking of her during their time together?
(a) 1-2.
(b) 16 - 18.
(c) 8 or 9.
(d) 4 -8.

10. How would the narrator feel when he closed his eyes and began to dream?
(a) Anxious.
(b) Frightened.
(c) Depressed.
(d) Peaceful.

11. What does the narrator know will happen each day he spends with his lover?
(a) They will end up in bed together.
(b) They will have an argument.
(c) They will have a fancy dinner.
(d) She will stop talking to him.

12. What "old" (22) thing does the narrator say he cannot look at without still feeling what he feels his lover?
(a) Restaurant or bookstore.
(b) Tree or rosebush.
(c) Car or pair of pants.
(d) Street or painting.

13. Why does the narrator decide against kissing his lover's eyelids as he watches her sleep?
(a) He is too tired.
(b) She would get mad at him.
(c) She has bad breath.
(d) He does not want to disturb her.

14. What color are the narrator's lover's eyes?
(a) Brown.
(b) Green.
(c) Hazel.
(d) Blue.

15. What does the narrator note about his lover as he looks at her in bed when he first wakes?
(a) The sheen of her hair.
(b) Her perfect lips.
(c) Her long eyelashes.
(d) How good her skin is.

Short Answer Questions

1. After including the time spent with his lover and thinking of her, how much does the narrator estimate their affair costs per hour?

2. What word is used to describe the way the narrator's lover responded to his answer to the question she asked him in bed?

3. What "keeps happening" (21) between the narrator and his lover while they are together all day, which he says "adds up" (21)?

4. The narrator describes that after the affair ends, his lover is still inside him like what?

5. Why was the narrator surprised by the question his lover asked him in bed?

(see the answer keys)

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