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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 said a diet would not hurt.
(b) He said her body was beautiful.
(c) He said she should do whatever she wants.
(d) He told her to stop asking silly questions.

2. What does the narrator feel he can do if he thinks of his time with his lover too much?
(a) Relive it.
(b) Drive himself crazy.
(c) Kill it.
(d) Make it seem meaningless.

3. Who is the author of "Break It Down"?
(a) Danielle Lyons.
(b) Leslie Daniels.
(c) Lynn Donahue.
(d) Lydia Davis.

4. How is the narrator's lover's behavior described at the start of the story?
(a) She was loud and obnoxious.
(b) She was moody and mercurial.
(c) She was often quiet and distant.
(d) She was always smiling and singing.

5. What "keeps happening" (21) between the narrator and his lover while they are together all day, which he says "adds up" (21)?
(a) The deep discussions.
(b) The misunderstandings.
(c) The touches and smiles.
(d) The disagreements.

6. After including the time spent with his lover and thinking of her, how much does the narrator estimate their affair costs per hour?
(a) $6.
(b) $33.
(c) $50.
(d) $24.

7. What word is used to describe the way the narrator's lover responded to his answer to the question she asked him in bed?
(a) Intelligently.
(b) Quietly.
(c) Sharply.
(d) Calmly.

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

9. What does the narrator say he becomes afraid of as distance grows between the time spent with his lover and the present?
(a) That he may never see her again.
(b) That his wife may find out.
(c) How weak he is.
(d) Having to see her again.

10. 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) 8 or 9.
(c) 4 -8.
(d) 16 - 18.

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

12. How much was the plane ticket the narrator bought?
(a) $600.
(b) $950.
(c) $150.
(d) $1,000.

13. What is the "very clean white place" (24) the narrator recalls being with his lover?
(a) A bar.
(b) Their hotel room.
(c) A spa.
(d) A coffee house.

14. What is the narrator beginning to "lose" (24) in the present regarding his lover?
(a) His understanding of what he saw in her.
(b) The feeling of being with her.
(c) HIs desire to see her again.
(d) His love for her.

15. What still surprises the narrator about his relationship at the start of the story?
(a) How much they have in common.
(b) How hard it is to break up with her.
(c) How lucky he is to have her.
(d) How long they have been together.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What were the narrator and his lover doing in the "very clean white place" (24) he recalls?

3. What does the narrator say he kept dreaming about while with his lover?

4. How much does the narrator calculate his love making cost?

5. What color are the narrator's lover's eyes?

(see the answer keys)

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