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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. As time passes, the narrator says thoughts of his lover are more in his ______ than his ______?
(a) Heart, head.
(b) Dreams, reality.
(c) Mind, body.
(d) Imagination, soul.

3. 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's next to me and isn't away from me like she will be later."
(b) "She is by my side for the time being."
(c) "Our time together is as fleeting as the night."
(d) "She is here today and will be gone tomorrow."

4. 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) Having to see her again.
(d) How weak he is.

5. Why was the narrator surprised by the question his lover asked him in bed?
(a) She promised she would not ask him that again.
(b) He did not think she worried about herself like that.
(c) He had literally just answered that question.
(d) He had just told her how beautiful she was.

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

7. What does the narrator say he kept dreaming about while with his lover?
(a) His lover.
(b) A building.
(c) A doctor's office.
(d) A car.

8. What was the narrator unsure he would be able to do without his lover?
(a) Get a good job.
(b) Go on living.
(c) Go on more vacations.
(d) Save any money.

9. 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 frown in her sleep.
(c) She will wake up and kiss him.
(d) She will punch him.

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

11. Aside from the flight, what did the narrator pay for during his trip?
(a) A new suit and tie.
(b) Silk pajamas.
(c) Hotel and food.
(d) Massages and tours.

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

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

14. The narrator describes that after watching his lover sleep he finally falls asleep "lightly" (23). Why?
(a) He wants to protect her from danger.
(b) He wants to hang on to the moment.
(c) He wants to wake as soon as she does.
(d) He worries she might run out on him.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the narrator know will happen each day he spends with his lover?

2. How much was the plane ticket the narrator bought?

3. How did the narrator feel when his lover talked "late in the night...faster and faster" (25)?

4. How often did the narrator and his lover make love during their time together?

5. What does the narrator feel he can do if he thinks of his time with his lover too much?

(see the answer keys)

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