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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. 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.

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

10. The narrator describes that after the affair ends, his lover is still inside him like what?
(a) Sweet liquor.
(b) Decadent dessert.
(c) Dark chocolate.
(d) Warm soup.

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

12. 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) Sharply.
(b) Quietly.
(c) Intelligently.
(d) Calmly.

13. 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) "Our time together is as fleeting as the night."
(c) "She is by my side for the time being."
(d) "She is here today and will be gone tomorrow."

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the "very clean white place" (24) the narrator recalls being with his lover?

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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