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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The narrator says of the “officer-to-be” that he’d been his wife’s what?
(a) Cousin
(b) Childhood sweetheart
(c) School rival
(d) Familial enemy

2. What did the narrator’s wife’s first husband do when he found her after her overdose?
(a) He started to cry
(b) He kicked the door
(c) He called an ambulance
(d) He said a prayer

3. What beverage does the blind man drink with his dinner in the story?
(a) Milk
(b) Tea
(c) Coffee
(d) Water

4. What does the narrator’s wife say when she awakens as the narrator is drawing a cathedral?
(a) Where are the children?
(b) What are you doing? Tell me, I want to know
(c) I’ve got to call my mother
(d) What time is it? Why are you still awake?

5. Where does the blind man live?
(a) Billings
(b) San Diego
(c) Seattle
(d) Minneapolis

6. In what city did the blind man’s wife die?
(a) Seattle
(b) San Antonio
(c) Sacramento
(d) Springfield

7. How does the narrator feel about the blind man’s visit in the beginning of the story?
(a) Angry
(b) Excited
(c) Apprehensive
(d) Unenthusiastic

8. What word from the story refers to a bridge for carrying a road or railway across a valley, consisting of a set of arches supported by a row of piers or towers?
(a) Delta
(b) Tunnel
(c) Well
(d) Viaduct

9. What vegetable does the narrator’s wife throw when she has an argument with the narrator in the beginning of the story?
(a) A cucumber
(b) A pepper
(c) A carrot
(d) A potato

10. The blind man tells the narrator as he continues his drawing of the cathedral, “You got it, bub. I can tell. You didn’t think you could. But you can, can’t you? You’re cooking with” what?
(a) Dry tinder
(b) Grease
(c) Charcoal
(d) Gas now

11. How long ago does the narrator say his wife offered to let him listen to a tape from the blind man in the beginning of the story?
(a) 1 year ago
(b) 3 years ago
(c) 2 months ago
(d) 6 months ago

12. When the blind man smokes his second hit of marijuana, the narrator says, “It was like he’d been doing this since he was” how old?
(a) Nine years old
(b) Twelve years old
(c) Five years old
(d) Sixteen years old

13. How does the narrator say he felt about their old sofa (that they replaced) when the blind man arrives?
(a) I’d liked that old sofa
(b) I found it so uncomfortable
(c) I hated that crummy sofa
(d) I still remember the day I bought it

14. The narrator surmises of the blind man’s wife that she could wear what color eye-shadow around one eye and it wouldn’t make a difference?
(a) Black
(b) Green
(c) White
(d) Silver

15. What does the narrator give as a response to the narrator’s question of whether he was going to stay with his work?
(a) It pays the bills
(b) What were the options?
(c) I haven’t had any other offers
(d) It would be hard to take a pay cut

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the blind man do as the narrator attempts to explain cathedrals to him?

2. The narrator finds a pen for the blind man where in his house?

3. The narrator’s wife tells him early in the story, “if you had a friend, any friend, and the friend came to visit, I’d” what?

4. Where does the narrator’s wife fall asleep after they’ve smoked marijuana?

5. What do the narrator and his wife drink when they sit down to talk with the blind man after he’s arrived?

(see the answer keys)

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