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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What do the narrator and his wife drink when they sit down to talk with the blind man after he’s arrived?
(a) Absinthe
(b) Tequila
(c) Scotch
(d) Brandy

2. What tool does the narrator note the blind man does not use after his arrival?
(a) Braille
(b) A backhoe
(c) A wheelchair
(d) A cane

3. The narrator feels pity for the blind man when he considers that he lived with and loved his wife without ever having what?
(a) Seen her
(b) Understood her
(c) Listened to her
(d) Touched her

4. In his attempt to describe cathedrals, the narrator tells the blind man that they are built out of stone and sometimes out of what?
(a) Granite
(b) Slate
(c) Sandstone
(d) Marble

5. According to the narrator’s wife, how many people were in attendance at the blind man’s wedding?
(a) 4
(b) 2
(c) 17
(d) 25

6. What instruction does the blind man give to the narrator as he draws the cathedral in the story?
(a) Press hard
(b) Fill in all the details
(c) Lightly now
(d) Draw slowly

7. What are the supports called on a cathedral that are built to steady a structure by opposing its outward thrusts?
(a) Crossbeams
(b) Buttresses
(c) Trusses
(d) Pillars

8. How does the narrator describe the blind man’s facial hair?
(a) He has a handlebar mustache
(b) He has a goatee
(c) He has muttonchops
(d) He has a full beard

9. What did the blind man ask the narrator’s wife if he could do on her last day working for him?
(a) Kiss her on the cheek
(b) Hear her sing
(c) Read a book to him
(d) Touch her face

10. The narrator describes his legs as feeling as though he’s just done what when he gets up to look for a pen and paper?
(a) Some sit-ups
(b) Some pushups
(c) Some running
(d) Some swimming

11. How old does the narrator describe the blind man as being?
(a) In his early fifties
(b) In his late thirties
(c) In his early twenties
(d) In his late forties

12. The narrator says that the “was having a drink and” doing what when he “heard the car pull into the drive” with his wife and the blind man?
(a) Doing a crossword puzzle
(b) Listening to the radio
(c) Watching TV
(d) Reading the paper

13. 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) 6 months ago
(b) 3 years ago
(c) 1 year ago
(d) 2 months ago

14. Where does the narrator sit when he returns to the living room with a pen and paper?
(a) On the sofa
(b) In a chair
(c) On the table
(d) On the floor

15. What word from the story refers to a hooded garment worn by monks?
(a) Cowl
(b) Kimono
(c) Anorak
(d) Mukluk

Short Answer Questions

1. By what familyar nickname does the blind man call the narrator?

2. What slang term does the blind man use at the end of the story to mean “to lie”?

3. When was Raymond Carver’s short story collection Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? Published?

4. What artistic forms are addressed in “Cathedral”?

5. The blind man discusses his ham radio operator friends in “Guam, in the Philippines, in Alaska, and even” where?

(see the answer keys)

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