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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When the narrator changes the television channel, he says there is something about the Church and what era on?
(a) The Stone Age
(b) The Computer Age
(c) The Middle Ages
(d) The Industrial Revolution

2. What is playing on the television as the narrator’s wife exits upstairs in the story?
(a) A late-night comedy show
(b) A game show
(c) The weather report
(d) Entertainment news

3. What is the name of Raymond Carver’s first published book of poems?
(a) Among the Redwoods
(b) Surrounding Mountains
(c) Along the beach
(d) Near Klamath

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

5. 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) Tunnel
(b) Well
(c) Delta
(d) Viaduct

6. In what year was the anthology entitled Cathedral published?
(a) 1983
(b) 1947
(c) 1962
(d) 1974

7. How does the narrator instruct the blind man to smoke the marijuana in the story?
(a) Don’t punish yourself
(b) Hold it as long as you can
(c) Don’t take too much
(d) Inhale slowly

8. What does the narrator admit he does not believe in when discussing matters with the blind man late at night in the story?
(a) Humanity
(b) The Devil
(c) Anything
(d) Beauty

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

10. What Irish actor does the blind man quote in saying “When I drink water, I drink water. When I drink whiskey, I drink whiskey”?
(a) Peter O’Toole
(b) Barry Fitzgerald
(c) Stuart Townsend
(d) Brendan Gleeson

11. What drink does the blind man ask for when the narrator offers him one after his arrival?
(a) Rum
(b) Tequila
(c) Vodka
(d) Scotch

12. What color are the narrator’s wife’s robe and slippers?
(a) Blue
(b) Yellow
(c) Green
(d) Pink

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

14. The narrator says in the beginning of the story, “My idea of blindness came from” what?
(a) Church sermons
(b) The movies
(c) Magazines
(d) Word of mouth

15. Who is the protagonist of “Cathedral”?
(a) The narrator’s wife
(b) Robert
(c) Barry Fitzgerald
(d) The narrator

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the last part of the blind man’s tape that the narrator heard when his wife played it for him?

2. How is the narrator’s viewpoint of blind people characterized in the beginning of the story?

3. In what year was “Cathedral” first published in a periodical?

4. What is the first thing the narrator says he draws in his attempt to recreate a cathedral for the blind man?

5. After showing a cathedral in Portugal, the television show next travels to show a cathedral where?

(see the answer keys)

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