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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What kind of pie does the narrator’s wife serve at dinner?
(a) Peach pie
(b) Apple pie
(c) Banana cream pie
(d) Strawberry pie

2. How does the narrator describe the windows he draws on the cathedral in the story?
(a) Wide
(b) Triangular
(c) Squared
(d) Arched

3. At what point in the story does the protagonist reach his major epiphany?
(a) When he turns on the TV
(b) When he closes his eyes
(c) After dinner
(d) When his wife arrives home

4. Travis A.F.B. is described as being near what city in the short story?
(a) Atlantic City
(b) Sacramento
(c) Kansas City
(d) Atlanta

5. Of his knowledge of cathedrals, the blind man says that he knows from the television show that they took about how many years to build?
(a) 40-60
(b) 150-200
(c) 50-100
(d) 20-30

6. What is another word for “arc-boutant” used in the story?
(a) Spire
(b) Flying buttress
(c) Crown
(d) Viaduct

7. What kind of paper does the blind man ask the narrator to go get when they are talking late at night?
(a) Heavy paper
(b) Typewriter paper
(c) Tissue paper
(d) Wax paper

8. What is the name of the blind man’s wife who recently passed away in the story?
(a) Christine
(b) Beulah
(c) Melissa
(d) Maria

9. What is the narrator’s prayer before dinner in the story?
(a) Pray the bills are paid and we wake up tomorrow
(b) Pray the phone won’t ring and the food doesn’t get cold
(c) Pray for good weather and sound sleep
(d) Pray for Robert’s wife

10. Of the blind man’s eyes, the narrator says there’s too much white where?
(a) In the pupil
(b) In the retina
(c) In the cornea
(d) In the iris

11. Where does the narrator tell the blind man the show about cathedrals has traveled to, where there are “paintings on the walls of this one church”?
(a) Italy
(b) Romania
(c) Finland
(d) Denmark

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

13. When the blind man asks the narrator to describe a cathedral to him, what is the first thing the narrator says?
(a) The first things you notice are the intricate details
(b) To begin with, they’re very tall
(c) You can’t look at one without seeing the arches
(d) They have a very broad foundation

14. 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) Reading the paper
(b) Doing a crossword puzzle
(c) Listening to the radio
(d) Watching TV

15. What does the protagonist in “Cathedral” gain by the end of the story?
(a) Political favor
(b) Empathy and understanding
(c) Anger and resentment
(d) Money and security

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the narrator see his wife doing as she parks the car when she returns with the blind man?

2. What was the narrator’s response when the blind man asks if he likes his work?

3. What color is all of the blind man’s attire when he arrives?

4. Where does the narrator sit when he returns to the living room with a pen and paper?

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

(see the answer keys)

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