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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "The Rose of Paracelsus," what does the young man want Paracelsus to do?
(a) Simply appreciate the beauty of a rose.
(b) Burn a rose and then recreate it.
(c) Turn one rose into a thousand.
(d) Turn a rose into gold.

2. In "Undr," what does the sacred word of the Urns mean?
(a) Warfare.
(b) God.
(c) Mirror.
(d) Wonder.

3. In "The Plot," a gaucho's murder is similar to the murder of what famous figure?
(a) Jesus.
(b) Abraham Lincoln.
(c) Julius Caesar.
(d) The Archduke Ferdinand.

4. In "A Dialogue About a Dialogue," what interrupts the dialogue?
(a) A noise.
(b) The narrator remembers he has to catch a train.
(c) The talkers run out of things to say.
(d) One of the speakers becomes suddenly ill.

5. "Brodie's Report" can best be described as which of the following?
(a) An explication of Swift's "Gulliver's Travels."
(b) A critique of Islam.
(c) An auto-biographical short story based on Borges's family.
(d) A satire on civilization.

6. In "The Story from Rosendo Juarez," what becomes of Rosendo?
(a) He becomes a worker in rural Uruguay.
(b) He becomes a mystic.
(c) He is killed by the Yardmaster.
(d) His fighting increases, and he becomes the reputed toughest man in the world.

7. In "The Maker," what does the father give the protagonist when he is a boy?
(a) An emerald.
(b) A book of poetry.
(c) A knife.
(d) A shield.

8. In "Avelino Arredondo," whom does Avelino murder?
(a) A rival in love.
(b) A heretic.
(c) His wife.
(d) The Uruguayan President, Juan Borda.

9. In "August 25, 1983," what hotel room does Borges go to?
(a) 63.
(b) The room is numberless.
(c) 19.
(d) 49.

10. In "The Interloper," which of the following best characterizes the treatment of Julia by the two brothers?
(a) They are kind and doting.
(b) They do not even notice her presence.
(c) They are afraid of her.
(d) They treat her like an object.

11. In "Avelino Arredondo," to what does Avelino belong?
(a) The Calvinists.
(b) A shadowy cabal.
(c) The White Party.
(d) The Red party.

12. What does the narrator hypothesize is the cause of the fight in "The Encounter"?
(a) They thought the knives were plastic and they were performing a scene from a play.
(b) The two man had hated each other for life.
(c) Uriarte suspected Duncan of having an affair with his wife.
(d) The knives themselves were behind the fight.

13. In "The Maker," the protagonist is what Greek writer?
(a) Sophocles.
(b) Homer.
(c) Aristophanes.
(d) Euripides.

14. In "Parable of Cervantes and Don Quixote," Cervantes can best be described as which of the following?
(a) Despondent, for he believes art is useless.
(b) Insane.
(c) Unaware of the future recognition of his fictional character, Don Quixote.
(d) Young and arrogant.

15. In "A Weary Man's Utopia," how old is the man from the future?
(a) 3, with scientific advances, humans reach maturity extremely early.
(b) 100.
(c) 35.
(d) 400.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Legend," what does Abel do to Cain?

2. In "Brodie's Report," who are the Yahoos?

3. In "The Duel," though friends, Clara and Marta compete at what activity?

4. In "The Other," who does a 70-year-old Borges converse with?

5. In "The Ethnographer," what does Fred Murdock do with the secret he learns from the Indians?

(see the answer keys)

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