View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why had Matsuda called Ono naive in the old days?
(a) His worldview was too broad.
(b) He had no interest in politics.
(c) His perspective as an artist was narrow.
(d) He had no understanding of politics.

2. Why does Ono introduce Kenji into the conversation in Noriko's kitchen?
(a) He feels outnumbered by women.
(b) He suddenly recalls his son's death.
(c) He had argued with his wife about giving Kenji sake at the same age.
(d) His son, had he been present, would have taken his side.

3. Which of Sugimura's plans does Ono believe is "eccentric"?
(a) A new kabuki theater.
(b) A museum of natural science.
(c) A European style concert hall.
(d) A cemetery for cats and dogs.

4. What famous Japanese artist does Moriyama emulate?
(a) Kirukama.
(b) Narita.
(c) Fujiyama.
(d) Utamaro.

5. How does Ono find his old friend upon his second visit?
(a) He is asleep for most of the visit.
(b) He is much stronger.
(c) He is much weaker.
(d) He is much the same.

6. How does Ono evaluate Naguchi's suicide?
(a) Ono said the death was cowardly.
(b) Ono said Naguchi was very brave and honorable.
(c) Ono said the death was foolish and wasteful.
(d) Ono said the death was tragic and sad.

7. Why does Moriyama declare himself unsatisfied with his early work?
(a) He had been unskilled about the floating world.
(b) He had been caught in the pleasures of the floating world.
(c) He had felt guilty about the pleasures of the floating world.
(d) He had been unable to capture the essence of the floating world.

8. What did Ono feel was missing the night he won the award?
(a) His family.
(b) A feeling of triumph and fulfillment.
(c) International recognition.
(d) Kuroda's approval.

9. Why had Moriyama been happy with his work looking back on it as an old man?
(a) He had devoted his life to changing with modernizing trends.
(b) He had devoted his life to nurturing young talent.
(c) He had devoted his life to repudiating debauchery.
(d) He had devoted his life to capturing a unique beauty.

10. What news does Ono give Matsuda about Setsuko?
(a) She is attending cooking school.
(b) She is studying art.
(c) She is expecting a second child.
(d) She and her husband are on vacation.

11. Why does the smell of burning make Ono uneasy?
(a) It reminds him of burned paintings.
(b) It reminds him of bombings and fire.
(c) It reminds him of the burning of his house.
(d) It frightens him that the fire will spread.

12. Why does Ono believe that the Tortoise or Shintaro will never feel the sort of happiness he felt sitting on the hillside?
(a) They were prone to complain.
(b) They did not risk everything in an attempt to be extraordinary.
(c) They were not skilled enough craftsmen.
(d) They did not have the talent.

13. What does Ono mean when he talks of the art students "slanging" one another?
(a) They wrote slurs about one another.
(b) They destroyed each other's paintings.
(c) They wrote unpleasant critiques of one another's work.
(d) They shouted good-humored insults across the yard.

14. When does Ono feel the sense of triumph he had hoped for?
(a) Sitting on a hill all alone, eating oranges.
(b) Confronting Moriyama at his villa.
(c) Receiving the praise of his students.
(d) When his family gave him a surprise party.

15. How often does Ono visit Matsuda after re-establishing contact with him?
(a) Every day.
(b) Just once.
(c) Once a week.
(d) Once a month.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the "floating world"?

2. Why does Ono come to admire Moriyama's treatment of his students?

3. When did Saito first meet Ono?

4. How does Moriyama respond to his students' comments about his painting?

5. What is the last year covered in this story?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 678 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample