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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Matsuda's neighbor boy do each day?
(a) He climbs a tree to watch Matsuda feed the fish.
(b) He comes to visit.
(c) He feeds the fish.
(d) He climbs up on the wall between the houses.

2. Why does Ono admire Sugimura?
(a) He aspired to fame.
(b) He aspired to make a fortune.
(c) He aspired to rise above mediocrity.
(d) He was a skilled landscape designer.

3. 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 were not skilled enough craftsmen.
(c) They did not have the talent.
(d) They did not risk everything in an attempt to be extraordinary.

4. What news does Ono give Matsuda about Noriko?
(a) She's getting a divorce.
(b) The marriage has been unhappy.
(c) The marriage was annulled.
(d) She's expecting a child.

5. What is the last year covered in this story?
(a) 1950.
(b) 1952.
(c) 1947.
(d) 1949.

Short Answer Questions

1. What news does Ono give Matsuda about Setsuko?

2. When Ono and Matsuda examine their lives, what do they see, according to Matsuda?

3. How long after their initial reconnection had Ono visited his old friend?

4. Why does Moriyama declare himself unsatisfied with his early work?

5. What news does Ono give Matsuda about himself?

Short Essay Questions

1. After re-establishing contact with Matsuda during Noriko's marriage negotiations, what contact have Ono and Matsuda had before Matsuda dies?

2. Why does Ono approve of his teacher's distancing himself from his students' discussions?

3. How has Ichiro changed in the year since Ono last saw him?

4. Why did Moriyama's students never comment directly to him about his paintings?

5. How does Ono believe a teacher should regard his students diverging from his teachings?

6. When does Ono achieve his greatest feeling of triumph?

7. What stylistic devices does Moriyama copy from the classic artist, Utamaro?

8. How does Ono console himself that he did not visit his old friend as often as he had intended to?

9. How does Ono explain Naguchi's suicide to Ichiro?

10. Years ago, Matsuda had accused Ono of having a narrow artist's perspective. What does Ono say about his perspective now that he is retired?

(see the answer keys)

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