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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Mr. Mancini makes Sedaris uncomfortable by constantly referring to
(a) Jazz musicians.
(b) Men and sex.
(c) Women and sex.
(d) Popular songs Sedaris does not know.

2. Sedaris resents his father's approach toward art because
(a) He wants to be like his father, but cannot be.
(b) Art eludes both him and his father, but his father is viewed as an artist.
(c) He knows his father's talent has not passed on to him.
(d) It seems to come easily to his father, yet he does not invest in it.

3. Who or what threatens to divide Sedaris' class?
(a) Sedaris' Pillow Talk segment, where students discussed their personal lives.
(b) The teenage freshmen students.
(c) An older returning student who claimed he was wasting her time.
(d) An asthmatic who protected the smoking rule in class.

4. Sedaris' first artistic success takes the form of
(a) Two wooden crates filled with garbage.
(b) Toe nail clippings.
(c) A nest of human hair.
(d) A frying pan full of toy soldiers.

5. What passion does Sedaris' father attempt to share with his children?
(a) His love of jazz.
(b) His love of guitar.
(c) His love of quartets.
(d) His love of North Carolina.

6. Instead of the performance piece in the twelfth "moment," Sedaris seems to admire
(a) The number of people attending the performance.
(b) The metaphors apparent in the performance.
(c) The courage of the performer.
(d) The beauty of the ordinary world around him.

7. What adds to Sedaris' tension while he is in the bathroom?
(a) His friend keeps knocking on the door to hurry him up.
(b) He can hear the others beginning to talk about him outside.
(c) His friend keeps asking him what he is doing in there.
(d) He needs to use the toilet himself.

8. Lou Sedaris once dreamed that computers would
(a) Connect people all over the world.
(b) Eliminate the need for typewriters.
(c) Connect people to their jobs at all times.
(d) Eliminate the need to leave his home.

9. Miss Sampson asks the previous question in order to
(a) Determine whether or not she will like Sedaris.
(b) Trick Sedaris into revealing his disdain for sports.
(c) Get Sedaris talking so she might hear his lisp.
(d) Provoke an argument about football.

10. Sedaris decides to make his students more comfortable by
(a) Letting them design the class activities.
(b) Allowing them to smoke in class.
(c) Sharing his private life with them.
(d) Allowing them to drink in class.

11. During his experience as a mover, Sedaris begins to change because
(a) He is always willing to move the attractive women, no matter how disorganized.
(b) He resents customers with too many books or records, and imagines himself an ant completing a task.
(c) He imagines himself the queen ant ordering her inferiors about.
(d) He resents anyone who appears wealthy and organized.

12. The Japanese cartoon Fatty and Skinny makes Sedaris sad because
(a) Skinny is unable to meet Fatty's demands, and ends up friendless.
(b) Skinny always demands money from Fatty.
(c) Fatty always rejects Skinny in the end.
(d) Fatty is unable to meet Skinny's demands and loses his friendship.

13. Miss Sampson believes Sedaris lisps because
(a) He never learned to speak correctly.
(b) He cannot hear the sound of his own voice.
(c) He has a lazy tongue.
(d) He wants to stand out among other students.

14. After his gourmet meal, Sedaris elects to
(a) Eat a huge bucket of popcorn at the movies.
(b) Grab a hot dog on the way to the movies.
(c) Grab a burger at a fast-food place.
(d) Eat a plate of nachos at the movies.

15. Sedaris fears his father is not up to the task of caring for his new dog, Sophie, because
(a) He is older now, and she is old and dying.
(b) He is older now, and she is young and strong.
(c) He is not as attentive to pets as he used to be.
(d) She is violent and does not obey him.

Short Answer Questions

1. The dog Mr. and Mrs. Sedaris coddled as empty-nesters was

2. Sedaris finally recognizes Mr. Mancini as a fellow outsider when

3. Facing his lack of artistic talent might mean

4. During their last meeting together, Sedaris learns that Miss Sampson

5. Ironically, the food at the restaurant is described as

(see the answer keys)

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