2. What is the subject of the literary passage French teacher reads to the class in French?
(a) The nature of the universe.
(b) The color of the sky.
(c) The definition of linear time.
(d) The distance of the stars.

3. What action does middle sister take when she hears the milkman make a veiled threat against maybe-boyfriend?
(a) She sobs.
(b) She jumps.
(c) She collapses.
(d) She moans.

4. What kinds of abandoned buildings occupy the location called "the ten-minute area" (81)?
(a) Libraries.
(b) Churches.
(c) Banks.
(d) Homes.

5. Middle sister becomes worried that maybe-boyfriend is "refusing to fit in" (74) in what sort of way?
(a) Religious.
(b) Intangible.
(c) Unconscious.
(d) Male.

Short Answer Questions

1. What name is used throughout the novel to refer to maybe-boyfriend's best friend?

2. What type of abandoned building is blown up by a bomb near the end of Chapter 2?

3. In what activity does middle sister never engage while running?

4. Middle sister says that "those rare, baffling, radiant type of people" (88) referred to as shiny throughout the text had first been brought to her attention by a viewing of which Hitchcock film?

5. What is middle sister's intention when she picks up the head of the animal in the ten-minute area?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the real reasons for middle sister's reluctance to meet maybe-boyfriend in her own neighborhood?

2. What horrific and significant event had occurred when middle sister was nine years old?

3. Which elements of middle sister's second interaction with the milkman make her feel relatively safe?

4. What is the symbolism of the British tabloids and newspapers?

5. Discuss one quality within French teacher's personality that qualifies her as a "beyond-the-pale," (69) according to middle sister.

6. How do the students in middle sister's class react to French teacher's comments about the sky and which elements of their society have caused them to instinctively feel this way?

7. Describe an instance when sound is used to underscore a particular theme within Chapter 1.

8. Which member of middle sister's family does she despise and why?

9. Who is the milkman?

10. For what reason does middle sister discuss the activities that go on in the park where she likes to go for runs?

(see the answer keys)

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