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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What promise does Komako say Shimamura broke with her?
(a) To write her letters.
(b) To visit her on February fourteenth.
(c) To never come back to the resort town.
(d) To leave his wife.

2. What does Komako have Yoko deliver to Shimamura?
(a) A book about dancing.
(b) A bottle of sake.
(c) A note.
(d) A boxed lunch.

3. What song do children sing during the February festival?
(a) The bird chasing song.
(b) The dancing dragon song.
(c) A song about snow flakes.
(d) "Bright new year"

4. Who runs up to Komako at the train station?
(a) Yoko.
(b) The music teacher.
(c) A beggar.
(d) The train conductor.

5. What does Shimamura's wife say he should take care of in her warning about the season?
(a) His bathing habits.
(b) His eating habits.
(c) His health.
(d) His clothing.

6. What does Shimamura's wife warn him about the season?
(a) That it is "egg-laying" season.
(b) That it is the season when sickness spreads easily.
(c) That there are several "bad luck days" ahead.
(d) That it gets cold quickly at night.

7. Who is on the train with Shimamura when he leaves to go back to Tokyo at the end of Part One?
(a) A young man in a western-style suit.
(b) A mother and her children.
(c) An elderly woman carrying parcels of food.
(d) A middle-aged man and a young woman.

8. When Komako comes to Shimamura's room drunk, what does she ask him to cut for her?
(a) A piece of bread.
(b) The strings supporting her hair.
(c) A knotted sash.
(d) Her tangled hair.

9. What sport does Komako say she enjoys?
(a) Archery.
(b) Skiing.
(c) Croquet.
(d) Badminton.

10. What time in the morning is it when Komako enters Shimamura's room "dead drunk"?
(a) One o'clock.
(b) Four o'clock.
(c) Three o'clock.
(d) Six o'clock.

11. What are Komako's feelings about visiting the cemetery?
(a) Komako is agreeable to going.
(b) Komako is relieved to finally go.
(c) Komako is unwilling to go.
(d) Komako is indifferent about going.

12. What kind of grass used to thatch roofs does Shimamura see some women carrying?
(a) Silver grass.
(b) Midori grass.
(c) Kiseki grass.
(d) Kaya grass.

13. In her new home, what must Komako do to save electricity?
(a) Bathe in cold water.
(b) Wash her clothes by hand.
(c) Burn coal for heat.
(d) Read by candlelight.

14. What does Komako say she will not do with Shimamura again?
(a) Bathe with him.
(b) Sleep with him.
(c) Talk to him about personal matters.
(d) See him off at the train station.

15. On Shimamura's third visit to the resort town, what food is the innkeeper's wife warming when he arrives at the inn?
(a) Beef steak.
(b) Rice cakes.
(c) Miso soup.
(d) Long cakes.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do children build out of snow during the February festival?

2. What does Komoko say a woman on her own can always do?

3. What is the purpose of the town's February festival?

4. Where does Shimamura learn that Yoko is working?

5. While in his room, whose voice does Shimamura hear calling to Komako from the hallway?

(see the answer keys)

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