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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. Who is Nagare?
(a) Another customer.
(b) Gohtaro's friend.
(c) The café's owner.
(d) Kyoko's son.

2. When Gohtaro returns to the present, what is the first thing that he wants to do?
(a) Check the recording of Shuichi to make sure it was not all a dream.
(b) Get out of the ghost chair before Kaname returns.
(c) Thank Nagare for saving him twice during his journey into the past.
(d) Find out from Kazu who Kaname really is.

3. What is Kyoko's brother's reaction when Kazu mentions his mother's name?
(a) He is confused and sad.
(b) He is stoic and detached.
(c) He is amused and intrigued.
(d) He is startled and angry.

4. Who convinces Gohtaro to finally go inside the café?
(a) A regular customer.
(b) The cook.
(c) The owner.
(d) The waitress.

5. Which is the best description of Kazu's appearance?
(a) Youthful and unformed.
(b) Intriguingly exotic.
(c) Strikingly beautiful.
(d) Pretty but nondescript.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Kyoko's reaction to Kazu asking about her brother?

2. Why does Shuichi abruptly shift the conversation to Gohtaro's reasons for coming back into the past?

3. Besides a love of insects, what does the narrator say links Japanese culture to the other culture discussed in the opening of "Mother and Son"?

4. What is unusual about the coffee that Kazu pours for Gohtaro?

5. Why does Nagare ask Gohtaro if something is wrong with his coffee?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to Gohtaro physically when Kazu pours the coffee?

2. When Gohtaro first sees Shuichi in the past, why does the gesture of putting his hand around his coffee cup cause Gohtaro to suddenly panic about his own ability to communicate?

3. Which characteristics of Shuichi's give Gohtaro "grounds for faith" that Shuichi will quickly understand that Gohtaro has traveled back in time (31)?

4. When Shuichi tells Haruka in his message, "If it is for you, I can do anything," what does this foreshadow (36)?

5. How did Gohtaro end up raising Shuichi's daughter?

6. What reason does the narrator give for Kiyoshi asking his question of the café staff?

7. How does the juxtaposition of the made-up lyrics to Miki's song with Kyoko's emotions after her confession about her brother highlight Kyoko's distress?

8. How did Kyoko end up becoming a regular at the café, and why does her son not come with her anymore?

9. What warning does Kazu give Gohtaro about remembering to drink his coffee?

10. How did Shuichi's and Gohtaro's lives take different paths after college?

(see the answer keys)

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