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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 distinctive item of clothing does Kiyoshi wear?
(a) A jadeite ring.
(b) A string tie.
(c) A leather jacket.
(d) A hunting cap.

2. Where did Kiyoshi and Kimiko meet?
(a) High school.
(b) College.
(c) Work.
(d) Through friends.

3. On page 71, how does Nagare react to Yukio's sudden appearance in the past?
(a) He is "troubled."
(b) He is "unfazed."
(c) He is "gratified."
(d) He is "astonished."

4. Who is the source of most of Kiyoshi's information about the people who have traveled back in time in the café?
(a) Kinuyo.
(b) Miki.
(c) Kazu.
(d) Kyoko.

5. What is the primary intent of the passage in which Miki comes out to pour the coffee and Nagare questions her about her readiness for the task?
(a) To show what an anxious parent the loss of his wife has made Nagare.
(b) To show that Nagare is unreasonably critical of Miki because of his high standards.
(c) To show how joyful Nagare is to see his daughter growing up and becoming responsible.
(d) To show the deep love and tenderness Nagare feels toward his daughter.

Short Answer Questions

1. Whose is Kiyoshi referencing when he talks about the dying man who travels into the future?

2. What beverage does Kurata ask Nagare for at the beginning of the story?

3. Who saved Yukio's life by performing CPR on him when he nearly drowned?

4. When Yukio apologizes to his mother and asks for her forgiveness, what is he responding to?

5. What is Miki's attitude toward being asked to pour the coffee?

Short Essay Questions

1. What similarity does Kiyoshi see between his and Kazu's situations?

2. What are the conditions that Kurata gives Fumiko for either bringing or not bringing Asami to the café?

3. When Kimiko enters the café, whom does Kiyoshi pretend to be, and why?

4. What kind gesture does Nagare make when he gives Kyoko her order, and how does Kyoko react?

5. Why does Kimiko have such a strong emotional reaction to the gift from Kiyoshi?

6. What comparison does Yukio make between his own situation and that of a character in Maeterlinck's The Blue Bird?

7. Why does Kiyoshi feel partially responsible for his wife's death?

8. What is so tricky about Kurata's time-travel plans, and how has he tried to plan ahead to overcome this difficulty?

9. When Miki writes her wish that Nagare would become happy, how does Nagare react?

10. When Yukio is discouraged about his future, what keeps him working toward becoming a potter?

(see the answer keys)

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