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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The man tells the woman that he has committed "blasphemy" (20). What has he done?
(a) Contemplated suicide.
(b) Told a harmful lie about someone.
(c) Shown disrespect to God.
(d) Cursed God's name.

2. What is it logical to infer about the church women who are wearing red?
(a) They are collecting the offering.
(b) They are worship leaders.
(c) They are the choir.
(d) They are ushers.

3. What detail in the description of the man indicates how ill he feels?
(a) The color of his face.
(b) The smell coming from his skin.
(c) The way his ribs protrude.
(d) The sounds he is making.

4. What does the woman suspect that the man believes about his blasphemy?
(a) It is the reason she is angry at him.
(b) It caused his illness.
(c) It caused the hurricane.
(d) It is no one's business but his own.

5. What color is the light in the man's bedroom?
(a) Yellow.
(b) Grey.
(c) Blue.
(d) Purple.

6. Why does the main character find that the story she is working on is not an easy one to write?
(a) It is about death.
(b) It is about fear.
(c) It is about friendship.
(d) It is about religion.

7. Why was the woman reading the Bible during the period she writes about in her story?
(a) Because it was the High Holy Days.
(b) Because she needed comfort during the hurricane.
(c) Because she wanted to know exactly what it said.
(d) Because she wanted to use Biblical allusions in her writing.

8. What specific Biblical story does the writer focus on?
(a) Noah's Ark.
(b) Jonah and the Great Fish.
(c) The Garden of Eden.
(d) The Trials of Job.

9. On her train ride, what does the woman realize she has not given much thought to?
(a) Her next story.
(b) The newscasters.
(c) Her friend's illness.
(d) The devil.

10. For the majority of the story, what tone does the narrator adopt?
(a) Amused.
(b) Dismissive.
(c) Melancholic.
(d) Objective.

11. What does the landlady say the mayor gave her?
(a) A stove.
(b) An award.
(c) Flowers.
(d) Carpet.

12. In the story's opening sentence, what is implied about the main character's writing?
(a) More than one of her stories is uninteresting.
(b) She is losing interest in her career.
(c) She does not deserve the praise she has gotten.
(d) Her readers are gradually deserting her.

13. Why does the man in the story feel so ill?
(a) He has cancer.
(b) He has food poisoning.
(c) He has the flu.
(d) He is having a heart attack.

14. How does the woman realize her study of religion has made her feel?
(a) Energized.
(b) Guilty.
(c) Peaceful.
(d) Confused.

15. What technique is used in the sentence: "The story is flat and even, just as the earth seems flat and even when a hurricane is advancing over it" (19)?
(a) Allegory.
(b) Personification.
(c) Simile.
(d) Allusion.

Short Answer Questions

1. What technique is used in the sentence: "Outside her apartment, the weather was changing: the wind rose, the branches swayed on the young trees, and the leaves fluttered" (19)?

2. What can be inferred about the woman from the description of the women who try to get her to sit down at their church?

3. What does the hurricane do to the city in the woman's story?

4. Who is "thinking of writing a letter to the President" (20)?

5. What does the woman think might be preventing her from committing to a center for her story?

(see the answer keys)

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