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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does the grandmother worry about Sonia?
(a) She has no money.
(b) She has no life.
(c) She has too many children.
(d) Her husband left her.

2. What does the woman call her husband when he pulls a gun on them in "The Burdened Man"?
(a) Lunatic.
(b) Cop killer.
(c) Piece of garbage.
(d) Boy killer.

3. What does one neighbor tell the stranger about the young girls in "In the Garden"?
(a) They are better off without their mother.
(b) She thinks he kidnapped the girls.
(c) The girls are a figment of the woman's imagination.
(d) Their father was involved in the kidnapping.

4. What did Faith and her friends do to Mr. Zargrowsky years earlier?
(a) Robbed his pharmacy.
(b) Accused him of overmedicating.
(c) Protest his work saying he was racist.
(d) Told his wife he cheated on her.

5. What does the narrator think the butcher really meant when he called her "young lady"(340) in "The Story Hearer"?
(a) Pathetic hag.
(b) Sexy thing.
(c) Weak woman.
(d) Dumb broad.

6. What lie did Selena's family let her believe until she was 42 years old?
(a) The man who raised her was her biological father.
(b) Her father had died in a plane crash.
(c) Her mother died during childbirth.
(d) Her brother died in the war.

7. Where does Dennis live?
(a) In a condo.
(b) In a college dorm.
(c) In a commune.
(d) With his parents.

8. What did Vicente's school suggest he should be in "A Man Told Me the Story of His Life"?
(a) An engineer.
(b) A doctor.
(c) A teacher.
(d) A philosopher.

9. What does the narrator's grandmother complain of in "In This Country"?
(a) Not having enough money.
(b) Not being able to sleep.
(c) Not being able to work.
(d) Having ungrateful children.

10. What had happened to the young woman's daughters in "In the Garden"?
(a) They were put into foster care.
(b) They ran away.
(c) They died.
(d) They had been kidnapped.

11. What was Lavinia born doing, according to "Lavinia: An Old Story"?
(a) Laughing.
(b) Crying.
(c) Talking.
(d) Eating.

12. What did the child do to upset her father in "Anxiety"?
(a) Ran across the street without holding his hand.
(b) Slapped him in the face.
(c) Said "oink, oink" over and over.
(d) Cried when he would not buy her candy.

13. In "Anxiety," why does the narrator yell at a young father as he walks his child home from school?
(a) He was not paying enough attention to the child.
(b) He did not hold the child's hand crossing the street.
(c) He slammed the child down in anger.
(d) He did not carry the girl's backpack for her.

14. Who is the speaker in "The Little Girl"?
(a) Dennis.
(b) Jack.
(c) Charlie.
(d) Carter.

15. Why is Cassie upset with Faith at then end of "Listening"?
(a) She never wrote about her.
(b) She slept with her husband.
(c) She would not loan her money.
(d) She did not go to her wedding.

Short Answer Questions

1. How long does Faith stay in her old apartment in "Long Distance Runner"?

2. In the story written in "Conversations with my Father," what happens to the mother?

3. What did the narrator's aunt say her grandmother had to do to her 17-year-old son?

4. In "The Burdened Man," why does the neighbor want $5.98 from the man?

5. How long has it been since Ruth has seen her daughter in "The Expensive Moment"?

(see the answer keys)

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