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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. How does Mimi describe her husband's visit when her friend calls?
(a) It was frustrating, and she wished she could do it over.
(b) It was a disaster.
(c) It was short, but lovely.
(d) She cannot describe it because she is crying too much.

2. Where are the couple in the train car headed?
(a) Their wedding reception.
(b) Their wedding.
(c) Their honeymoon.
(d) Their new home.

3. What message does the poem "Men" convey?
(a) Men will claim to love a woman as she is, but then try to change her.
(b) Men try to understand women, but they never will.
(c) Men are only interested in a woman's outward appearance.
(d) Men may drive women crazy, but they still need each other.

4. What does the young man in "The Waltz" offer to do after the band stops playing?
(a) To pay the band twenty dollars to play another song.
(b) To walk the young woman to the bus stop.
(c) To walk the young woman home.
(d) To help bandage the young woman's shin.

5. What "gift" does the narrator of "I Know I Have Been Happiest" offer to her former lover?
(a) Her death.
(b) Her fidelity.
(c) Her absence.
(d) Her verse.

Short Answer Questions

1. About how long has the couple in the train car been married?

2. What is Walter Williams' profession?

3. How does Mr. Durant react to Rose's announcement that she will not return and does not want to see him again?

4. At the end of the story "Arrangement in Black and White," what detail of the dinner party is the woman eager to share with her husband?

5. What imaginary "purchase" puts a strain on the relationship between Annabel and Midge?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the woman in "The Waltz" agree to dance with the young man even though she does not want to?

2. In the story "Dusk Before Fireworks," why does Kit try to pretend that she is not bothered by the attention that other women pay to Hobie?

3. What message about love is conveyed by the poem "A Very Short Song"?

4. Explain the irony in the poem "The False Friends."

5. What trouble does the man in "You Were Perfectly Fine" create when he lies about remembering the taxi ride?

6. In "Arrangement in Black and White," what do the woman's behavior and comments at the dinner party reveal about her?

7. How might Mrs. Martindale solve Mrs. Wyman's problem and her own at the same time?

8. Describe the role of Mrs. Whittaker in the story "The Wonderful Old Gentleman."

9. In "The Standard of Living," why does Midge become so upset over Annabel's imaginary purchase of a silver fox coat, and what does her reaction suggest about her personality?

10. In the short story, "The Wonderful Old Gentleman," what influence has the Old Gentleman had on the Bains' lives in the five years that he has lived with them?

(see the answer keys)

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