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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What color flowers does Shingo see one day on a drizzly day in mid-August?

2. What color shirt is a male prostitute wearing who is accompanying a foreigner on Shingo's train?

3. Where did a scientist from Tohoku University send lotus seeds he found?

4. When Eiko tells Shingo that Kinu is pregnant, how far along is Kinu?

5. What lines the ditch outside the train as Shingo and the other passengers wait for the accident up ahead to be cleared?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Teru act last winter when Kikuko saw a snake at the kitchen door?

2. What did Shuichi do when he learned that Kinu was pregnant?

3. Why does a friend of Shingo's say that he wants potassium cyanide?

4. What news does Eiko bring Shingo in Chapter 13, Section 2?

5. Where does Kikuko tell Satoko to go when she complains about Kikuko sewing her dress?

6. How did Kikuko get money for an abortion?

7. Why does Shingo take his shoe off his right foot on the train?

8. In Chapter 15, what does Yasuko find odd about the cherry tree?

9. How did Americans get some ancient lotus seeds to sprout?

10. Why hasn't Shingo been giving Kikuko an allowance?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author uses descriptions of nature to illustrate or emphasize Shingo's state of mind. Discuss how descriptions of nature are used to illustrate or emphasize Shingo's state of mind.

Essay Topic 2

Fusako seems to be jealous of Kikuko. Discuss the relationship between Fusako and Kikuko.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss round and flat characters in the "The Sound of the Mountain".

(see the answer keys)

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