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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 did the narrator once do in a vain attempt to get to know the Woman in the Purple Skirt?
(a) Call her and pretend she dialed the wrong number.
(b) Sit near her on the bench.
(c) Deliver her mail.
(d) Bump into her.

2. What does the Woman share with the children at the park after her first day of work?
(a) A cream bun.
(b) Her salary.
(c) An apple.
(d) Champagne.

3. What does the manager tell the staff they need to keep better tabs on during their meeting?
(a) The complimentary items for guests.
(b) Their timecards.
(c) How quickly they clean rooms.
(d) The length of lunch breaks.

4. What does the Supervisor comment to the Woman about after she changes into her uniform on her first day of work?
(a) How overweight she is.
(b) How thin she is.
(c) How unusual she is.
(d) How unkempt her hair is.

5. What did the narrator overhear Supervisor Tsukada telling the director about the Woman in the Purple Skirt on her first day?
(a) She used to be a famous singer.
(b) She used to be a short distance runner.
(c) She is being stalked by someone.
(d) She used to own a cafe.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is the narrator unsurprised that the Woman in the Purple Skirt struggles to get hired?

2. What does Supervisor Hamomoto tell the Woman in the Purple Skirt Supervisor Tachibana takes from work?

3. What is the narrator called at work?

4. What does Supervisor Tsukada give the Woman in the Purple Skirt at the end of her first day, which is meant for hotel guests?

5. Who thwarts the narrator's efforts to introduce herself to the Woman while on her break one afternoon?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who does the narrator follow at the start of the story? Where does she go each week? What does she buy? Where does she sit after?

2. How do the hotel employees feel about the Woman in the Purple Skirt when she first starts working there?

3. How do the children at the park interact with the Woman in the Purple Skirt at the park? How does she react to them?

4. What does the narrator overhear Supervisor Tsukada and the director saying about the Woman during her first day on the job?

5. What does the narrator do while the director is training the Woman in the Purple Skirt during her first day of work?

6. Describe the training the director gives to the Woman in the Purple Skirt on her first day,

7. Where does the Woman in the Purple Skirt live? What does this place reveal about the Woman?

8. How do the supervisors convince the Woman to steal an apple from work one day? What do they say when she wonders if Supervisor Gondo steals?

9. In what ways does the Woman in the Purple Skirt remind the narrator of her sister? What is the narrator's relationship with her sister?

10. Describe the first monthly staff meeting that the Woman attends. What is the focus? How does she behave?

(see the answer keys)

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