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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 information does the narrator keep in her journal about the Woman in the Purple Skirt?
(a) Her caloric intake.
(b) Her dates with men.
(c) Her daily exercise routine.
(d) Her work record.

2. Considering all the advice Supervisor Tsukada gives to the Woman, how long does the narrator feel it will take her to complete training?
(a) 1 week.
(b) 6 months.
(c) 2 days.
(d) 1 month.

3. Where does the Woman in the Purple Skirt go each week at the start of the story?
(a) The community pool.
(b) A bar.
(c) The library.
(d) A bakery.

4. Why did the narrator throw away the stick of gum her classmate once gave her in junior high school?
(a) She was afraid to get in trouble at school.
(b) She thought it was poisoned.
(c) Her parents did not allow her to chew gum.
(d) She hated gum.

5. What does the director give to the Woman while she is on her break one day?
(a) A can of hot coffee.
(b) A sandwich.
(c) A bowl of rice.
(d) A cream bun.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the director condemn the staff for in the first meeting on the Woman's first day?

2. Who does the narrator decide the Woman in the Purple Skirt reminds her of at the start of the second chapter?

3. What article of clothing does the narrator use to define herself?

4. What does the narrator think people in the neighborhood would say if TV crews asked if they knew the Woman in the Purple Skirt?

5. What does the narrator find under the Woman in the Purple Skirt's bench after she plays with the children at the park?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the narrator leave on the Woman's park bench to assist in her job hunt?

2. What changes does the narrator note about the Woman when she has a job versus when she does not?

3. 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?

4. What happens at the park after the Woman sits with her apple after her first day of work?

5. 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?

6. What type of information does the narrator keep track of regarding the Woman in the Purple Skirt?

7. What does the narrator to do try to get shampoo samples to the Woman? Is she successful?

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

9. How does the director thwart the narrator's chance to speak to the Woman on her second day of work? What does he say to her? What does he give her?

10. Who is Arishima-san? Why does the narrator ultimately decide the Woman in the Purple Skirt cannot be Arishima-san?

(see the answer keys)

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