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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where is Kazu watching people at the start of the story?
(a) In an airport.
(b) Ueno Station.
(c) Tokyo Museum of Architecture.
(d) At the library.

2. Why was Kazu unable to take his children on a helicopter ride in Haramachi during the Bon holidays when they were young?
(a) His wife would not allow it.
(b) They arrived too late.
(c) The children were too young.
(d) Tickets were too expensive.

3. What news did Kazu receive about his son just days before his death?
(a) Nobody had heard from him for days.
(b) He had passed the national radiology exam.
(c) He was moving to Tokyo.
(d) He was getting married.

4. What is familiar about the jean jacket Kazu sees an old homeless man wearing while talking to a homeless woman about the lack of work?
(a) He had seen it in a magazine.
(b) It looks like Shige's.
(c) It belonged to Kazu's son.
(d) It used to be Kazu's.

5. Who is typically the person to carry the funeral tablet at a funeral?
(a) The son.
(b) The daughter.
(c) The priest.
(d) The father.

6. Why did Kazu's father speak to the mourners at the funeral?
(a) Because the eldest male always speaks at a funeral.
(b) Because Kazu's father was a priest.
(c) Because Setsuko had asked him to speak.
(d) Because Kazu was unable to.

7. What did Osamu say about Koichi when he looked at his face after Setsuko removed the white cloth?
(a) It looked like he was sleeping.
(b) It did not look like him.
(c) He looked so much like his father.
(d) He was such a kind person.

8. What did Kazu's mother tell him on the night of Koichi's funeral?
(a) Kazu was a terrible father.
(b) Koichi loved his father very much.
(c) Koichi was just like Kazu.
(d) Kazu never had any luck.

9. What is the name of the park Kazu haunts and used to live in when he was alive?
(a) Ueno Arboretum.
(b) Tokyo Rose Garden.
(c) Ueno Imperial Gift Park.
(d) Tokyo Station Public Park.

10. How much education did Kazu complete before going to work to help support his family?
(a) High school.
(b) Middle school.
(c) Elementary school.
(d) Some college.

11. What does Kazu hear two women joke about when discussing toy poodles?
(a) They joke that their dogs are like their children.
(b) They joke that they do not need husbands as long as they have their dogs.
(c) They joke that the poodles eat better than people.
(d) They joke that they liked dogs better than people.

12. Though the Soma gave Kazu's ancestor's land why were they unable to grow anything at first?
(a) They did not give them the right to irrigate the land.
(b) They did not get enough sun.
(c) They did not know how to work the land.
(d) There was a long drought when they first arrived.

13. Why are homeless people often evicted from the park where they live?
(a) They are evicted whenever the imperial family comes to visit a local museum.
(b) They are evicted because they often cause problems in the park.
(c) They are evicted because the locals complain about their presence.
(d) They are evicted because it is illegal to be homeless in Tokyo.

14. What are some of the ways Kazu recalls getting food when he was homeless?
(a) His family would bring him care packages every month.
(b) Restaurants would leave food out and missionaries would serve them a few days a week.
(c) Kazu would raid trash cans outside of restaurants for food.
(d) Kazu and others would steal from markets.

15. Where is Kazu originally from?
(a) Soma.
(b) Toyko.
(c) Sapporo.
(d) Hiroshima.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Setsuko wonder about regarding her son's death?

2. What year was Kazu born?

3. What word is used to describe how Kazu felt about how he lived his life after his son Koichi died?

4. What would Kazu do to help his family during his time off from harvesting kelp?

5. How did Kazu and Setsuko know each other prior to getting married?

(see the answer keys)

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