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

2. What happened to much of Kazu and his family's things right around Koichi's birth?
(a) Everything got washed away in a tsunami.
(b) Someone robbed them.
(c) They were repossessed.
(d) They sold most of their things to neighbors.

3. What is Kazu's wife's name?
(a) Yoko.
(b) Mari.
(c) Setsuko.
(d) Koichi.

4. How old were Kazu's children when he left for Tokyo?
(a) 14 and 18.
(b) 3 and 5.
(c) 21 and 24.
(d) 10 and 12.

5. Who lent Kazu his mourning clothes, which Setsuko gave him on the day of Koichi's funeral?
(a) Kazu's boss.
(b) The head of the neighborhood association.
(c) Kazu's father.
(d) Kazu's son-in-law.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was Kazu's first job in Onahama?

2. How old was Kazu when he went to Tokyo to find work?

3. Who is typically the person to carry the funeral tablet at a funeral?

4. Why did Kazu's coworkers stop inviting him out for drinks?

5. Who left a message for Kazu to tell him his son died while he was working in Hokkaido?

Short Essay Questions

1. How would Kazu get food when he was homeless in Ueno Park?

2. What does Kazu's father say to the tax officials who came into their home and marked property to be repossessed?

3. What did Kazu and his father, mother, and wife each do to support and feed the family around the time his first son was born?

4. What did Kazu's ancestors believe happened to the dead?

5. Who is Osamu and how did his presence at Koichi's funeral make Kazu feel?

6. Who is Kazu and what is he doing in Ueno Station at the start of the novel?

7. What was Kazu's first job in Tokyo?

8. Describe the conversation between the homeless man and woman after the woman repeats her disbelief that Shige is dead.

9. What happened in the Tohuko region and Hokkaido after the Tokyo Olympics ended, and what type for work did Kazu do in Sendai?

10. How does Kazu describe Shige?

(see the answer keys)

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