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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 are some things Kazu says about himself and his life at the start of the story?
(a) He made a lot of money and was very generous.
(b) He was confident and quite a lady's man.
(c) He lacked confidence and had bad luck.
(d) He was a well-dressed intellectual.

2. What does Kazu feel may be the only thing he left on earth?
(a) Pollution.
(b) Despondence.
(c) A sense of tiredness.
(d) Material objects.

3. How old were Kazu's parents when they died?
(a) In their 90s.
(b) In their 70s.
(c) In their 80s.
(d) In their 60s.

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

5. What did Osamu say about Koichi at the funeral that Kazu was not aware of?
(a) Koichi always talked about his father.
(b) He and Koichi were best friends.
(c) He and Koichi did not always get along.
(d) Koichi was engaged.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What was Kazu's first job when he moved to Tokyo?

3. What are some of the ways Kazu recalls getting food when he was homeless?

4. Why are homeless people often evicted from the park where they live?

5. What is one of the things Setsuko found most painful about her son's death?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Describe Kazu's family. Who were his parents? Where did they live? How many siblings did he have?

4. How old was Kazu when he first began to work, and what did he do for work?

5. How does Kazu describe Shige?

6. 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?

7. When did Kazu move to Tokyo? Why? How often did he see his family?

8. What does Setsuko wonder about her son's death and how does the priest respond?

9. What did Kazu's mother tell him about his life after his son Koichi died?

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

(see the answer keys)

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