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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Besides their minimal rent, what task are Nathaniel and his roommates performing in exchange for a place to live?
(a) They are repainting the loft.
(b) They sort through and forward Matsumoto's mail.
(c) They take care of Matsumoto's cats.
(d) They collect the rent from Matsumoto's other tenants.

2. What is the name of Lucien's assistant?
(a) Advika.
(b) Devahuti.
(c) Rashana.
(d) Sharmila.

3. From the story's context, when must Charlie have died?
(a) Before the year 2000.
(b) In the year 2003.
(c) Shortly after the September 11th attack.
(d) In the year 2000.

4. What does Nathaniel say that ceremonial occasions remind us about?
(a) That time only moves in one direction.
(b) That ideas are bigger than any one person.
(c) That we should love one another.
(d) That life is unpredictable.

5. To whom does Nathaniel imagine telling the story of the Y2K computer issue?
(a) A historian.
(b) His readers.
(c) His grandchildren.
(d) His children.

6. Why is Lyle sad all of the time?
(a) He is heavily in debt.
(b) He is homesick and hates New York.
(c) His boyfriend has moved to London.
(d) He and his boyfriend have broken up.

7. To what does Nathaniel compare the sight of Manhattan from Matsumoto's loft?
(a) The circuit board of a computer.
(b) A miniature city from his childhood train set.
(c) Van Gogh's Starry Night.
(d) A glass of champagne.

8. Of all of the things that Nathaniel can see from Matsumoto's loft, which is most important to him?
(a) The Empire State Building.
(b) The World Trade Center.
(c) The Statue of Liberty.
(d) The Chrysler Building.

9. Where did Nathaniel meet Madison, Amity, and Lyle?
(a) At a bar near Matsumoto's loft.
(b) At his first job in New York.
(c) In high school.
(d) In college.

10. After Charlie became ill, what did Lucien feel was happening to the world?
(a) It was burning down around him.
(b) It was all turning into paper.
(c) It was melting away into nothing.
(d) It was shattering like broken glass.

11. Which of the possible consequences of a global computer failure that Nathaniel mentions could be considered foreshadowing?
(a) The idea that people might be trapped in high-rise elevators.
(b) The idea that widespread food shortages might occur.
(c) The idea that hospitals might not be able to monitor patients.
(d) The idea that airplanes might lose their guidance systems and crash.

12. What does Nathaniel do with his spare time that his parents find worrisome?
(a) Sings in a band.
(b) Goes rock climbing.
(c) Draws comics.
(d) Skateboards.

13. What does Nathaniel say history teaches us?
(a) There are too many variables for humans to be effective at thinking ahead.
(b) If we do not study the past, we will inevitably repeat unhelpful patterns.
(c) Systems and institutions favor the powerful by their very nature.
(d) Great people rise to prominence regardless of their circumstances.

14. What is Russell's business relationship to Amity?
(a) He is her lawyer.
(b) He is an employee of her P.R. firm.
(c) He works with her at the stock exchange.
(d) He is her book agent.

15. What does Isaac do for a living?
(a) He repairs cars.
(b) He makes vacuum cleaners.
(c) He owns a deli.
(d) He is a rabbi.

Short Answer Questions

1. How are Nathaniel and Lucien related?

2. What does Nathaniel suggest that people might be desperate enough to burn in the wake of a global computer failure?

3. What ridiculous detail does Nathaniel give in his description of the last months of 1999?

4. What made tears come into Nathaniel's eyes the first time he saw Matsumoto's loft?

5. When Lucien is in the gallery imagining that he is with Charlie, what does he promise her?

(see the answer keys)

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