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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. When Lucien is in the gallery imagining that he is with Charlie, what does he promise her?
(a) He will find another apartment for Nathaniel.
(b) He will try to think more kindly about Rose and Isaac.
(c) He will find another woman to love and be happy again.
(d) He will put more energy into the gallery.

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

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

6. What does Lucien end up saying to his assistant on page 8 when he wants to give her a piece of advice?
(a) "Don't bother about the phones."
(b) "Don't believe everything you hear."
(c) "Don't worry."
(d) "Don't feel sad."

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

8. 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.

9. Where did Nathaniel live before he moved to New York?
(a) The Southwest.
(b) California.
(c) Minnesota.
(d) The Midwest.

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

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

12. What do Rose and Isaac ask Lucien to do when he calls Nathaniel after Nathaniel arrives in New York?
(a) Find Nathaniel a place to live.
(b) Get Nathaniel a job.
(c) Tell Nathaniel to go back home.
(d) Not tell Nathaniel that they asked Lucien to call.

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

14. What ridiculous detail does Nathaniel give in his description of the last months of 1999?
(a) Preppers sealing their families into shelters underground.
(b) Businesses desperately trying to teach their staffs how to do math without computerized cash registers.
(c) Celebrity clairvoyants making wild predictions in the tabloids.
(d) Cults announcing that aliens would come to Earth at midnight on New Year's Eve.

15. How are Nathaniel and Lucien related?
(a) Nathaniel is Lucian's cousin's son.
(b) Nathaniel is Lucien's brother's son.
(c) Nathaniel is Lucian's son-in-law.
(d) Nathaniel is Lucien's nephew by marriage.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Isaac do for a living?

2. What does Nathaniel do with his spare time that his parents find worrisome?

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

4. What is Nathaniel's job in the narrative present?

5. Why is Lyle sad all of the time?

(see the answer keys)

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