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

2. 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) Not tell Nathaniel that they asked Lucien to call.
(d) Tell Nathaniel to go back home.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Nathaniel say that ceremonial occasions remind us about?

2. Which character works for Itami Systems?

3. Why is Lyle sad all of the time?

4. What does Nathaniel say history teaches us?

5. Where did Nathaniel meet Madison, Amity, and Lyle?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Nathaniel's friends come to live with him?

2. What is the meaning of the title of the section of the story called "Innocence"?

3. Explain the non-event that "Nathaniel Recalls the Miracle" is centered on.

4. How does the "View" referred to in the third section of the story change in its significance for Nathaniel between his arrival in New York and the narrative present?

5. What phrase makes Lucien think about the frog and the boiling water, and why?

6. What qualities does Nathaniel have that worry his parents?

7. Where are Nathaniel and his friends, in the narrative present, and what are they doing?

8. Describe Rose and Issac.

9. What is the "View" that the third section of the story is titled for, and why is it special?

10. What is the "Reunion" referred to in the title of the sixth section of the story?

(see the answer keys)

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