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

2. What made tears come into Nathaniel's eyes the first time he saw Matsumoto's loft?
(a) The Jacuzzi in the bathroom.
(b) The view from the terrace.
(c) The flat-screen television.
(d) The art on the walls.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Where did Nathaniel live before he moved to New York?

2. Besides their minimal rent, what task are Nathaniel and his roommates performing in exchange for a place to live?

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

4. How are Nathaniel and Lucien related?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe Rose and Issac.

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

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

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

6. 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?

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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