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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the Irish expression "couldn't be arsed" mean (45)?
(a) Not at all amused.
(b) Incapable of embarrassment.
(c) Unwilling to bother with something.
(d) Calm, unflappable.

2. To what animal does Martina compare the drummer?
(a) A hedgehog.
(b) A dog.
(c) An ape.
(d) A snake.

3. How many operations did Bat need after the assault?
(a) 4.
(b) 2.
(c) 6.
(d) 8.

4. Where is the Peacock located?
(a) Glaunagillagh.
(b) Ceanneraugh.
(c) Glanbeigh.
(d) Rossbeigh.

5. Why does Heg invite Bat to drinks at The Yellow Belly?
(a) Heg thinks that Bat might want to meet the barmaid.
(b) It is Heg's birthday.
(c) Heg is heading back to college.
(d) Heg knows that Bat will buy him drinks.

6. What is foreshadowed by Matteen's comment to Sarah and Jenny "That's what passes for consent these days" (25) ?
(a) Tansey's bullying at Quillinan's.
(b) Sarah's aggressive response to Tansey.
(c) Matteen's success in lining up opponents at Quillinan's.
(d) The women's assault on Teddy.

7. When Bat is eating dinner after work, why are the two little Minion boys in the kitchen?
(a) His mother is cutting their hair.
(b) They have brought over a cake from their mother.
(c) His aunt wants Bat to babysit them.
(d) They have come to play with Bat's younger brother.

8. What is ironic about the text message that Val sends to Martina at the end of the story?
(a) Martina has accidentally left her phone behind at the Peacock.
(b) Martina has only pretended to go early to Galway in order to get out of seeing Val again.
(c) The reader is aware that Joan is the one who has feelings for Val.
(d) She has already complained to him about a boyfriend being too clingy.

9. What is Tansey doing when Teddy says that he "gouged the baize" (31)?
(a) Executing a trick shot.
(b) Ripping the surface of the pool table.
(c) Sinking the shot that wins the game.
(d) Using his cue to tap the wooden edge of the table.

10. What does Jimmy use to write "Marry Me" on Mark's car?
(a) Lipstick.
(b) A paint marker.
(c) A key.
(d) His own blood.

11. What technique is used in Teddy's description of a pool ball spinning "confusedly on its own axis" (31)?
(a) Simile.
(b) Euphemism.
(c) Allusion.
(d) Personification.

12. Why does Matteen ride in the back of Teddy's car?
(a) Teddy is smoking.
(b) He gets car sick.
(c) He likes to ride beside his cue case.
(d) Teddy is wearing a lot of cologne.

13. What does Jimmy feel when he and Tug reach the other side of the bridge?
(a) Nostalgia.
(b) Pride.
(c) Gratitude.
(d) Regret.

14. Which sentence most clearly conveys a thematic motif of this story?
(a) "Damage abides beneath the surface" (53).
(b) "None but the old dear call him Eamonn now" (53).
(c) "He splashes his face and watches the water drip like glue from his chin" (52).
(d) "Bat handles his hair delicately" (52).

15. Which character "resembles nothing so much as his own freshly revived corpse" (54)?
(a) Bat.
(b) Dungan.
(c) Heg.
(d) Tansey.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Tug offer the boy as a toll for using "his" bridge?

2. What does Matteen do for a living?

3. Why does Tansey call Matteen "Judgeboy" (29)?

4. Bat suffers from tinnitus. What does this cause?

5. What physical feature of his own does Jimmy find unattractive?

(see the answer keys)

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