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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the name of the eldest member of the "Diamonds" narrator's AA group?
(a) Mellick.
(b) Duffy.
(c) Sheeran.
(d) O'Connor.

2. What does Dympna do for a living?
(a) Sells illegal guns.
(b) Tends bar at Quillinan's.
(c) Sells marijuana.
(d) Runs a boxing club.

3. What is the name of the band that Doran and Eli were in?
(a) Skullduggery Nine.
(b) My Existence.
(c) Satan on Sabbatical.
(d) Sunken Figure.

4. What does Doran do when Eli wants a drink but the barman is still in the cellar?
(a) Tells Eli that he will just have to wait.
(b) Pours it himself.
(c) Offers Eli his own pint.
(d) Yells for the barman.

5. What technique is employed in the phrase "the bright white furnace of cold" (175)?
(a) Juxtaposition.
(b) Irony.
(c) Paradox.
(d) Oxymoron.

6. When Arm and Dympna meet Hector at Lally's, what conspiracy theory is the odd older man with Hector trying to advance?
(a) Scotland is trying to annex Ireland.
(b) Jesus had a twin brother.
(c) The World Cup finalists are all robots.
(d) There is a hidden planet in our solar system.

7. When Eli met Maryanne's father, he had a "thin, vertiginous feeling." What kind of feeling was he having?
(a) Belittled and confused.
(b) Dizzy and disoriented.
(c) Fearful and apprehensive.
(d) Bitter and angry.

8. Whom does the "Diamonds" narrator describe as "sick-of-their-own-shit degenerates" (171)?
(a) His fellow staff members.
(b) His students.
(c) His AA group.
(d) His friends in the city.

9. What was different about the song that was finally a hit for Doran and Eli's band?
(a) It was a punk-rock song.
(b) Doran wrote the music.
(c) Maryanne sang lead.
(d) Eli wrote the lyrics.

10. On page 136, how does Dympna describe Arm?
(a) "A loyal skin."
(b) "A daft lad."
(c) "A harmless culchie."
(d) "A solid man."

11. How did the barman get his scars?
(a) Fighting in a war.
(b) From a criminal associate.
(c) His wife tried to kill him.
(d) He attempted suicide.

12. In Doran's opinion, what has kept him from going to the funeral?
(a) Apathy.
(b) Cowardice.
(c) Empathy.
(d) Propriety.

13. What does Doran tell Eli about his life that Eli says he doubts is true?
(a) That he does not really enjoy the music business anymore.
(b) That he never really got over Maryanne breaking his heart.
(c) That he wishes that he, Eli, and Maryanne had stayed close.
(d) That he is content not being in a romantic relationship for the rest of his life.

14. On page 173, the "Diamonds" narrator describes "the abrupt drumlins of his knuckles." What are "drumlins"?
(a) Teardrop-shaped ridges formed by glacial action.
(b) Boulders smoothed by wave action.
(c) Taut membranes stretched over wooden hoops or barrel heads.
(d) Short and stout mythical humanoids.

15. Why is Doran trying to ignore the ticking of the clock above the bar?
(a) He is upset that Eli is so late coming to meet him.
(b) He is agitated about being alone in the bar.
(c) He feels guilty about staying past the funeral start time.
(d) He has a headache from a hangover.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Arm not run for the car when Paudi pulls out his rifle?

2. When the "Diamonds" narrator meets the woman in the city, what does he tell her about his life?

3. What is the "Diamonds" narrator intending to do when he leaves the school on Monday morning?

4. On page 195, how does Eli characterize his marriage to Maryanne?

5. In his description of his train ride home in the opening of "Diamonds," what tone does the narrator adopt in his description of the landscape?

(see the answer keys)

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