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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. What does the narrator know will happen each day he spends with his lover?
(a) She will stop talking to him.
(b) They will have an argument.
(c) They will end up in bed together.
(d) They will have a fancy dinner.

2. What does the narrator say he becomes afraid of as distance grows between the time spent with his lover and the present?
(a) How weak he is.
(b) That his wife may find out.
(c) Having to see her again.
(d) That he may never see her again.

3. What else did the narrator see in his dreams beyond the dark frame of empty space?
(a) A garden.
(b) A bed.
(c) A child.
(d) A house.

4. How is the narrator's lover's behavior described at the start of the story?
(a) She was moody and mercurial.
(b) She was always smiling and singing.
(c) She was often quiet and distant.
(d) She was loud and obnoxious.

5. Who is the author of "Break It Down"?
(a) Leslie Daniels.
(b) Danielle Lyons.
(c) Lydia Davis.
(d) Lynn Donahue.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did the narrator feel when his lover talked "late in the night...faster and faster" (25)?

2. The narrator describes that after the affair ends, his lover is still inside him like what?

3. What color are the narrator's lover's eyes?

4. What does the narrator think may happen if he kisses his lovers eyelids?

5. What does the narrator say he kept dreaming about while with his lover?

Short Essay Questions

1. The narrator describes a moment in bed when his lover talked nonstop late into the night, her mouth close to his ear. How did he feel during that time?

2. Describe the image of the narrator's love in the coffee shop.

3. What surprising question did the narrator's lover ask him in bed one day? How did he respond? What did she think of his response?

4. What does the narrator note about his lover's skin when he talks about waking up and looking at her?

5. After including the entire day he and his lover spend together and all the bits that add up, how much does he say he has spent per hour?

6. What is the narrator trying to break down at the start of the story?

7. What are the feelings the narrator experiences when he starts to lose the feeling of being with his lover?

8. What type of questions does the narrator say he begins to ask himself after "the pictures start to go" (25) of his time with his lover?

9. Why does the narrator choose not to kiss his lover's eyelids as he wants to while he watches her sleep?

10. How much does the narrator first say the cost of their love making was each hour?

(see the answer keys)

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