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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. For what literary genre is author Raymond Carver most well known?
(a) Epic literature
(b) Absurdist drama
(c) Science fiction
(d) Minimalist fiction

2. What does the narrator say causes him problems sleeping?
(a) His wife’s snoring
(b) Dreams
(c) A sore throat
(d) A bad smell

3. Where is Travis A.F.B. located?
(a) Georgia
(b) California
(c) New Jersey
(d) Kansas

4. What question does the blind man ask the narrator as the narrator begins drawing the cathedral in the story?
(a) Never thought anything like this could happen in your lifetime, did you, bub?
(b) What kind of building are you drawing here, bub?
(c) Where’s your wife when you need her, huh, bub?
(d) Where are you going to put the steeple and the people, bub?

5. When the blind man appears to snooze during his conversation with the narrator, the narrator assumes that perhaps he’s imagining himself where?
(a) Portugal
(b) Spain
(c) Italy
(d) Greece

6. What is another word for “arc-boutant” used in the story?
(a) Spire
(b) Crown
(c) Viaduct
(d) Flying buttress

7. When the blind man smokes his second hit of marijuana, the narrator says, “It was like he’d been doing this since he was” how old?
(a) Sixteen years old
(b) Five years old
(c) Twelve years old
(d) Nine years old

8. What do the narrator and his wife offer the blind man as they smoke marijuana in the story?
(a) A cup of coffee
(b) More pie
(c) A pillow
(d) A blanket

9. How did the narrator’s wife maintain contact with the blind man since they last saw one another in person?
(a) They wrote emails to each other
(b) They communicated by fax machine
(c) They wrote letters to each other
(d) They mailed tapes to each other

10. Where does the narrator tell the blind man the show about cathedrals has traveled to, where there are “paintings on the walls of this one church”?
(a) Finland
(b) Romania
(c) Denmark
(d) Italy

11. What did the narrator’s wife wash down all the pills from the medicine cabinet with while she was at Travis A.F.B.?
(a) A glass of orange juice
(b) A bottle of gin
(c) A shot of whiskey
(d) A carton of milk

12. What does the narrator give as a response to the narrator’s question of whether he was going to stay with his work?
(a) I haven’t had any other offers
(b) It pays the bills
(c) It would be hard to take a pay cut
(d) What were the options?

13. The narrator says in the beginning of the story that the last time his wife saw the blind man was when she worked for him in what city?
(a) Portland
(b) Seattle
(c) Denver
(d) Birmingham

14. What does the narrator say about his and his wife’s sleeping patterns in the story?
(a) We always go to bed at the same time
(b) She is always the first to bed
(c) I am always the first to bed
(d) My wife and I hardly ever went to bed at the same time

15. Where does the narrator go to find a pen and paper when the blind man suggests it at night?
(a) To the nursery
(b) To the bathroom
(c) Upstairs
(d) To the basement

Short Answer Questions

1. Where does the narrator’s wife fall asleep after they’ve smoked marijuana?

2. After showing a cathedral in Portugal, the television show next travels to show a cathedral where?

3. The blind man tells the narrator as he continues his drawing of the cathedral, “You got it, bub. I can tell. You didn’t think you could. But you can, can’t you? You’re cooking with” what?

4. What is the narrator’s response when his wife asks as she comes downstairs, “What do I smell?”

5. How does the narrator describe the blind man’s shoulders after his arrival?

(see the answer keys)

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