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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where does the blind man put his hand as the narrator begins to draw in the story?
(a) Over the narrator’s hand
(b) On the narrator’s face
(c) At the edge of the table
(d) On the paper

2. As the narrator continues his drawing of the cathedral, he comments near the end of the story, “His fingers rode my fingers as my hand went over the paper. It was like” what?
(a) Crossing into another world
(b) Looking through the rainbow
(c) Surfing on the waves of blindness
(d) Nothing else in my life up to now

3. What is the narrator’s prayer before dinner in the story?
(a) Pray the phone won’t ring and the food doesn’t get cold
(b) Pray for good weather and sound sleep
(c) Pray the bills are paid and we wake up tomorrow
(d) Pray for Robert’s wife

4. When was Raymond Carver born?
(a) 1959
(b) 1938
(c) 1944
(d) 1927

5. What does the narrator see his wife doing as she parks the car when she returns with the blind man?
(a) Laughing
(b) Screaming
(c) Holding his hand
(d) Crying

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

7. What word from the story refers to a hooded garment worn by monks?
(a) Cowl
(b) Anorak
(c) Kimono
(d) Mukluk

8. Where did the other half of the coin go that the blind man was left with, according to the narrator?
(a) In his wife’s coffin
(b) In his wallet
(c) In a frame on the wall
(d) In a safe deposit box

9. Where was Raymond Carver born?
(a) Mountain Home, Idaho
(b) Yakima, Washington
(c) Clatskanie, Oregon
(d) Jackson, Wyoming

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) Denmark
(b) Finland
(c) Romania
(d) Italy

11. What are the supports called on a cathedral that are built to steady a structure by opposing its outward thrusts?
(a) Trusses
(b) Buttresses
(c) Pillars
(d) Crossbeams

12. The blind man discusses his ham radio operator friends in “Guam, in the Philippines, in Alaska, and even” where?
(a) Tahiti
(b) Australia
(c) Poland
(d) Bolivia

13. What do the narrator and his wife drink when they sit down to talk with the blind man after he’s arrived?
(a) Tequila
(b) Absinthe
(c) Brandy
(d) Scotch

14. What drink does the blind man ask for when the narrator offers him one after his arrival?
(a) Vodka
(b) Rum
(c) Scotch
(d) Tequila

15. The man that the narrator’s wife was going to marry when she worked for the blind man was in what kind of school?
(a) Officers’ training school
(b) Construction school
(c) Truck driving school
(d) Electrician school

Short Answer Questions

1. The narrator says in the beginning of the story, “My idea of blindness came from” what?

2. By what familyar nickname does the blind man call the narrator?

3. What are the first words that the blind man says to the narrator when he arrives?

4. What does the blind man instruct the narrator to do after he’s almost completed the drawing of the cathedral?

5. How long does the narrator say he’s been in his current position (of employment) when asked by the blind man?

(see the answer keys)

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