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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does the narrator finally realize that his musical instrument is an accordion?
(a) He wipes the dust off the lettering on the instrument.
(b) He hears a voice tell him the name.
(c) The Colonel unwillingly tells him.
(d) He remembers his mother saying so.

2. What does the narrator want to do when he arrives at the Library in Chapter 34?
(a) He wants to begin dream reading right away.
(b) He wants to talk to the Librarian.
(c) He wants to have dinner.
(d) He wants to go for a walk.

3. Which of the following does the Colonel NOT give as a possible reason for his work as a soldier?
(a) A sense of justice.
(b) Honor.
(c) Hatred.
(d) Patriotism.

4. What unusual thing does the narrator note about the Power Station?
(a) It seems to be glowing.
(b) There are no lines leading out.
(c) Unlike the rest of the Town's structures, the Power Station is made of wood.
(d) It seems to be talking.

5. What effect does the whiskey have on the narrator in Chapter 27?
(a) It makes him cry.
(b) It makes him woozy.
(c) It doesn't register.
(d) It makes him laugh.

6. Where does the narrator say he and the girl got on the subway when asked by the subway attendant?
(a) Aoyama Itchome.
(b) Shibuya.
(c) Shinjuku.
(d) Ginza.

7. What does the shadow say the Town's "exit" is guarded by?
(a) Fear.
(b) Mind.
(c) Watchmen.
(d) Dogs.

8. What does the narrator first notice about the musical instruments?
(a) He knows how to play them all.
(b) They bear traces of their previous owners.
(c) They are in good repair.
(d) They are old.

9. Why does the Caretaker collect the instruments?
(a) He needs a hobby to occupy his time.
(b) He finds them beautiful.
(c) He feels that the previous owners would have wanted someone to look out for them.
(d) He gets lonely and the sound comforts him.

10. Why do the people in the laundromat stare at the narrator when he begins drying the clothes?
(a) The clothes are all pink.
(b) It's strange that the narrator is simply staring at the dryer.
(c) The narrator clearly doesn't know how to use a dryer.
(d) The clothes still stink from the underground.

11. What does the chubby girl begin reading in the narrator's apartment?
(a) Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov.
(b) Turgenev's On the Eve.
(c) Flaubert's Madame Bovary.
(d) Balzac's Chouans.

12. What song does the narrator listen to just before falling asleep at the waterfront?
(a) Danny Boy.
(b) A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall.
(c) I'm Comin' Home.
(d) Blowin' in the Wind.

13. Who does the Caretaker say comes to visit until the beginning of autumn?
(a) The beasts.
(b) The Gatekeeper.
(c) The Woodspeople.
(d) The Townspeople.

14. Where does the narrator take the librarian on his last morning?
(a) To the park.
(b) To a ballgame.
(c) To a French patisserie.
(d) To the pier.

15. What odd gift does the narrator give the librarian at the restaurant in Chapter 35?
(a) A hammer.
(b) A pair of nail clippers.
(c) A white lace collar.
(d) An eggbeater.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the shadow call the process of removing the discharges of mind that rise each day?

2. What does the narrator tell the librarian about himself when she says she wants to know more about him?

3. Who does the narrator call on the telephone at the beginning of Chapter 37?

4. What does the narrator say was his "training" for tuning in on a better life?

5. How does the Colonel say the Town feels about the passing of a shadow?

(see the answer keys)

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