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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 rumor did the narrator hear about Arishima-san after she left school?
(a) She became a police officer.
(b) She died.
(c) She moved to Europe.
(d) She joined a gang.

2. How often does the staff have their meetings with the manager?
(a) Bi-monthly.
(b) Daily.
(c) Monthly.
(d) Weekly.

3. Who asks the Woman in the Purple Skirt to introduce herself to the staff on her first day?
(a) The narrator.
(b) Supervisor Tsukada.
(c) The director.
(d) Supervisor Gondo.

4. What do the staff say about the agency director's homelife?
(a) He lives alone.
(b) He is very poor.
(c) He has a lot of wild parties.
(d) His wife bosses him around.

5. What does the narrator do to help the Woman in the Purple Skirt find work?
(a) She fills out jobs applications on her behalf.
(b) She tells her employer to hire the Woman.
(c) She leaves jobs magazines on her bench with certain positions highlighted.
(d) She brings her to a job fair.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the narrator find under the Woman in the Purple Skirt's bench after she plays with the children at the park?

2. What does the director condemn the staff for in the first meeting on the Woman's first day?

3. Which family member does the narrator first think the Woman in the Purple Skirt remind her of?

4. How early does the Woman in the Purple Skirt leave for the bus on the first day of her new job?

5. What does the director give to the Woman while she is on her break one day?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where does the Woman in the Purple Skirt live? What does this place reveal about the Woman?

2. What changes does the narrator note about the Woman when she has a job versus when she does not?

3. Describe the training the director gives to the Woman in the Purple Skirt on her first day,

4. Why is the narrator not surprised when the Woman struggles to get hired?

5. How do the supervisors convince the Woman to steal an apple from work one day? What do they say when she wonders if Supervisor Gondo steals?

6. What does the narrator overhear Supervisor Tsukada and the director saying about the Woman during her first day on the job?

7. What type of information does the narrator keep track of regarding the Woman in the Purple Skirt?

8. What happens at the park after the Woman sits with her apple after her first day of work?

9. Who is Arishima-san? Why does the narrator ultimately decide the Woman in the Purple Skirt cannot be Arishima-san?

10. In what way does the narrator feel she may have helped the Woman in the Purple Skirt win over the director and supervisor so quickly?

(see the answer keys)

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