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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why are homeless people often evicted from the park where they live?
(a) They are evicted because they often cause problems in the park.
(b) They are evicted because it is illegal to be homeless in Tokyo.
(c) They are evicted whenever the imperial family comes to visit a local museum.
(d) They are evicted because the locals complain about their presence.

2. What did Osamu say about Koichi when he looked at his face after Setsuko removed the white cloth?
(a) He was such a kind person.
(b) It did not look like him.
(c) He looked so much like his father.
(d) It looked like he was sleeping.

3. What would Kazu do to help his family during his time off from harvesting kelp?
(a) He would harvest rice.
(b) He would fix things around the house.
(c) He would sell newspapers.
(d) He would take his kids on a trip to give his wife a break.

4. Who did Kazu see at the Haramachi train station on August 5, 1947?
(a) Shige.
(b) His father.
(c) Emperor Hirohito.
(d) His wife for the first time.

5. What was Kazu's first job in Onahama?
(a) Fixing boats.
(b) Cleaning houses.
(c) Fishing.
(d) Taxi driver.

6. Where is Kazu originally from?
(a) Sapporo.
(b) Soma.
(c) Hiroshima.
(d) Toyko.

7. What news did Kazu receive about his son just days before his death?
(a) He was moving to Tokyo.
(b) Nobody had heard from him for days.
(c) He was getting married.
(d) He had passed the national radiology exam.

8. What was the Buddhist name given to Koichi at his funeral?
(a) Shaku Karma.
(b) Shaku Bodhi.
(c) Shaku Banko.
(d) Shaku Junko.

9. What did Kazu notice as he stared at his son's face after he died?
(a) He noticed how handsome his son was.
(b) He noticed how much is son looked like his father.
(c) He noticed his son looked like him.
(d) He noticed how much his son resembled Setsuko.

10. What were Kazu's ancestors known as?
(a) Zen Buddhists.
(b) Soma Buddhists.
(c) Nomaoi Buddhists.
(d) Pure Land Followers.

11. What do Pure Land followers believe happens to their dead?
(a) They return to visit their family once a year during Bon festival.
(b) They are reincarnated and come back to the same family.
(c) They are gone forever.
(d) They are reborn as Buddhas and watch over their family every day.

12. How old was Kazu when he died?
(a) 13.
(b) 9.
(c) 21.
(d) 31.

13. After working in Onamaha for two years, What did Kazu do with his father on Kitamigita Beach?
(a) Race track maintenance.
(b) Sold watches.
(c) Sold newspapers.
(d) Harvested clams.

14. How much education did Kazu complete before going to work to help support his family?
(a) Middle school.
(b) Elementary school.
(c) Some college.
(d) High school.

15. Who lent Kazu his mourning clothes, which Setsuko gave him on the day of Koichi's funeral?
(a) Kazu's father.
(b) The head of the neighborhood association.
(c) Kazu's son-in-law.
(d) Kazu's boss.

Short Answer Questions

1. How was Kazu's behavior at Koichi's funeral different from his mother and daughters?

2. What is Kazu's wife's name?

3. What does the homeless man tell the homeless woman he will do if he wins 5,000 on the horse race?

4. What did the priest tell Setsuko people should do when someone dies rather than mourning them?

5. What unusual fact do readers learn about the narrator at the start of the story?

(see the answer keys)

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