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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 is Nathaniel's job in the narrative present?
(a) He works on the floor of the New York Stock exchange.
(b) He works as a building manager for Matsumoto.
(c) He works in the New York subway's architecture department.
(d) He is a bartender at a bar near Matsumoto's loft.

2. What does Nathaniel say that ceremonial occasions remind us about?
(a) That time only moves in one direction.
(b) That life is unpredictable.
(c) That we should love one another.
(d) That ideas are bigger than any one person.

3. Of all of the things that Nathaniel can see from Matsumoto's loft, which is most important to him?
(a) The Statue of Liberty.
(b) The World Trade Center.
(c) The Chrysler Building.
(d) The Empire State Building.

4. After Charlie became ill, what did Lucien feel was happening to the world?
(a) It was all turning into paper.
(b) It was shattering like broken glass.
(c) It was burning down around him.
(d) It was melting away into nothing.

5. To whom does Nathaniel imagine telling the story of the Y2K computer issue?
(a) His children.
(b) His grandchildren.
(c) His readers.
(d) A historian.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of the possible consequences of a global computer failure that Nathaniel mentions could be considered foreshadowing?

2. Which character works for Itami Systems?

3. What made tears come into Nathaniel's eyes the first time he saw Matsumoto's loft?

4. What ridiculous detail does Nathaniel give in his description of the last months of 1999?

5. How are Nathaniel and Lucien related?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Nathaniel's friends come to live with him?

2. How does the "View" referred to in the third section of the story change in its significance for Nathaniel between his arrival in New York and the narrative present?

3. What phrase makes Lucien think about the frog and the boiling water, and why?

4. What is the "View" that the third section of the story is titled for, and why is it special?

5. What is the meaning of the title of the section of the story called "Innocence"?

6. Explain the non-event that "Nathaniel Recalls the Miracle" is centered on.

7. Describe Rose and Issac.

8. What is the "Reunion" referred to in the title of the sixth section of the story?

9. Where are Nathaniel and his friends, in the narrative present, and what are they doing?

10. What qualities does Nathaniel have that worry his parents?

(see the answer keys)

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