Alejandro Zambra - Multiple Choice

B) 4–5 — 1–2 — 3

C) 3–4 — 5–1 — 2

D) 2–3 — 4–5 — 1

E) 1–2 — 3–4 — 5

31. Relatives

1. You group them into two lists: the ones you love and the ones you don’t.

2. You group them into two lists: the ones who shouldn’t be alive and the ones who shouldn’t be dead.

3. You group them according to the degree of trust they inspired in you as a child.

4. For a moment you think you discover something important, something that has been weighing on you for years.

5. You group them into two lists: the living and the dead.

A) 1–3 — 4–5 — 2

B) 5–2 — 1–3 — 4

C) 1–3 — 5–2 — 4

D) 3–4 — 5–2 — 1

E) 1–2 — 3–4 — 5

32. A kick in the balls

1. You think of all the people, living or dead, near or far, men or women, from your country or abroad, who have reason to kick you in the balls.

2. You wonder if you deserve a kick in the balls.

3. You wonder if you deserve to be hated. You wonder if anyone really hates you.

4. You wonder if you hate anyone. You wonder if you hate the people who hate you.

5. Insomnia wounds and accompanies you.

A) 1–1 — 1–1 — 1

B) 2–2 — 2–2 — 2

C) 3–3 — 3–3 — 3

D) 4–4 — 4–4 — 4

E) 5–5 — 5–5 — 5

33. Rhyme

1. You search for words that rhyme with your first name.

2. You search for words that rhyme with your last name.

3. Your first and last names do not rhyme, but you search for words that rhyme with both your first and last names.

4. You search for words that don’t rhyme with either your first name or your last name, or with anything else.

5. You are not crazy.

A) 5–1 — 2–3 — 4

B) 5–4 — 3–2 — 1

C) 1–2 — 3–4 — 5

D) 1–5 — 2–3 — 4

E) 1–2 — 3 — 4

34. First person

1. You believe the only solution is to keep your mouth shut.

2. You never say I .

3. Thanks to several bottles of wine, you learn to say I.

4. You never say we .

5. Thanks to a bottle of pisco, you learn to say we .

6. You are rehabilitated.

A) 1–2 — 3–4 — 5 — 6

B) 1–2 — 4–3 — 5 — 6

C) 2–4 — 1–3 — 5 — 6

D) 4–5 — 6–2 — 3 — 1

E) 2–3 — 6–4 — 5 — 1

35. Swimming

1. The scale says 92.1 kilos. You tune the radio to 92.1 FM. You loathe this station, every program on it. You have to lose weight.

2. You’re at the public pool. Sitting on the edge with your feet in the water, you watch some kids who are learning how to swim. The teacher is emphatic, her voice does not sound sweet. The children look very serious.

3. When you were a kid, you were in love with silence. Later, you wanted words to flood you, sink you. But you already knew how to swim, no one had to teach you. They just threw us into the water, you think, and like dogs, we learned to swim right away.

4. Or maybe they taught you in school. Maybe that was the only thing they taught you. Not to swim, but to move your arms and legs. And to hold your breath for hours.

5. Everyone knows that swimming is the best exercise. You’re going to be OK, you think to yourself, you’re going to lose weight. You dive into the cold water. Swimming strengthens your muscles and your memory.

A) 1–2 — 3–4 — 5

B) 1–2 — 3–4 — 5

C) 1–2 — 3–4 — 5

D) 1–2 — 3–4 — 5

E) 1–2 — 3–4 — 5

36. Scars

1. You think about how the shortest distance between two points is the length of a scar.

2. You think: the introduction is the father, the climax is the son, and the resolution is the holy spirit.

3. You read books that are much stranger than the books you would write if you wrote.

4. You think, as if it were a discovery, that the last point in the line of time is the present.

5. You try to go from the general to the specific, even if the general is General Pinochet.

6. You try to go from the abstract to the concrete.

7. The abstract is the pain of others.

8. The concrete is the pain of others colliding with your body until you are completely invaded.

9. The concrete is something that can only grow.

10. Something like a tumor, or the opposite of a tumor: a child.

11. In your case, it’s a tumor.

A) 1–2 — 3–4 — 5–6 — 7–8 — 9 — 10 — 11

B) 1–2 — 3–4 — 5–6 — 7–8 — 9 — 10 — 11

C) 1–2 — 3–4 — 5–6 — 7–8 — 9 — 10 — 11

D) 1–2 — 3–4 — 5–6 — 7–8 — 9 — 10 — 11

E) 1–2 — 3–4 — 5–6 — 7–8 — 9 — 10 — 11

In exercises 37 through 54, complete the sentence using the appropriate elements. Mark the answer that best fits the sentence.

37. the thousand amendments they’ve made to it, the Chilean Constitution of 1980 is a piece of shit.

A) After

B) Due to

C) In spite of

D) Thanks to

E) Notwithstanding

38. I often used to lie, I wore dark glasses.

A) but

B) though

C) so

D) but even so,

E) but only when

39. A lot of people want me dead, I’m not ill.

A)

but

that

B)

though

actually

C)

even though

gravely

D)

yet

even

E)

though

yet

40. Students go to university to, not to.

A)

study

think

B)

study

protest

C)

drink

think

D)

sleep

die

E)

buy

window-shop

41. And if they have any left, that’s what for.

A)

energy

sports are

B)

hope

reality is

C)

illusions

the void is

D)

dissent

the cops are

E)

neurons

crack cocaine is

42. What is impossible for is possible for.

A)

men

God

B)

men

women

C)

the right

the left

D)

Rebecca

Becky

E)

the poor

the rich

43. What is impossible for is possible for.

A)

my mom

my dad

B)

Pisces

Leo

C)

me

you

D)

McCartney

Lennon

E)

tomorrow

the day after tomorrow

44. If the within you grows, how deep is your!

A)

light

dark

darkness

B)

confusion

light

flashlight

C)

candor

lustful

schlong

D)

love

furious

divorce

E)

humor

bitter

book

45. If someone strikes you on the right, offer him the other as well.

A) cheek

B) week

C) wing

D) chord

E) time

46. I want to gather these words together, nothing makes any sense.

A) though

B) so that

C) even if

D) but

E) until

47. I seek words that appear in books.

A) sometimes

B) never

C) always

D) only

E) don’t even

48. You are not, you are not, you are not.

A)

good

bad

wrong

B)

wrong

right

here

C)

here

there

gone

D)

gone

around

mine

E)

mine

mine

mine

49. Last night I dreamed you were and I was and we were together.

A)

here

here

lying