Read Online Multiple Choice by Alejandro Zambra - Free Book Online Page B

left the house. And not long afterward your mother brought Cosmo to my apartment, which ended up being good because, like all children, some weekends you didn’t want to be with your dad, but your mother reminded you that you had to take care of Cosmo. You didn’t come to see me, you came to see Cosmo.
    __________
    Sometimes I think your mother and I should get together and ask your forgiveness. Or take ayahuasca and ask your forgiveness. But it would be better if they would invent, once and for all, that remote control, so you can fast-forward and rewind, so you can pause, so you can erase some scenes of the life we have given you. You can’t erase us, but maybe there are some erasable people: your sporadic stepmothers,most of your stepfathers, and your teachers. So you can erase all of the bad ones, you can erase everyone who has hurt you. And you can manipulate and distort and freeze the images of us, the ones who have hurt you but whom you can’t erase. So you can watch us in slow motion, or normal or sped up. Or maybe you won’t see us at all, but you’ll know we are there, dragging out ever longer the absurd film of life.
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Exercises:
    83.   The comparison between having a child and having a pet aims to show:
    I.  The contradictions of a generation that, under the pretext of a pessimistic view of the world, chose to have pets rather than children.
    II.  The importance of passing laws regarding responsible pet ownership.
    III.  The importance of passing laws regarding responsible child ownership.
    A)  I and III
    B)  I and II
    C)  I
    D)  II
    E)  III
    84.   A more or less good title for the text you have just read is:
    A)  “My Generation” (The Who)
    B)  “Generación de Mierda” (Los Prisioneros)
    C)  “I Wanna Be Your Dog” (the Stooges)
    D)  “Father and Son” (the Cat Stevens song that at one point says, “Look at me, I am old, but I’m happy,” but it doesn’t sound like he’s happy; in fact it’s the saddest moment of the whole song)
    E)  “They Fuck You Up, Your Mum and Dad” (Philip Larkin). Really, almost any line from that poem would work.
    85.   Ayahuasca is mentioned in the text to:
    A)  Give the narrative an ethnic touch.
    B)  There is no concrete reason to talk about ayahuasca. It’s a whim of the author.
    C)  Encourage drug abuse.
    D)  Empathize with young people who have maybe already tried marijuana, cocaine, and/or crack and are now debating between going the natural, organic route or turning to chemical shortcuts. At this crossroads, the text intends, wisely, to promote ayahuasca, which is the doorway to self-knowledge.
    E)  Ayahuasca is considered useful in the field of psychiatry, especially in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia. We can’t rule out that the author of this text could be suffering from one or more of these illnesses.
    86.   Which of the following characters in the story do you relate to?
    A)  None of them.
    B)  The son, obviously.
    C)  The father.
    D)  The father’s parents and the mother. But also the father a little, and the son. And that poor little puppy, Cosmo.
    E)  The mother, because I also got pregnant at that age, but I had an abortion. I regretted it so many times, and every time I think of it I get depressed. But after reading this story I think it may not have been such a bad decision.
    87.   Which of the following options is the best characterization of the father?
    A)  He is an honest and brave man, or maybe someone who, after making many mistakes, understands that it is necessary to be completely honest. He tries to tell his son the truth, and damn if it isn’t hard to tell the truth.
    B)  He is a pathetic man waiting to die.
    C)  He is a sensitive man, willing