The Seventh Man

In “The Seventh Man,” which statement best summarizes what happens in the weeks following K.’s death?

• He falls ill and has nightmares.

• He moves to Nagano.

• He starts attending a different school.

• He spends hours studying K.’s artwork.

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Which excerpt from “The Seventh Man” best explains why the seventh man felt responsible for K.’s death?

• I had always loved and protected K. as if he had been my own little brother.

• He might have been so absorbed in whatever it was he had found that my call made no impression on him.

• Or possibly I had not yelled as loudly as I had thought. I do recall that my voice sounded strange to me.…

• I probably could have run over and dragged him out of the reach of the wave.…

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In “The Seventh Man,” why does the seventh man’s view of the past begin to change?

• Studying K.’s art, he sees K. was gentle and realizes that his last look was not one of hatred.

• After his father dies, he returns home and realizes that he did not need to move to Nagano.

• Studying K.’s art, he realizes that K. was gentle and did not mind dying in the wave.

• After his father dies, he realizes that it was the second wave, not the first, that killed K.

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In “The Seventh Man,” what is the most important discovery that the seventh man makes when he returns to his hometown?

• He realizes that K. was a gentle and artistic soul.

• He learns that his father has died of cancer.

• He sees that the town remains the same as when he was a boy.

• He realizes that the dark shadow of K.’s death has left him.

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CCSS.RL.9-10.1

Which is the most likely reaction a person might have to a desperate situation?

• a feeling of boredom

• a desire for sleep

• a feeling of panic

• a desire to learn

In which circumstances is a person most likely to be entranced?

• when watching a beautiful sunset

• when hearing a window break in a storm

• when looking for a lost wallet

• when saying goodbye to good friends

If a person experiences profound sorrow, which of the following must be true?

• The person’s feeling of sorrow will last briefly.

• The person’s feeling of sorrow is deep and intense.

• The person appears to feel sorrow but does not really.

• The person thinks long and hard about his or her feelings.

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What does the giant wave most clearly represent to the narrator?

• It represents death, which causes hatred among people.

• It represents art, which can capture the spirit of nature.

• It represents our fears, which hurt us if we turn away from them.

• It represents nature, which is both beautiful and awe-inspiring.

Answer explanation

A passage that most clearly supports this is, "I knew that the wave was coming, and K. didn’t know. As clearly as I knew what I ought to be doing, I found myself running the other way. . . . What made me do this, I’m sure, was fear. . . ."

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When the narrator begins to tell his story, he introduces it in this way:

“In my case, it was a wave,” he said. “There is no way for me to tell, of course, what it will be for each of you. But in my case it just happened to take the form of a gigantic wave. It presented itself to me all of a sudden one day without warning. And it was devastating.”

What does the narrator’s comment most clearly imply? To help you choose your answer, consider the events of the story.

• He believes that in life, every individual must confront fear in some form or another.

• He believes that his life was changed by a disaster in a way that others cannot understand.

• He believes that he has succeeded despite not knowing what will happen to others.

• He believes that in life, everyone will face the risk of a giant wave caused by a storm.

Answer explanation

The part of the narrator's comment that most clearly supports the answer is, “There is no way for me to tell … what it will be for each of you.”

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At the end of the story, the narrator says that if we “turn our backs on” fear, “we take the most precious thing inside us and surrender it to something else.” What does he most likely mean by these statements?

• If we avoid our fear, we will lose our lives to a natural force such as a storm.

• If we avoid our fear, then we give the fear power over ourselves and lose our freedom.

• If we do not respect our fear, then we will need to surrender to our enemies.

• If we do not respect our fear, then others will surrender their respect for us.

Answer explanation

"The Seventh Man" illustrates this statement in this way: Fear of the wave makes the seventh man run away instead of saving his friend.

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