Through the Tunnel/The Seventh Man

In “Through the Tunnel,” which choice best describes Jerry’s feelings when he first encounters the boys diving from the rocks?

• A. He seeks their friendship at first but then grows tired of their foolish antics.

• B. He is suspicious of their actions until he realizes they are swimming through a tunnel.

• C. He is excited to meet them but then grows angry when they forbid him from joining them.

• D. He is eager for them to acknowledge him but then feels ashamed when he fails to impress them.

In “Through the Tunnel,” what is the most important effect of the author's description of Jerry’s panic when the boys do not quickly come up from underwater?

• A. It emphasizes the superior swimming ability of the boys.

• B. It shows how quickly Jerry jumps to conclusions and panics.

• C. It shows the difficulty of getting help if something goes wrong.

• D. It emphasizes the danger involved in swimming through the tunnel.

The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

Part A

What does the boy’s conversation with his mother at the end of “Through the Tunnel” most clearly show about their relationship?

• A. The mother’s thoughtful attention to the boy emphasizes how close they have grown.

• B. The boy’s cooperation and understanding emphasizes how close they have grown.

• C. The boy’s silence about his adventure emphasizes the distance between them.

• D. The mother’s steady anxiety emphasizes her inability to understand her son.

Part B

Which excerpt from the text best supports the answer to Part A?

• A. “Have a nice morning?” she asked, laying her hand on his warm brown shoulder a moment. “Oh, yes, thank you,” he said.

• B. He was strained; his eyes were glazed looking. She was worried. And then she said to herself, Oh, don’t fuss! Nothing can happen.

• C. “Mummy,” he said, “I can stay underwater for two minutes—three minutes, at least.” It came bursting out of him.

• D. She was ready for a battle of wills, but he gave in at once. It was no longer of the least importance to go to the bay.

Read the following passage from “Through the Tunnel.”


That day and the next, Jerry exercised his lungs as if everything, the whole of his life, all that he would become, depended upon it. Again his nose bled at night, and his mother insisted on his coming with her the next day. It was a torment to him to waste a day of his careful self-training, but he stayed with her on the other beach, which now seemed a place for small children, a place where his mother might lie safe in the sun. It was not his beach.

Which words in the passage indicate that the story has a linear plot structure?

• A. that day and the next, at night, the next day

• B. the whole of his life, all that he would become

• C. to waste a day, stayed with her on the beach

• D. none of the above

Reread the excerpt of paragraph 39:  

A hundred and fifteen, a hundred and fifteen pounded through his head, and he feebly clutched at rocks in the dark, pulling himself forward leaving the brief space of sunlit water behind. 

What does the word “feebly” most closely mean as it is used in paragraph 39?

• Aggressively

• Annoyingly

• Suspiciously

• Weakly

Reread the excerpt of paragraph 1:  

He was very familiar with that anxious, apologetic smile. Contrition sent him running after her. 

What does the word “contrition” most closely mean as it is used in paragraph 1?

• Spontaneous

• Guilt

• Glee

• Rumor

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

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

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

• C. Studying K.’s art, he realizes that K. would not have minded dying in the wave.

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

Part A What does the giant wave most clearly represent to the seventh man?

• A. It represents death, which causes hatred among people.

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

• C. It represents our fears, which keep us from doing what we should.

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

Part B Which passage from the text most clearly supports the answer to Part A?

• A. 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.

• B. But it was too late. A wave like a huge snake with its head held high, poised to strike, was racing toward the shore. I had never seen anything like it before.

• C. In the tip of the [second] wave, as if enclosed in some kind of transparent capsule, floated K.’s body, reclining on its side. But that’s not all. K. was looking straight at me, smiling.

• D. Most of [K.’s pictures] were landscapes, pictures of the familiar stretch of ocean and sand beach and pine woods and the town, and all done with that special clarity and coloration I knew so well from K.’s hand.