Character Relationships: Short Fiction Practice Test
•15 QuestionsIn the excerpt below, a father (Mr. Alvarez) visits his adult son Nico at Nico’s first apartment after Nico has dropped out of college without telling him.
Mr. Alvarez stood in the doorway as if the threshold were a rule. He held a plastic grocery bag with two oranges and a loaf of bread that had gone soft at one end.
“I brought you something,” he said.
Nico took the bag, then set it on the floor untouched. “You didn’t have to.”
Mr. Alvarez looked past him into the apartment: a mattress on the floor, a stack of plates still in cardboard. “You could have told me,” he said.
Nico’s shoulders rose. “I was going to.”
“When?” Mr. Alvarez asked, and the question was so quiet it sounded like it had been practiced.
Nico rubbed his thumb over a paint chip on the wall. “After I figured it out.”
Mr. Alvarez nodded once, the way he did at parent-teacher conferences when he was trying not to argue in English. “You always want to hand me the finished thing,” he said.
Nico’s eyes flashed. “Because when I hand you the unfinished thing, you fix it. Or you break it.”
Mr. Alvarez’s mouth tightened. He stepped inside at last, careful not to touch anything. “I don’t break things,” he said.
Nico laughed, a short sound. “No. You just tell me what they’re supposed to be.”
Mr. Alvarez looked at the mattress. “And what are you supposed to be now?”
Nico’s jaw worked. “I’m supposed to be tired,” he said.
Mr. Alvarez’s gaze lingered on Nico’s hands, the bitten nails. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small envelope.
“What’s that?” Nico asked.
Mr. Alvarez held it out, not quite offering it. “Your mother asked me to give you this if you needed it.”
Nico didn’t take it. “Money.”
“It’s not—” Mr. Alvarez began.
Nico cut in. “It’s a leash,” he said, and his voice went careful. “You just call it help so you can hold the other end.”
Mr. Alvarez’s eyes widened, then narrowed, as if he were trying to find the right word and couldn’t.
Which choice best interprets the relationship tension in “It’s a leash… you can hold the other end”?
In the excerpt below, a father (Mr. Alvarez) visits his adult son Nico at Nico’s first apartment after Nico has dropped out of college without telling him.
Mr. Alvarez stood in the doorway as if the threshold were a rule. He held a plastic grocery bag with two oranges and a loaf of bread that had gone soft at one end.
“I brought you something,” he said.
Nico took the bag, then set it on the floor untouched. “You didn’t have to.”
Mr. Alvarez looked past him into the apartment: a mattress on the floor, a stack of plates still in cardboard. “You could have told me,” he said.
Nico’s shoulders rose. “I was going to.”
“When?” Mr. Alvarez asked, and the question was so quiet it sounded like it had been practiced.
Nico rubbed his thumb over a paint chip on the wall. “After I figured it out.”
Mr. Alvarez nodded once, the way he did at parent-teacher conferences when he was trying not to argue in English. “You always want to hand me the finished thing,” he said.
Nico’s eyes flashed. “Because when I hand you the unfinished thing, you fix it. Or you break it.”
Mr. Alvarez’s mouth tightened. He stepped inside at last, careful not to touch anything. “I don’t break things,” he said.
Nico laughed, a short sound. “No. You just tell me what they’re supposed to be.”
Mr. Alvarez looked at the mattress. “And what are you supposed to be now?”
Nico’s jaw worked. “I’m supposed to be tired,” he said.
Mr. Alvarez’s gaze lingered on Nico’s hands, the bitten nails. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small envelope.
“What’s that?” Nico asked.
Mr. Alvarez held it out, not quite offering it. “Your mother asked me to give you this if you needed it.”
Nico didn’t take it. “Money.”
“It’s not—” Mr. Alvarez began.
Nico cut in. “It’s a leash,” he said, and his voice went careful. “You just call it help so you can hold the other end.”
Mr. Alvarez’s eyes widened, then narrowed, as if he were trying to find the right word and couldn’t.
Which choice best interprets the relationship tension in “It’s a leash… you can hold the other end”?