How to resume list numbering (enumerated lists) with multicols environments

Question

This question is related to "How to interrupt-resume a list in latex". I am making an exam for my students and I want to use the multicols environment for various portions of the test.

• The problem is, when I put the \begin{enumerate}[resume] inside the \begin{multicols}{2} environment, the list numbering does not properly resume.

Outside the multicols environment, the list resumes fine as in source provided above.

See example code:

\documentclass[10pt]{article}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\usepackage{xcolor}
\usepackage{setspace}
\usepackage{enumitem}
\usepackage{multicol}

%SET MARGINS (AND PAGE DIMENSIONS)
\usepackage[includeheadfoot,head=30pt,foot=30pt,top=1cm,bottom=1cm,left=1cm,right=1cm]{geometry}




%MULTIPLE COLUMNS
\usepackage{multicol}


%CUSTOM COMMANDS FOR INSTRUCTIONS, QUESTIONS, ANSWERS
\newcommand{\instructions}[1]{%
\colorbox{gray!20}{
\noindent\par
\noindent\makebox[\textwidth][l]{%
\begin{minipage}[t]{\linewidth}%1
  %\centering
  #1
\end{minipage}}
}}%
\newcommand{\question}[1]{\item #1}
%\newcommand{\answer}[1]{\textcolor{black}{\textbf{\small(Answer: #1)}}}%SHOW ANSWERS
\newcommand{\answer}[1]{\\\rule{4cm}{0.1pt}}%HIDE ANSWERS, BUT UNDERLINE
\newcommand{\fillin}[1]{\rule{4cm}{0.1pt}}



%CUSTOMIZE SECTIONS
\usepackage[]{titlesec}

\titleformat{name=\section}[block]
  {\Large\bfseries\sffamily}
  {}
  {0pt}
  {\colorsection}
\titlespacing*{\section}{0pt}{\baselineskip}{\baselineskip}
\renewcommand{\thesection}{\Alph{section}}
\newcommand{\colorsection}[1]{%
  \colorbox{black}{\parbox[][1cm][b]{\dimexpr.3\textwidth-2\fboxsep}{\color{white}Part \thesection: \ #1}}}


%CUSTOM COLUMNS
\setlength{\columnsep}{1.5cm}% Column separation of text
 \parindent=0pt 
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%      BEGIN DOCUMENT
\begin{document}

\instructions{Fill in the blank}
\begin{multicols}{2}
\begin{enumerate}
\question{Do you prefer the modern \fillin{Ballet} to the classical.}
\question{There is a useful \fillin{bibliography} at the end of each chapter.}
\question{The photograph was \fillin{blurred} and it was hard to recognize him at first.}
\question{They \fillin{bowdlerized} the film by cutting out all the nude scenes.}
\end{enumerate}
\end{multicols}

\instructions{Write the word that matches the definition provided.}
\begin{multicols}{2}
\begin{enumerate}[resume]
\question{a long piece of cloth, often stretched between two poles, with a sign on it, usually carried by people taking part in a march.} \answer{banner}
\question{an important or exiting news story that is printed in one newspaper before any of the others know about it.} \answer{bathos}
\question{a file for holding papers, in which metal rings go through the holes in the edges of the pages, holding them in place.} \answer{binder / ring-binder}
\question{to give somebody all of the necessary information about a situation.} \answer{brief}
\question{the use of harsh-sounding words or phrases or a dicordant combination of sounds in music.}\answer{cacophony}% (opposite of euphony)
\question{insincere, specious language calculated to give the impression of piety and religious ferver. in critical writing the term is also used to signify the special language and phraseology  characteristic of a profession or art.}\answer{cant}
\question{The conclusion of a play, particularly a tragedy; It is the final stage in the falling action, ending the dramatic conflict, winding up the plot and consisting of the actions that result from the climax.}\answer{catastrophe}
\question{someone who likes films very much and considers them to be a form of art, not just entertainment.}\answer{cinephile}
\end{enumerate}
\end{multicols}


\end{document}

Answer 1

The correct way to do it is to use the "series" option:

\begin{multicols}{2}
\begin{enumerate}[series=qa]
\question{Do you prefer the modern \fillin{Ballet} to the classical.}
\question{There is a useful \fillin{bibliography} at the end of each chapter.}
\question{The photograph was \fillin{blurred} and it was hard to recognize him at first.}
\question{They \fillin{bowdlerized} the film by cutting out all the nude scenes.}
\end{enumerate}
\end{multicols}

\instructions{Write the word that matches the definition provided.}
\begin{multicols}{2}
\begin{enumerate}[resume*=qa]
\question{a long piece of cloth, often stretched between two poles, with a sign on it, usually carried by people taking part in a march.} \answer{banner}
\question{an important or exiting news story that is printed in one newspaper before any of the others know about it.} \answer{bathos}
\question{a file for holding papers, in which metal rings go through the holes in the edges of the pages, holding them in place.} \answer{binder / ring-binder}
\question{to give somebody all of the necessary information about a situation.} \answer{brief}
\question{the use of harsh-sounding words or phrases or a dicordant combination of sounds in music.}\answer{cacophony}% (opposite of euphony)
\question{insincere, specious language calculated to give the impression of piety and religious ferver. in critical writing the term is also used to signify the special language and phraseology  characteristic of a profession or art.}\answer{cant}
\question{The conclusion of a play, particularly a tragedy; It is the final stage in the falling action, ending the dramatic conflict, winding up the plot and consisting of the actions that result from the climax.}\answer{catastrophe}
\question{someone who likes films very much and considers them to be a form of art, not just entertainment.}\answer{cinephile}
\end{enumerate}
\end{multicols}

In the sake of keeping the logical structure, you can define your own environment:

The following is the original answer and it possibly mal-behaving

However, it works with enumitem ver 2.x.

You need to modify the macro \enit@setresumekeys to do one declaration globally. Put this into your preamble after \usepackage{enumitem}:

\makeatletter
\def\enit@setresumekeys #1#2#3{%
  \enit@toks \expandafter {\enit@savekeys }%
  \xdef \enit@afterlist {#2\def \enit@noexcs {enit@resumekeys@#1}{\the\enit@toks }%
    \ifnum \enit@type =\z@ #3\gdef \enit@noexcs
      {enit@resume@#1}{\csname c@\@listctr \endcsname \the \csname c@\@listctr \endcsname }%
    \fi
  }%
}
\makeatother

In the original definiton of this macro, there's \def \enit@noexcs.

The full example:

\documentclass[10pt]{article}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\usepackage{xcolor}
\usepackage{setspace}
\usepackage{enumitem}
\usepackage{multicol}

\makeatletter
\def\enit@setresumekeys #1#2#3{%
  \enit@toks \expandafter {\enit@savekeys }%
  \xdef \enit@afterlist {#2\def \enit@noexcs {enit@resumekeys@#1}{\the\enit@toks }%
    \ifnum \enit@type =\z@ #3\gdef \enit@noexcs
    {enit@resume@#1}{\csname c@\@listctr \endcsname \the \csname c@\@listctr \endcsname }%
    \fi
  }%
}
\makeatother

%SET MARGINS (AND PAGE DIMENSIONS)
\usepackage[includeheadfoot,head=30pt,foot=30pt,top=1cm,bottom=1cm,left=1cm,right=1cm]{geometry}




%MULTIPLE COLUMNS
\usepackage{multicol}


%CUSTOM COMMANDS FOR INSTRUCTIONS, QUESTIONS, ANSWERS
\newcommand{\instructions}[1]{%
\colorbox{gray!20}{%
\makebox[\textwidth][l]{%
\begin{minipage}[t]{\linewidth}%1
  %\centering
  #1
\end{minipage}}%
}}%
\makeatletter
\newcommand{\question}[1]{\item #1}
%\newcommand{\answer}[1]{\textcolor{black}{\textbf{\small(Answer: #1)}}}%SHOW ANSWERS
\newcommand{\answer}[1]{\\\rule{4cm}{0.1pt}}%HIDE ANSWERS, BUT UNDERLINE
\newcommand{\fillin}[1]{\rule{4cm}{0.1pt}}



%CUSTOMIZE SECTIONS
\usepackage[]{titlesec}

\titleformat{name=\section}[block]
  {\Large\bfseries\sffamily}
  {}
  {0pt}
  {\colorsection}
\titlespacing*{\section}{0pt}{\baselineskip}{\baselineskip}
\renewcommand{\thesection}{\Alph{section}}
\newcommand{\colorsection}[1]{%
  \colorbox{black}{\parbox[][1cm][b]{\dimexpr.3\textwidth-2\fboxsep}{\color{white}Part \thesection: \ #1}}}


%CUSTOM COLUMNS
\setlength{\columnsep}{1.5cm}% Column separation of text
 \parindent=0pt 
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%      BEGIN DOCUMENT
\begin{document}

\instructions{Fill in the blank}
\begin{multicols}{2}
\begin{enumerate}[resume]
\question{Do you prefer the modern \fillin{Ballet} to the classical.}
\question{There is a useful \fillin{bibliography} at the end of each chapter.}
\question{The photograph was \fillin{blurred} and it was hard to recognize him at first.}
\question{They \fillin{bowdlerized} the film by cutting out all the nude scenes.}
\end{enumerate}
\end{multicols}

\instructions{Write the word that matches the definition provided.}
\begin{multicols}{2}
\begin{enumerate}[resume]
\question{a long piece of cloth, often stretched between two poles, with a sign on it, usually carried by people taking part in a march.} \answer{banner}
\question{an important or exiting news story that is printed in one newspaper before any of the others know about it.} \answer{bathos}
\question{a file for holding papers, in which metal rings go through the holes in the edges of the pages, holding them in place.} \answer{binder / ring-binder}
\question{to give somebody all of the necessary information about a situation.} \answer{brief}
\question{the use of harsh-sounding words or phrases or a dicordant combination of sounds in music.}\answer{cacophony}% (opposite of euphony)
\question{insincere, specious language calculated to give the impression of piety and religious ferver. in critical writing the term is also used to signify the special language and phraseology  characteristic of a profession or art.}\answer{cant}
\question{The conclusion of a play, particularly a tragedy; It is the final stage in the falling action, ending the dramatic conflict, winding up the plot and consisting of the actions that result from the climax.}\answer{catastrophe}
\question{someone who likes films very much and considers them to be a form of art, not just entertainment.}\answer{cinephile}
\end{enumerate}
\end{multicols}


\end{document}

As David pointed out in the chat, the sequence \noindent\par\noindent has no effect inside a horizontal box (which \colorbox is). As well, I added two %s inside the definition of \instructions, to remove two spurious spaces it produced.