diff --git a/test/parallel.rb b/test/parallel.rb
index 8fcfe88c6..58085a6c9 100644
--- a/test/parallel.rb
+++ b/test/parallel.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 require 'rake'
 Rake.application.num_threads = 8
+puts "- Testing multi-threaded"
 
diff --git a/test/single_threaded.rb b/test/single_threaded.rb
index b2673f951..7b93a1356 100644
--- a/test/single_threaded.rb
+++ b/test/single_threaded.rb
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 require 'rake'
 Rake.application.num_threads = 1
+puts "- Testing single-threaded"
diff --git a/test/test_parallel.rb b/test/test_parallel.rb
index 29d71301c..5160ea322 100644
--- a/test/test_parallel.rb
+++ b/test/test_parallel.rb
@@ -2,9 +2,28 @@
 require 'rbconfig'
 require 'test/unit'
 
+PARALLEL_TEST_MESSAGE = <<'EOS'
+
+
+Task graph for sample parallel execution:
+
+                default
+                  / \
+                 /   \
+                a     b
+               / \
+              /   \
+             x     y
+
+EOS
+      
 if Rake.application.num_threads > 1
   class TestSimpleParallel < Test::Unit::TestCase
-    def test_1
+    def setup
+      puts PARALLEL_TEST_MESSAGE
+    end
+
+    def test_parallel
       here = File.dirname(__FILE__)
       rake = File.expand_path("#{here}/../bin/rake")
 
@@ -18,15 +37,17 @@ def test_1
           lib
         end
       }.call
-      
+
       [
-       "Rakefile.simple",
-       "Rakefile.seq",
-      ].each { |file|
+       ["Rakefile.simple", true],
+       ["Rakefile.seq", false],
+      ].each { |file, disp|
         (1..5).each { |n|
-          args = [rake, "--threads", n.to_s, "-f", "test/#{file}"]
-          puts("\n" + "-"*40)
-          puts(args.join(" "))
+          args = [rake, "--threads", n.to_s, "-s", "-f", "test/#{file}"]
+          if disp
+            puts "\nvisual check: #{n} thread#{n > 1 ? 's' : ''}"
+            puts args.join(" ")
+          end
           assert(ruby(*args))
         }
       }