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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What makes the snow-covered mountains especially impressive to the narrator?
(a) The lack of snow on the tops.
(b) The abundance of snow on the tops.
(c) The season.
(d) The weather.

2. What do the members of the party do before going to sleep on the winter night they are convinced will be their last?
(a) They begin screaming for help.
(b) They begin telling jokes.
(c) They begin crying.
(d) They begin criticizing each other.

3. How long does it take the narrator to pack his bags to accompany his brother on the trip?
(a) More than two hours.
(b) More than an hour.
(c) Less than an hour.
(d) Less than thirty minutes.

4. Who is the referee in the court case between Hyde and Morgan?
(a) The former governor of California.
(b) The former governor of Nevada.
(c) The former secretary of state of Nevada.
(d) The former secretary of state of California.

5. Where is Hebert C. Kimball from?
(a) Pennsylvania.
(b) Connecticut.
(c) New York.
(d) New Jersey.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does the desert wanderer react when he is prevented from telling the same story about Hank Monk?

2. When does the coach begin to move across the Great American Desert?

3. How do the other travelers react to Bemis' story about the buffalo that chased him?

4. Which area is rumored to be rich with silver?

5. Where are the vigilantes from that hang Slade?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the experience the narrator has in buying a horse in Carson City?

2. What is the myth of the Pony Express Riders?

3. What causes the narrator to work for a Quartz mill and how does his employment there end?

4. What is the weather like in Unionville and what does the narrator find there?

5. As stated in the Prefatory, what is Twain's intention in writing Roughing It?

6. What leads the narrator and his party to Esmeralda?

7. What is the Great American Desert like, and what is interesting about Carson Lake?

8. What is Roughing It about, according to the author?

9. What are Twain's views about the amount of information in the book, as he states in the Prefatory?

10. How does the narrator's party claim their mining areas along the mountains in Unionville, and what happens as they try to work in them?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 998 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample