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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What aspect of Lincoln's historical persona does Mencken doubt, or at least question?
(a) His pragmatic, practical approach to political problems.
(b) His reputation for being a great orator.
(c) His adherence to Christianity.
(d) His status as an outsider and a "dark horse."

2. What is Mencken's opinion about the variety of political systems?
(a) Different political systems accomplish vastly different things.
(b) Dictatorship is preferable to oligarchy.
(c) All governments accomplish the same thing and there are very little differences.
(d) Aristocracy is by far the worst form of government.

3. How would George Washington fare in today's political climate?
(a) He would be bewildered by modern methods and unable to perform his duties.
(b) He would have no chance of winning any political office.
(c) He would easily be elected president.
(d) He would be arrested for corruption.

4. What kind of men does a democracy produce?
(a) Stupid men who can barely master the multiplication tables.
(b) Depressing men full of nostalgia.
(c) Energetic men with too much time on their hands.
(d) Noble, confident men who do not envy others.

5. How does Mencken characterize a woman's level of civility?
(a) Women have created their own civilization quite distinct from men.
(b) Women are much more civilized than men.
(c) Women are relatively uncivilized.
(d) Women do not submit to civilization and must be coerced.

6. Per Chapter 2, what kind of person has Mencken never met?
(a) A moral man that was honorable.
(b) An altruist who actually did good for anybody.
(c) A metaphysician who was intellectually curious.
(d) A quack with a conscience.

7. In Chapter 7, Mencken notes that there are too few books written about what subject?
(a) Women.
(b) Taxes.
(c) Death.
(d) True crime.

8. What is Mencken's belief about the concept of sin?
(a) Sin is the reason why children are born.
(b) Sin is just another word for good deed; it's all relative.
(c) Sin is real, and exists all around us.
(d) Sin is a made-up term, and does not really exist.

9. What is the chief problem with political theorists?
(a) They attempt to dignify the political order of their day.
(b) They are too antagonistic to the current political system.
(c) They hate politics in general.
(d) They have little sense of history.

10. What subject does Mencken begin his volume with?
(a) The automobile.
(b) The horrors of the carnival.
(c) The nature of man.
(d) The mysteries of women.

11. What does the "metaphysical" type of person inevitably do?
(a) Begs for spare change.
(b) Tips their hat for no reason.
(c) Demands to know what you mean, even when it is obvious.
(d) Becomes paralyzed with fear over the enormity of the universe.

12. What kind of promises do politicians make?
(a) Ones they have polled voters about.
(b) Ones they can fulfill.
(c) Ones they cannot deliver.
(d) Ones they have no intention of fulfilling.

13. What kind of men has history been written by, to date?
(a) Third-rate, inferior men.
(b) Noble men of purpose.
(c) The most intelligent men, and this is why history cannot be understood by most.
(d) Men more interested in power than factual accuracy.

14. How intelligent are women according to Mencken?
(a) They pretend to be dumb, but are in fact quite intelligent.
(b) They pretend to be intelligent, but deep down are quite stupid.
(c) They are usually much more intelligent than men.
(d) They are completely stupid in thought and deed.

15. What is the "altruist" motivated by?
(a) Out and out greed.
(b) Being uncomfortable with unhappy people around him or her.
(c) A divine inspiration.
(d) A selfish sense of self-worth.

Short Answer Questions

1. How has Mencken organized his book?

2. What is Mencken's opinion of the belief that man has a soul, according to Chapter 1?

3. Why might "reflective and skeptical men" refrain from suicide?

4. Who derives several advantages from marriage?

5. Which Southern state does Mencken particularly mourn in his obituary on the American South?

(see the answer keys)

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