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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What point does Mencken make in his discussion of Darwinian evolution?
(a) Evolution is unable to explain most of human behavior.
(b) Evolution proves that religion is a farce.
(c) Progress among humans often moves too fast.
(d) Evolution is an unbelievably slow process.

2. What is Mencken's view of contemporary psychological science?
(a) The field is poorly funded, and suffers because of it.
(b) The field is complete quackery.
(c) The field is surprisingly neat and orderly, with little disagreement between schools..
(d) The field is in chaos, with widely conflicting views.

3. According to Mencken, how will "anyone who appreciates aural beauty" regard opera?
(a) Beautiful.
(b) Obnoxious.
(c) Absurd.
(d) Inspirational.

4. Which president did Charles Joseph Bonaparte work for?
(a) Warren G. Harding.
(b) Theodore Roosevelt.
(c) Woodrow Wilson.
(d) Grover Cleveland.

5. Why does Mencken praise doctors in Chapter 16?
(a) A professional class like doctors can create a new American aristocracy.
(b) They are charlatans, but they know how to play the game.
(c) They do a great deal of good for poor people.
(d) They have wonderful gadgets that are endlessly fascinating.

6. What was Roosevelt's team of political advisers popularly called?
(a) Roosevelt's Riveters.
(b) The Brain Trust.
(c) The Brooklyn Thirteen.
(d) The Washington Eggheads.

7. What is NOT one of the qualities of being a teacher according to Mencken?
(a) Wearing oneself out to achieve the impossible.
(b) Having no respect.
(c) Being underpaid.
(d) Being able to breeze through lessons and cut corners.

8. Who wrote the Viennese Waltz?
(a) Strauss.
(b) Beethoven.
(c) Schubert.
(d) Brahms.

9. What does Mencken believe about physical punishment in education?
(a) He believes only parents should be called upon to physically discipline their children.
(b) He believes physical punishment should have a regular place in the schedule of a school day.
(c) He believes physical punishment should be an option given to teachers.
(d) He believes there is no place for physical punishment in school.

10. Which is NOT one of the negative effects Mencken mentions in regards to Prohibition?
(a) Only the poor have access to alcohol.
(b) More expensive alcohol.
(c) Proliferation of bootleggers.
(d) Undermining of state revenues.

11. Who was the father of the American short story?
(a) Ralph Waldo Emerson.
(b) Theodore Dreiser.
(c) Hamlin Garland.
(d) Edgar Allan Poe.

12. What does Mencken say about the nature of scientific hypotheses?
(a) He is highly skeptical of their value.
(b) We need more of them, and they are valuable.
(c) He believes they should be lesser in number, and less fanciful.
(d) Hypotheses are almost always wrong, as men are poor at guesswork.

13. Which contemporary author does Mencken compare to Edgar Allan Poe because of his taste for the macabre?
(a) Hamlin Garland.
(b) Ring Lardner.
(c) Ambrose Bierce.
(d) James Huneker.

14. Who was the attorney on the side of the prosecution in the Scopes Monkey Trial?
(a) Theodore Veblen.
(b) Andrew Still.
(c) Clarence Darrow.
(d) William Jennings Bryan.

15. Mencken sees authors as divided into which two classes?
(a) English and Continental.
(b) American and Foreign.
(c) Dramatic and Comedic.
(d) Sly and Overt.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which is NOT one of the qualities of rich people, as described by Mencken?

2. Who does Mencken call "the national ideal of a literary character"?

3. Which is NOT one of the benefits Mencken sees should America put into place his ideas in "Utopian Flights"?

4. Sister Aimee was an evangelist in what branch of Christian religion?

5. Who does Mencken consider the greatest classical composer?

(see the answer keys)

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