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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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.

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

3. Which is NOT one of the qualities of rich people, as described by Mencken?
(a) Many buy public esteem.
(b) They engage in exciting, risky ventures.
(c) They are largely swindlers.
(d) They buy boring, unoriginal assets.

4. What is the BEST term to use for Mencken's characterization of American millionaires?
(a) Exciting.
(b) Aristocrats.
(c) Saints.
(d) Idiots.

5. In Chapter 23, Mencken attends a church service during the Scopes Monkey Trial. What is his impression of that service?
(a) He is outraged that they did not invite William Jennings Bryan.
(b) He is shocked by its barbarism.
(c) He is impressed with the sermon of the preacher.
(d) He is pleased by its sense of decorum.

6. What is Mencken's central critique for socialism?
(a) The U.S. refuses to embrace Bolshevik-style socialism, which is the only socialism which has worked.
(b) It is a noble idea, but it has not been instituted correctly.
(c) It is incompatible with the facts of history.
(d) It does not go far enough to redistribute wealth.

7. What point does Mencken make by bringing up an 84-year-old man he knew in Chapter 21?
(a) The older a person gets, the crankier they get.
(b) Age is nothing but a number.
(c) A man's innate constitution may determine longevity more than illness.
(d) Illness makes a person stronger.

8. Why does Mencken believe life on other planets is highly unlikely?
(a) Temperatures elsewhere than earth cannot sustain life.
(b) God only created life on Earth.
(c) There is a lack of carbon on most planets.
(d) There is too much methane on most planets.

9. What is Mencken's view of chiropractors?
(a) They are quack doctors.
(b) They are the newest members of a respected doctor aristocracy.
(c) He must study the subject further to render an opinion.
(d) He depends on them for his numerous back problems.

10. What BEST characterizes Mencken's view of the townspeople involved in the Scopes Monkey Trial?
(a) Backwoods hicks.
(b) Simple but endearing.
(c) Intelligent and probing.
(d) Secularists.

11. What do men become once they accumulate wealth?
(a) Stupider.
(b) More amorous.
(c) Stingier.
(d) Nicer.

12. What does Mencken believe is the proper focus of psychology?
(a) The origins of lying.
(b) The study of psychological differences between people from various trades or types.
(c) The study of physical deformity (such as injury) on the mind.
(d) The study of mob mentality.

13. What event does Mencken believe led to the European Renaissance?
(a) The Fall of Rome.
(b) The Black Plague.
(c) The invention of the printing press.
(d) The Rise of Charlemagne.

14. How do bad artists hide their shortcomings?
(a) By coming up with new formulas for art.
(b) Bad artists are unable to hide their shortcomings; they are always found out.
(c) By creating overblown interpretations of their art.
(d) By showing their art to only a select, friendly few.

15. Which is the "most democratic" of art forms according to Mencken?
(a) Sculpture.
(b) Drama.
(c) Poetry.
(d) Music.

Short Answer Questions

1. Mencken sees authors as divided into which two classes?

2. Why is music difficult as a trade?

3. What is the contemporary invention that Mencken likes most?

4. Why does Mencken criticize the American Medical Association?

5. What point does Mencken make in his discussion of Darwinian evolution?

(see the answer keys)

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