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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 is the surprising question Francisco poses to Dagny at the wedding reception?
(a) Did you get permission to use John Galt's name on your new railroad line?
(b) Don't you want to know now: Who is John Galt?
(c) Don't you want to tell Lillian about your affair with her husband?
(d) Have you met John Galt?

2. What news does James Taggart receive that Dagny had predicted?
(a) The Mexican line is out of coal and must burn wood to run the trains.
(b) Rearden refusus to supply metal for any railroad rails.
(c) The Mexican Government has nationalized the San Sebastian Mine and the Taggart railroad line
(d) The US government is nationalizing all industry.

3. What is Mouch's new job after he resigns as Rearden's Washington lobbyist?
(a) Secretary of the Interior
(b) Assistant Editor of
(c) Vice President of Taggart Transcontinental
(d) Assistant Coordinator of the Bureau of Economic Planning and National Resources

4. What is so revolutionary about the motor that never went into production?
(a) It runs on water.
(b) It draws its energy from static electricity in the atmosphere.
(c) It requires a totally new factory to build.
(d) It produces more power than regular engines.

5. What was Francisco's nickname for Dagny when they were children?
(a) Pest
(b) Slug
(c) Mouse
(d) Daggy

Short Answer Questions

1. When Dagny stops at a newsstand buy cigarettes, what is the last thing the vendor says to her?

2. What is the comparison Francisco makes between John Galt and Prometheus?

3. What is Ayn Rand's objection to majority rule as put forth by the National Alliance of Railroads?

4. What is Dagny's reaction to Eugene Lawson's claim that his motives were pure at Twentieth Century Motors because he never made a profit?

5. Why will Amalgamated Switch and Signal Company not complete Dagny's order for switches and signals on the Colorado line?

Short Essay Questions

1. When an agreement is reached that closes the John Galt Line and the Rio Norte Line, what does Francisco mean when he asks Dagny if they had murdered John Galt?

2. As James Taggart and Dagny discuss plans for Taggart Transcontinental, James' attitude sets the stage for the real conflict in ATLAS SHRUGGED. Explain.

3. Discuss the different views from "the top" and "the bottom."

4. Using the example of the Anti-Dog-Eat-Dog rule, explain in a few paragraphs how eliminating competition by legislation destroys productivity.

5. Explain the significance of the mysterious Halley's Fifth Concerto in developing the novel.

6. What is the significance of "the best hamburger" Dagny has ever tasted when she goes to the diner in Wyoming?

7. Dagny sees Hank Rearden as a "man who belongs on earth." Explain why.

8. How does the scene of the broken furnace give Hank insight into Francisco's real character?

9. Francisco engineers a huge financial fraud on the Mexican government and greedy shareholders like James Taggart and Orren Boyle. Then he asks Dagny, "Who is John Galt?" How does Rand use his character to build suspense?

10. In the chapter Rand calls "Account Overdrawn," how does the author picture the results of the socialist government's regulations?

(see the answer keys)

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