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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 purpose of the party Lillian plans to give in three months?
(a) Their wedding anniversary.
(b) A celebration of Rearden metal.
(c) Their social obligation to Dagny Taggart.
(d) A fund raiser for underprivileged children.

2. When Dr. Stadler questions why the man who was developing the revolutionary motor was working in a factory research lab, what is Dagny's reply?
(a) Maybe the Science Institute turned him down.
(b) He probably liked living on this earth.
(c) Maybe he couldn't find another place.
(d) He probably came from somewhere around here.

3. What is Dagny's reply to Cherryl's comment that she is "the woman in the Taggart family"?
(a) You're welcome to the job.
(b) What am I? Chopped liver?
(c) That's quiet all right. I'm the man.
(d) Don't tell my dress maker.

4. What does Francisco d'Anconia say the socialists will use to replace "the aristocracy of money"?
(a) The commonality of all men
(b) The aristocracy of influence.
(c) The aristocracy of everyone
(d) The destruction of all aristocracy

5. What is the comparison Francisco makes between John Galt and Prometheus?
(a) John Galt has been eaten by vultures and is dead.
(b) John Galt invented fire.
(c) John Galt is a Prometheus who changed his mind.
(d) John Galt believes the total end is near for all mankind.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Dagny demands that Francisco tell her why Ellis Wyatt will be wiped out in Colorado, why does he refuse to tell her?

2. Who offers to help Dagny solve the problem of the rotting wooden bridge on her Colorado line?

3. Based on what she knows at the moment, what conclusion does Dagny draw about the disappearance of men like Wyatt?

4. A theme that runs throughout ATLAS SHRUGGED is one which shows strength and character outside but emptiness and moral corruption inside. What metaphor does Ayn Rand use to illustrate this idea?

5. Why does Dannager refuse to say "Good-bye" to Dagny?

Short Essay Questions

1. Francisco d'Anconia, heir of the d'Anconia Copper Mining empire, has developed a reputation as a playboy and a dilettante. Itemize the events in his early years with Dagny and James Taggart that are contradictory to that image.

2. Explain the symbolism of Lillian's taking Dagny's diamond bracelet in exchange for the Rearden Metal chain.

3. At first, Hank Rearden dislikes Francisco d'Anconia. Explain his reasons.

4. Briefly explain Dr. Stadler's surprise that the motor Dagny found was being developed in a remote automobile factory.

5. 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?

6. The title of the chapter, "The Exploiters and the Exploited" might suggest that the industrialists like Hank Rearden exploit the public by creating products for their own personal gratification. Rand, however, turns that around to suggest that the socialist government are exploiting the industrialists. Support that idea.

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

8. Explain the symbolism of the Twentieth Century Motor Company as Dagny and Hank find it.

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

10. Explain how the mystery of Eddie Willers' unnamed friend in the cafeteria and the shadowy man Dagny sees outside her office add to the suspense of the novel.

(see the answer keys)

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