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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through The Great Indoors, Death Watch, In Praise of Diners, Shopping Madness, The Fat of the Land, Your New Computer, How to Rent a Car, The Wasteland, The Flying Nightmare and Enough Already.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What movie is Bryson describing at the beginning of "The Wasteland"?
(a) Magnificent Obsession.
(b) The Brady Bunch.
(c) Avatar.
(d) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

2. According to Bryson, when was the first official Thanksgiving held in the United States?
(a) In October of 1640.
(b) In November of 1864.
(c) In August of 1863.
(d) In September of 1922.

3. Bryson says there are three types of stores. The first is where you cannot get anyone to help you, and the second is full of clerks who will not leave you alone. What does he say about the third type?
(a) No matter what you ask about, they say it's in "aisle seven."
(b) The clerks spend all their time talking to each other.
(c) When you ask about something, the clerk has to ask the manager, who is never around.
(d) All the clerks have just started working there and do not know a thing.

4. What house feature does Bryson miss from his childhood?
(a) The out house.
(b) The spare bedroom.
(c) The screened porch.
(d) The back shed.

5. What does Bryson comment on as being a strange development in the world of exercise?
(a) That it is a multi-million dollar industry.
(b) Actually paying large amounts to join a gym.
(c) Retired people meeting at malls to have their daily walk.
(d) Driving one's car to the gym

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Bill say is a strange feature of their car?

2. What does Bryson say about New England in "Fall in New England"?

3. Bill says the GDP is very hard to measure in modern times. What does GDP stand for?

4. Which American tourist attraction does Bryson describe as a "Total Indoor Environment"?

5. In "The Great Indoors," what does Bryson say people in America have developed a dislike of?

(see the answer key)

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