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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. According to Bryson, what does the Travel Industry Association of America say about shopping?
(a) It is the number one holiday activity of Americans.
(b) The Grand Canyon needs a mall.
(c) Without it, the American economy would crash.
(d) Americans should shop more, not less.

2. In "Highway Diversions," how does Bryson like to pass the time when he is driving on the highway?
(a) By making up songs about the towns they pass.
(b) By counting the red cars.
(c) By yelling at other drivers.
(d) By reading the slogans on license plates.

3. What does Bill say it would take over 31,000 years to do?
(a) Count a trillion dollars.
(b) Pay off the national debt.
(c) Make the tax system fair.
(d) Travel to Mars and back.

4. In "The Risk Factor," what does Bryson say an American is twice as likely to do as a British person?
(a) Die of cancer.
(b) Die is hospital.
(c) Die accidentally.
(d) Die in childbirth.

5. What was the "Millennium Bug" about, in regards to computers?
(a) It was a new very tiny computer.
(b) It was an extremely destructive virus.
(c) No royalties would be paid to computer developers after that date.
(d) At midnight on January 1, 2000 all computers might shut down.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Bryson, which man from his childhood state deserves more credit in American history?

2. In "Enough Already," which item comes in 18 varieties in American supermarkets?

3. Which decade saw the idea of the drive-in really take off?

4. What is one way Bryson says New Hampshire residents might die that would not happen in Britain?

5. Bryson nostalgically describes the movie theater where he grew up. Where is his home town?

(see the answer key)

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