View a FREE sample

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. In "The Numbers Game," what does Bill say is beyond the comprehension of everyone?
(a) How much money huge sums really represent.
(b) How tax money is spent.
(c) How the government manages to get anything done.
(d) Why government workers get so many holidays.

2. According to Bryson, what did people in the past do when they flew?
(a) Dressed up for it.
(b) Ate and drank through the whole flight.
(c) Got sick a lot.
(d) Bought insurance for every flight.

3. Why did Bill decide to write "Friendly People?"
(a) Because he had to make good on a bet.
(b) Because his wife told him all he did was complain in his columns.
(c) Because his editor wanted him to.
(d) Because he thought it would be funny.

4. In "A Slight Inconvenience," what does Bryson say about drive-through windows in restaurants?
(a) They save people a lot of time.
(b) They are unsanitary.
(c) That people will spend more time in line than if they went in.
(d) They are inefficient.

5. Why does Bryson have an issue with the Internet?
(a) People can glean personal information about others.
(b) It's unreliable.
(c) It's making people anti-social.
(d) It's expensive.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What does Bill end up doing with all the food he buys at the supermarket?

3. In "The Waste Generation," what does Bryson think is getting worse in the United States, compared to his youth?

4. Bryson likes his privacy. Where does he especially find there is a lack of privacy in America?

5. What does Bill find strange about some U.S. commercials?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 332 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample