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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through At a Loss, Old News, Rules for Living, Our Town, Word Play, Last Night on the Titanic, Property News, Life's Technicalities, An Address and Coming Home: Part II.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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) All the clerks have just started working there and do not know a thing.
(c) The clerks spend all their time talking to each other.
(d) When you ask about something, the clerk has to ask the manager, who is never around.

2. In "Dying Accents," what is the name of the man who does carpentry around the Bryson house?
(a) Bob.
(b) Walt.
(c) Darby.
(d) Darryl.

3. In regards to his son's university education, what is Bryson so shocked about?
(a) That his son would live in a co-ed dorm.
(b) The cost of it.
(c) How easy it is to get in.
(d) How heavy the workload is for undergraduates.

4. What does Bill Bryson like about his new home town?
(a) It has great shopping.
(b) It is a suburb.
(c) It is close to Boston.
(d) It has a great college.

5. According to Bill, what product do Americans regard much differently than the British?
(a) Clothing.
(b) Pet food.
(c) Cars.
(d) Over-the-counter drugs.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Bryson comment on as being a strange development in the world of exercise?

2. In "Why Everyone is Worried," which federal agency is not doing a very good job, according to Bryson?

3. What does Bryson say about words such as snooze, chortle, clank, gasp, and dribble?

4. How many children do the Brysons have?

5. In "Death Watch," what does Bryson dislike because they are "cold and bouncy and make odd noises."?

(see the answer key)

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