View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. Bill says the GDP is very hard to measure in modern times. What does GDP stand for?
(a) Gross Domestic Product.
(b) Gross Definitive Product.
(c) Grand Divisible Principles.
(d) Grand Domestic Product.

4. What does Bill end up doing with all the food he buys at the supermarket?
(a) He eats his way through it and buys more.
(b) He makes his kids eat it all.
(c) He eats his way through it and hates it.
(d) He throws half of it out.

5. After living in Britain for twenty years, what does Bill find refreshingly different about the United States?
(a) The government.
(b) The informality.
(c) The fashions.
(d) The weather.

6. Why does Bill feel going to a restaurant is a discouraging experience?
(a) He manages to antagonize the waitress.
(b) He hates the high prices.
(c) He's a vegan.
(d) He's a picky eater.

7. What does Bill say is ridiculous about a VCR?
(a) It has no remote.
(b) It is being replaced by a DVD player.
(c) It can record twelve months in advance.
(d) It costs so much.

8. What did the town of Laconia, New Hampshire, have to do about its new sidewalks and benches in its town center?
(a) Sanitize them.
(b) Refit them for handicapped residents.
(c) Remove them because no one was using them.
(d) Refit them for use in a movie.

9. Why doesn't Bryson like gardening with his wife?
(a) She is English and thus an expert gardener.
(b) She screams if she sees any insects.
(c) She expects him to garden for hours at a time.
(d) He has to do all the work.

10. Where do Bill and his wife go to celebrate their anniversary?
(a) To a spa in Connecticut.
(b) To a ski resort in Quebec.
(c) To an expensive inn in Massachusetts.
(d) To a fancy restaurant in Vermont.

11. Why does Bryson think the cupholder revolution is a bit strange?
(a) Americans are spoiled and want every little convenience.
(b) People shouldn't be drinking and driving.
(c) Some cars have way more cupholders than capacity for passengers.
(d) The car makers should make better cars and forget the cupholders.

12. What part of the house does Bill regard as delightful and pretty much the same in every American household?
(a) The attic.
(b) The laundry room.
(c) The family room.
(d) The basement.

13. What does Bill miss about television in Britain?
(a) No commercials.
(b) A lot of good comedy shows.
(c) Good news programs.
(d) A late night university program with free courses.

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

15. What does Bryson say about American gardens?
(a) They are mostly lawn.
(b) They are mostly bushes.
(c) They are mostly weeds.
(d) They are mostly roses.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Bill phones the computer hotline to ask for help, what information do they ask him for first?

2. In "The War on Drugs," what is wrong, according to Bryson, about the penalties for drug possession?

3. What does Bill discuss at the beginning of his essay on design flaws?

4. In "Dying Accents," what is the name of the man who does carpentry around the Bryson house?

5. What particular product in American supermarkets fascinates Bill?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 618 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample