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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Bryson hate about Christmas?
(a) The expense.
(b) Buying gifts.
(c) The music.
(d) Getting the decorations out of the attic.

2. In "The Great Indoors," what does Bryson say people in America have developed a dislike of?
(a) Fresh air.
(b) Law and order.
(c) Multi-grain bread.
(d) Coffee.

3. What does Bryson find the most "mind-numbing" feature of modern television?
(a) There are too many so-called experts on too many talk shows.
(b) The same shows are shown over and over.
(c) The commercial breaks.
(d) There are so many good programs and not enough time to watch them.

4. Which American tourist attraction does Bryson describe as a "Total Indoor Environment"?
(a) Las Vegas.
(b) Opryland.
(c) Disney World.
(d) Yellowstone Park.

5. What was Bryson disappointed about on his book tours?
(a) The waiting in stores for people to show up.
(b) Hotel room service.
(c) That he had to sign so many books.
(d) Interviewers who knew nothing about his book.

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

7. In "How to Rent a Car," what does Bryson find especially frustrating about the process?
(a) The mileage charges.
(b) The options he is offered.
(c) The limits on passengers.
(d) How and where to drop it off.

8. Bryson compares modern airplanes to _______________.
(a) Winged buses.
(b) Trains in the air.
(c) Winged cars.
(d) Subways above ground.

9. When Bryson takes his family to one of the last drive-ins in the area, what is the experience like?
(a) Not fun at all.
(b) The kids hated it, the adults loved it.
(c) It was amazing.
(d) The audio had improved greatly since the 1970s.

10. What does Bryson say the reason might be for being bewildered with modern television?
(a) His kids like to watch a lot of shows that are just junk.
(b) His eyesight and hearing are failing.
(c) He cannot follow the plot lines of the cop shows.
(d) In the America of his youth, and in England, there were only 4 channels.

11. In "The Best American Holiday," what does Bryson say about his mother?
(a) She tried, but the Thanksgiving meal was always a failure.
(b) She was a great cook.
(c) She had Thanksgiving catered.
(d) Once a year, for Thanksgiving, she'd make a great meal.

12. According to Bryson, what is the result of the "abundance of choice" in America?
(a) A lot of time wasted.
(b) A lot of happy people.
(c) A lot of rich business owners.
(d) A simple way of life.

13. What is Bryson's observations on the conveniences of life in America in the 1990s?
(a) They are not necessarily better, but people think they are.
(b) He wishes England had more conveniences.
(c) They need to be banned.
(d) They are the best improvement he came home to.

14. Why does Bryson have to buy a whole new computer and fax system when he returns to the United States?
(a) His kids were tired of using the family's 1980s model.
(b) He'd never owned a computer but now needed one for work.
(c) All his electronics got lost on the way.
(d) The British have a different electrical system.

15. What do New Englanders call the tourists who come to New England in the fall?
(a) Leaf lovers.
(b) Tree crazies.
(c) Tree huggers.
(d) Leaf peepers.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Bryson, which of his sons might one day become a libel lawyer?

2. What does Bryson do in the section called "Life's Mysteries"?

3. Why does Bryson say he never ultimately drove the rental car he needed at the Boston airport?

4. What does Mrs. Bryson tell her husband about Maggie that cheers him up?

5. What house feature does Bryson miss from his childhood?

(see the answer keys)

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