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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Junk-Food Heaven," according to Bill, what kind of food shopper is his wife?
(a) She buys healthy and nutritious food.
(b) She loves to cut out and use coupons.
(c) She hates shopping; he does it all.
(d) She buys a lot of junk food.

2. In "The War on Drugs," what is wrong, according to Bryson, about the penalties for drug possession?
(a) He thinks the laws favor the poor.
(b) He thinks the laws favor the rich.
(c) He thinks the penalties for drug possession are too harsh.
(d) He thinks the penalties should be harsher.

3. What is one activity that Bill is happy to return to in America?
(a) Baseball.
(b) Paying taxes.
(c) Football.
(d) Shopping.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Bill prefer the post offices in the U.S. to the ones in Britain?

2. What event in America is starting up as Bill begins writing his columns for his British audience?

3. What does Bryson think is sad about how things are changing in modern Vermont?

4. In "Consuming Pleasures," what does Bill say about shopping in America?

5. What product first reveals the popularity of toll-free hotline phone numbers to Bill?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "On the Hotline," how does dental floss become the topic of this essay? What is the outcome of Bryson's reading the fine print on his floss packaging?

2. "Friendly People" begins with Mrs. Bryson telling Bill that all he did in his columns was make negative comments about the United States. He goes on to say there are a lot of things he likes about America. What are some of those things?

3. In "Coming Home" Bryson says he is "gamely assessing" the concept of not being able to go home again. What circumstances took him away from the United States in the 1970s? How did he spend the following two decades in England? What is his reaction on returning to the United States in 1996?

4. Bryson calls America "the ultimate shopping paradise" in "Consuming Pleasures." How does he support this statement?

5. In "Rule Number 1: Follow All Rules,"what does Bryson use as an example of a rule that must be followed in America? How does he compare the devotion to order in the U.S. and Britain?

6. How does Bryson compare late television in the U.S. to late time television in Britain in his "Drug Culture"? What does he say about the American approach to over-the-counter medicine from watching commercials for these products?

7. Bryson relates how his attitude to the informality and familiarity in American life seemed an irritant when he returned to the United States. For Essay 19, "Number Please," relate some of the ways he has encountered this informality in America.

8. "Tales of the North Woods" tells the reader something about the wilder side of New Hampshire, Bryson's new home state. What information does he share with the reader about the wilderness of New Hampshire?

9. What does Bryson, who admits he "is no stranger to sloth," say about the walking habits of Americans in Essay 26, "Why No One Walks"?

10. Why does Bryson find going to a restaurant in the United States so difficult, as expressed in "What's Cooking"? How does he address the issue of the many varieties of food out there?

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