View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. How many "new" consumer products does Bryson say are launched every year in the United States?
(a) 2 million.
(b) 25,000.
(c) 2,000.
(d) 250,000.

3. What is Bryson astonished to find on his plane on a flight from Boston to Denver?
(a) Am armed guard.
(b) A chimpanzee.
(c) An entire hockey team.
(d) An inflated dinghy.

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

5. What does Bryson comment on as being a strange development in the world of exercise?
(a) That it is a multi-million dollar industry.
(b) Actually paying large amounts to join a gym.
(c) Retired people meeting at malls to have their daily walk.
(d) Driving one's car to the gym

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is Bryson not impressed with the spell checker on his computer?

2. When looking for a place to live in the United States, what was the only thing Bryson liked about Adams, Massachusetts?

3. What surprising statistic does Bryson share about the number of lawyers in America?

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

5. How is "Your Tax Form Explained" structured?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Bryson tell the reader about drive-in movies in "At the Drive-In"?

2. In "The Wasteland," what is Bryson criticizing? Name three points of his criticism.

3. Find three examples from "The Great Indoors" that Bryson cites as reasons he thinks Americans spend too much time indoors.

4. Bryson looks at obesity in "The Fat of the Land." Name three statistics he mentions in relation to obesity.

5. In "Lost in Cyberland," what kind of adventures does Bryson have with technology in America?

6. In "The Flying Nightmare," Bryson compares modern air travel with air travel from his youth in the 1960s and 70s. List three points he makes.

7. In "So Sue Me," what does Bryson say about American lawyers?

8. In "In Praise of Diners," Bryson talks about an old American institution that has almost disappeared, the diner restaurant. List at least three things he tells the readers about diners.

9. "Book Tours", Bryson talks about his fondness for book tours. Why does he like them?

10. In "On Losing a Son," what does Bryson say his main activities are as a father sending his son off to college?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,326 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample