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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is described in the Thermos bucket in the opening of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) Stagnant water
(b) Fresh ice cubes
(c) A bottle of champagne
(d) A bottle of beer

2. All of Mary’s movements are said to be what, after Patrick has told her his story in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) Stilted
(b) Automatic
(c) Ominous
(d) Monotonous

3. Patrick is described as sitting how in a chair in the beginning of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) Slouchy
(b) Sleepily
(c) Loosely
(d) Stiffly

4. Mary explains that she hasn’t made any supper for what reason in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) They are out of food
(b) They eat out on Thursdays
(c) They are eating at the neighbor’s house
(d) She is very sick

5. Who discovers a small patch of congealed blood on Patrick’s head when the police arrive?
(a) A police photographer
(b) Charlie
(c) Sergeant Noonan
(d) O'Malley

6. What does Mary offer to get Patrick, but is turned down, after he arrives home in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) His slippers
(b) The newspaper
(c) His glasses
(d) His pipe

7. What kind of air is described about Mary and “everything she did” in the beginning of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) A methodical air
(b) A quick frantic air
(c) A slow smiling air
(d) A free-spirited air

8. What beverage is sitting out as Mary waits in the opening of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) Tea and lemon juice
(b) Orange juice and rum
(c) Whiskey and soda water
(d) Coffee and milk

9. Where was author Roald Dahl born?
(a) Wales
(b) Norway
(c) Poland
(d) Russia

10. Who is the protagonist of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) Sergeant Noonan
(b) Sam
(c) Mary
(d) Patrick

11. The plot structure of “Lamb to the Slaughter” depicts which qualities?
(a) It follows a nonlinear plot line
(b) It follows a traditional plot line
(c) It follows an anticlimactic plot line
(d) It follows a postmodern plot line

12. “Lamb to the Slaughter” was adapted for an episode of what television show?
(a) Saturday Night Live
(b) Unsolved Mysteries
(c) The Twilight Zone
(d) Alfred Hitchcock Presents

13. Of the murder weapon, one of the policemen in the kitchen says that it is probably where?
(a) Long gone
(b) Right under our noses
(c) In an alleyway somewhere
(d) Somewhere hidden in the garden

14. How many police officers initially arrive after Mary calls the police?
(a) 1
(b) 2
(c) 3
(d) 4

15. “Lamb to the Slaughter” was initially rejected by what periodical for publication?
(a) Readers Digest
(b) The New Yorker
(c) Harper’s Magazine
(d) Newsweek

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Mary’s presumed reason for going to the store in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

2. Patrick tells Mary after he’s finished his story, “So there it is. And I know it’s kind of” what?

3. What is Mary’s presumed reason for killing her husband in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

4. What does Mary ask Sergeant Noonan to give her as the investigation continues?

5. Mary’s feelings for her husband in the beginning of the story are defined in which way?

(see the answer keys)

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