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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where in “Lamb to the Slaughter” does the rising action take place?
(a) When Mary goes to the store
(b) When the police arrive at Mary’s door
(c) When Patrick tells Mary he’s leaving her
(d) When Mary calls the police

2. Of the murder weapon, one of the policemen in the kitchen says, "Whoever done it, they're not going to be carrying a thing like that around with them longer than they” what?
(a) Got to
(b) Need
(c) Should
(d) Can

3. By what name does Mary call Sergeant Noonan as the investigation continues?
(a) Thomas
(b) Charlie
(c) Sam
(d) Jack

4. Author Roald Dahl was born in what year?
(a) 1897
(b) 1932
(c) 1916
(d) 1961

5. What is Mary’s response when the police officer on the phone asks, “Who’s speaking?”
(a) Mary M., Maloney, that is
(b) Mrs. Maloney. Mrs. Patrick Maloney
(c) It’s Mary Maloney
(d) Patrick’s wife, Mary

6. 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 are eating at the neighbor’s house
(c) They eat out on Thursdays
(d) She is very sick

7. What word from the story refers to a state of being desperate or wild with excitement, passion or fear?
(a) Grief
(b) Frantic
(c) Astonishment
(d) Wonder

8. Mary is said to watch Patrick as he relates his statement “with a kind of dazed” what?
(a) Amazement
(b) Shock
(c) Relief
(d) Horror

9. What day of the week is it in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) Tuesday
(b) Sunday
(c) Thursday
(d) Friday

10. What is Mary’s presumed reason for killing her husband in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) Mary kills him because he won’t attend church
(b) Mary kills him because he is leaving her
(c) Mary kills him because he lost his job
(d) Mary kills him because he is an alcoholic

11. The narrator compares “that warm male glow that came out of him to her when they were alone together” to what in the beginning of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) Lava
(b) The sun
(c) A fire
(d) A geyser

12. One of the police detectives asks Mary if anything in the house could have been used as a weapon and if she will take a look around to see if anything is missing. What items does he suggest?
(a) A brick or a rock
(b) A big spanner or a heavy metal vase
(c) A hammer or a shovel
(d) A frying pan or a fire poker

13. Patrick’s “statement” to Mary is not detailed in the text, but is said to last now long at most?
(a) 2-3 minutes
(b) 3-4 minutes
(c) 4-5 minutes
(d) 1-2 minutes

14. What does Mary take when she runs downstairs after rehearsing in her room?
(a) Her shoes
(b) Her purse
(c) Her coat
(d) Her hat

15. What word used in describing the story’s setting refers to a piece of furniture, as in a dining room, often with shelves or drawers?
(a) Frontslab
(b) Sideboard
(c) Topdrawer
(d) Rearshelf

Short Answer Questions

1. Mary calls the police officer’s dear friends of whom in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

2. What color is Patrick’s second drink that he makes for himself described as?

3. What word from the short story refers to the friendly reception and treatment of guests or strangers?

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

5. Mary tells the store clerk that Patrick has caught her without any what?

(see the answer keys)

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