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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When does White write to his agent about his reservations of a Czech producer's plans for a movie about "Charlotte's Web"?
(a) 1973.
(b) 1974.
(c) 1972.
(d) 1971.

2. How many years does White do newsbreaks for the New Yorker before retiring?
(a) Fifty six years.
(b) Twenty six years.
(c) Thirty six years.
(d) Forty six years.

3. How does Cathy Durham's librarian respond to White's letter to Cathy?
(a) She is confused.
(b) She is appreciative.
(c) She is amused.
(d) She is offended.

4. Based on White's input to a book on the New Yorker, from which magazines was Ross trying to make the New Yorker different?
(a) Life.
(b) Harper's.
(c) Life and Harper's.
(d) Neither Life nor Harper's.

5. What version of White's remembrance of Strunk is used in the final copy of "The Elements of Style"?
(a) The same version with notes included at the end of the text.
(b) The same version.
(c) An edited and shortened version.
(d) An expanded and revised version.

6. Who is Ursula Nordstrom?
(a) A former Harper's coworker of White.
(b) A former New Yorker coworker of White.
(c) The owner of Harper & Brothers.
(d) The editor at Harper & Brothers.

7. Which one of the following is a concern that White has about the illustrations in "Charlotte's Web"?
(a) The lettering of the title.
(b) The color of the pig.
(c) The style of the spider.
(d) The shade of the sky.

8. What is the title of Katharine's posthumous book?
(a) The Garden, Onward and Upward.
(b) Upward in the Garden.
(c) Onward and Upward in the Garden.
(d) Onward in the Garden.

9. What does the Dirksen amendment involve?
(a) A new grading system for schools.
(b) A shortened school day for students.
(c) A longer school day for students.
(d) Voluntary prayer in school.

10. In White's opinion, how different is the New Yorker in the 1950s?
(a) Slightly different than it was in the 1920s.
(b) No different than it was in the 1920s.
(c) Completely different than it was in the 1920s.
(d) Moderately different than it was in the 1920s.

11. Which one of the following is not included in the advice White gives to fourth-graders in Columbus, Ohio about how to write a book?
(a) One has to want to write a book.
(b) Think of a subject and begin.
(c) Set aside several days for the writing process.
(d) The writer has to keep going until the end.

12. When does a new printing for "Charlotte's Web" begin?
(a) After 75,000 copies are sold.
(b) After 100,000 copies are sold.
(c) After 25,000 copies are sold.
(d) After 50,000 copies are sold.

13. What newspaper does White write to in order to correct an editorial that attributes Thurber's fame to him?
(a) The New York Times.
(b) The Chicago Tribune.
(c) The Washington Post.
(d) The Seattle Times.

14. What does White caution Thurber about his story in the memo?
(a) Excluding an explanation of how the story compares to others.
(b) Explaining what the book is and is not.
(c) Explaining why the book should be read.
(d) Excluding an explanation of the key points of the story.

15. What town's fifth grade students receive a letter from White, answering their questions about "Charlotte's Web"?
(a) New York, NY.
(b) Pelham, NY.
(c) Brooklyn, NY.
(d) Larchmont, NY.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which John Steinbeck book was the result of an assignment for Holiday magazine that White could not complete?

2. Which nuclear physicist does White exchange letters with about nuclear disarmament?

3. How many copies of "The Elements of Style" have been sold?

4. In a memo to Harold Ross, how many inches does White say that the height of taxi cab doors are?

5. Which station does White politely decline an interview with in 1978?

(see the answer keys)

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