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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. How does Twain describe the book in the Prefatory?
(a) Complex and pretentious.
(b) Complex and unpretentious.
(c) Simple and pretentious.
(d) Simple and unpretentious.

2. How much property does it reportedly take to accumulate a fortune in mining?
(a) A little over one hundred feet.
(b) One hundred feet.
(c) A few feet.
(d) Several feet.

3. Who is the referee in the court case between Hyde and Morgan?
(a) The former governor of California.
(b) The former governor of Nevada.
(c) The former secretary of state of California.
(d) The former secretary of state of Nevada.

4. When does the coach begin to move across the Great American Desert?
(a) On the twenty-first day of the trip.
(b) On the eighteenth day of the trip.
(c) On the twenty-second day of the trip.
(d) On the nineteenth day of the trip.

5. How long is the Great American Desert?
(a) Thirty miles.
(b) Fifty Miles.
(c) Sixty miles.
(d) Forty miles.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where is the mining business taking place during the time the book was written?

2. What animal do the travelers shoot at as the stagecoach enters Nevada?

3. What is it that the narrator envies the most about his brother's new job?

4. How many days have the travelers been riding in the stage coach when they encounter the Goshoot Indians?

5. What aspects of nature will be discussed in Roughing It?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author build up the anticipation for the book in the Prefatory?

2. What is the Great American Desert like, and what is interesting about Carson Lake?

3. As stated in the Prefatory, what is Twain's intention in writing Roughing It?

4. How long is the Prefatory in Roughing It, and what is its purpose?

5. What are the details of the court case between Hyde and Morgan, and what is the outcome?

6. What is the myth of the Pony Express Riders?

7. What role does the press play in the mining industry of Nevada and how does it affect the narrator?

8. How does the narrator help his brother in writing to the government for money?

9. How is the breakfast that the narrator is served in Nebraska described, and what future traveling accommodations does he compare his situation to?

10. What skills does Captain John Nye have, and how does he help the narrator and his party?

(see the answer keys)

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