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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Orwell, what were Smith's religious beliefs?
(a) Swift subscribed to his own form of spirituality.
(b) Swift believed in a higher power, but rejected organized religions.
(c) Swift was a firm believer in the necessity of organized religion.
(d) He was not a religious man.

2. What did the name of Gandhi's political policy, "Satyagraha," mean?
(a) "Karma."
(b) "Belief in oneself."
(c) "Strength in silence."
(d) "Firmness in truth."

3. What is the crowd's reaction to the prisoner's chant?
(a) They begin to feel some compassion for him.
(b) It doesn't seem to have an effect on them.
(c) They want him to die quickly.
(d) They try to help him escape.

4. In Orwell's opinion, what does Tolstoy do to the scenes he is presenting?
(a) He misunderstands them.
(b) He misquotes them.
(c) He distorts them.
(d) He takes them out of context.

5. Tolstoy accuses the playwright he is criticizing of having a philosophy similar to whom?
(a) Machiavelli.
(b) Stalin.
(c) Napoleon.
(d) Caesar.

6. How does Orwell feel about Gandhi's involvement in politics?
(a) He feels that Gandhi's talents would have been wasted in any other field.
(b) He feels that Gandhi didn't really accomplish much in his political career.
(c) He feels Gandhi's saintliness may have been sullied by his involvement in politics.
(d) He admires Gandhi's pacifist methods of enacting change.

7. According to Orwell, how did Swift offend Queen Anne?
(a) By criticizing a law passed by Parliament.
(b) By writing a satirical piece that made fun of the English government.
(c) By greeting her inappropriately when he met her.
(d) By writing a pamphlet that criticized dissenters from the church.

8. How does the elephant die?
(a) It kills two people before finally collapsing.
(b) It is shot twice but dies slowly.
(c) It dies quickly and painlessly.
(d) It doesn't die, it escapes.

9. What book does Orwell quote to support his argument against Satyagraha?
(a) "Gulliver's Travels".
(b) "King Lear".
(c) "Gandhi and Stalin".
(d) "1984".

10. In this story, Burma is a colony of what empire?
(a) The Russian Empire.
(b) The British Empire.
(c) The Japanese Empire.
(d) The American Empire.

11. Death, at the narrator's hospital, is personified by a patient who finds what activity difficult and painful?
(a) Walking.
(b) Urinating.
(c) Eating.
(d) Bathing.

12. Where did the elephant come from?
(a) It was wild, and found its way into the town.
(b) It was domesticated.
(c) It was released in the town by someone who wanted to destroy the bazaar.
(d) It had escaped from the zoo.

13. What does the creature do as the prisoner is being led to his execution?
(a) Rampages through the crowd of spectators.
(b) Bites the executioner.
(c) Jumps up and tries to lick the prisoner's face.
(d) Stings the attending guard.

14. In what stage of Tolstoy's life did this major change occur?
(a) Middle age.
(b) Youth.
(c) Young adulthood.
(d) Old age.

15. Where do the magistrates and police convene after the prisoner's death?
(a) Close to the location of the corpse.
(b) At the local tavern.
(c) On the side of town opposite the gallows.
(d) They don't convene, they all go to their own homes.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is Orwell skeptical of Gandhi's celibacy and vegetarianism?

2. What does Burnham write about Stalin?

3. What was the substance of the second speaker's argument, in Chapter 8?

4. According to Tolstoy, Shakespeare's great reputation was propagated by whom?

5. Burnham predicted that what nation would be victorious in World War II?

(see the answer keys)

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