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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Orwell feel about winning by cheating?
(a) It's okay, if the cheating team is so far behind that winning one game won't affect the overall outcome.
(b) It's okay, as long as the other team is also cheating.
(c) It is a win without honor or meaning.
(d) A win is a win, regardless of how it is earned.

2. How does Orwell describe "Uncle Tom's Cabin"?
(a) Poorly written, but memorable.
(b) Boring, but well-executed.
(c) Frivolous and stupid.
(d) Childish and melodramatic.

3. Orwell says, in Chapter 12, that he has occasionally found what in summer?
(a) A salamander, under a log.
(b) A den of fox kits.
(c) A toad that never woke up from hibernation.
(d) A patch of wheat.

4. In "Good Bad Books", what kind of books does Orwell write about?
(a) Books that are well written, and underappreciated by critics.
(b) Books that are good, but obscene.
(c) Books that survive the test of time, but aren't necessarily "good" books.
(d) Books that aren't well written, but are popular because their authors are well known.

5. What does Orwell cite as a reason for the quality of contemporary murder literature?
(a) People aren't interested in reading it.
(b) Crimes are becoming less memorable.
(c) The government is censoring it too much.
(d) There are currently no good writers.

6. According to Orwell, when is the best time to read a good murder mystery?
(a) Saturday evening.
(b) Sunday afternoon.
(c) Saturday morning.
(d) Friday evening.

7. What is the best motive for a compelling murder mystery, according to Orwell?
(a) Revenge.
(b) Money.
(c) Love.
(d) Lust or power.

8. What kind of person would be Orwell's ideal murder-mystery protagonist?
(a) A celebrity.
(b) A lower-class citizen.
(c) A rich aristocrat.
(d) A local professional.

9. Orwell compares "Helen's Babies" with the works of what other author?
(a) Jules Verne.
(b) Orson Scott Wells.
(c) Ernest Hemingway.
(d) Mark Twain.

10. What kind of person is Thibaw?
(a) Fair and just.
(b) Wise and noble.
(c) Colorful, but harmless.
(d) Drunken and homicidal.

11. Why is the reviewer having such difficulty writing his reviews?
(a) He keeps getting interrupted.
(b) He is afraid of offending the works' authors.
(c) He is too busy to write them.
(d) The works he is reviewing are boring.

12. What is the most famous poem written by the poet mentioned in Chapter 17?
(a) "The Cat's In the Cradle".
(b) "Hey Diddle Diddle".
(c) "The Owl and the Pussycat".
(d) "Old Mother Hubbard".

13. The murderer, according to Orwell, kills his victim to avoid what?
(a) Financial ruin.
(b) Imprisonment.
(c) Disgrace or scandal.
(d) Divorce.

14. Which title, named in Chapter 16, is also the subject of Chapter 18?
(a) "Uncle Tom's Cabin".
(b) "Penrod".
(c) "Helen's Babies".
(d) "King Solomon's Mines".

15. What does Orwell refer to as the era of great murder mystery literature?
(a) "Elizabethan period."
(b) "Golden Age."
(c) "Dark Ages."
(d) "Renaissance."

Short Answer Questions

1. What does "Helen's Babies" say about America, according to Orwell?

2. What conclusion does Orwell reach about the prices of the commodities he compares in Chapter 15?

3. Orwell refers to all of the titles in Chapter 16 as great examples of what?

4. How does Orwell feel about Jack the Ripper?

5. The subject of Chapter 14 reviews what?

(see the answer keys)

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