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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is a "dataller?"
(a) A miner who plants explosives.
(b) The superviser in the mine shaft.
(c) A miner who digs the coal.
(d) A miner who attends to the roof of the mine.

2. How did Orwell say he was received by the people he spoke with about their housing?
(a) With kindness and good food.
(b) With curiosity and suspicion.
(c) With hostility and suspicion.
(d) With courtesy and good nature.

3. What were "caravan dwellings?"
(a) Trailers for the government workers in the city.
(b) Trailers that were brought in after the war for housing.
(c) Traveling circus employees' tent cities.
(d) Housing set up for criminals.

4. What is one superstition miner sometimes hold to?
(a) It is bad luck to carry a photograph of one's children into the mines.
(b) It is bad luck to kiss a woman goodbye before going into the mines.
(c) It is bad luck to see a woman before going to work in the morning shift.
(d) It is bad luck to wear red into the mines.

5. What was the average distance between the pit bottom to the coal face?
(a) A mile.
(b) Two miles.
(c) Sixty yards.
(d) Seven hundred feet.

6. How did Orwell react to the train moving into the countryside?
(a) He was sad to be leaving his home.
(b) He was confused as to where the train was headed.
(c) He was happy to be seeing his family again.
(d) He was happy to be out of the dark and dirty city.

7. At what point did Orwell leave the Brooker's boarding house?
(a) When all of his belongings were stolen.
(b) When he had enough of the other men sharing his room.
(c) When he found there was a full chamber pot under the breakfast table.
(d) When his wallet was stolen.

8. Who was Mr. Reilly?
(a) One of Orwell's friends in London.
(b) One of Orwell's colleagues from college.
(c) One of Orwell's roommate who was war veteran.
(d) One of Orwell's roommates who was a mechanic at the mine.

9. What is a snap can?
(a) A can of sardines strapped onto a belt for lunch.
(b) A can with medical supplies.
(c) A lunch can that is strapped onto a belt.
(d) A cold can of iced tea.

10. At what time of year does the coal industry slack off?
(a) Summer.
(b) Winter.
(c) Fall.
(d) Spring.

11. What does "back to back" mean?
(a) Two houses built as one, one upstairs, one downstairs.
(b) Two houses built as one, front house faces the street, back house faces the alley.
(c) Two houses separated by a brick wall.
(d) Two houses combined to make one large house.

12. What is the first thing a miner does when he comes up from the mine?
(a) Goes home to bathe.
(b) Drinks large quantities of water.
(c) Gargles water to get the coal dust out of his nose and mouth.
(d) Strips off his shirt and wipes his face.

13. What author accused miners of gluttony?
(a) Rev. B.W. Smith.
(b) Rev. W.D. Acres.
(c) Rev. W. R. Inge.
(d) Rev. W. S. Bellows.

14. How did Orwell come to understand the discrepancies in pay for miners?
(a) By listening to talk around the lunch table.
(b) By interviewing miners.
(c) By working with the payroll departments.
(d) By studing pay checks and bank accounts.

15. When they had something to eat, what did the fillers consume?
(a) A hunk of bread and drippings, and a bottle of cold tea.
(b) A hunk of meat and gravy, and a bottle of cold tea.
(c) A large sandwich and pickles, and a bottle of cold tea.
(d) A large pan of hot cereal and a bottle of cold tea.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which towns did Orwell note for their approach to tearing down slum housing and rebuilding?

2. What did Mr. Brooker do while grumbling that it was "women's work?"

3. Why did men chew tobacco in the mines?

4. What did each of the permanent lodgers get for their ten shillings a week rent?

5. What did Orwell learn had happened to Wigan Pier?

(see the answer keys)

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