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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What were newspaper canvassers?
(a) They were door-to-door surveyers for the census.
(b) They were door-to-door pollsters for the political candidate.
(c) They were door-to-door salesmen selling newspaper subscriptions.
(d) They were door-to-door advertisement salesmen.

2. What is a "gob fire?"
(a) A spontaneous heat problem.
(b) A spontaneously generating fire.
(c) A cigarette fire.
(d) A coal fire.

3. What were "cream crackers?"
(a) Fried bread.
(b) Oreos.
(c) Biscuits.
(d) Potato chips.

4. What was the only quality associated with hell that was not in the coal mine?
(a) Foul air.
(b) Noise.
(c) Darkness.
(d) Fire.

5. To what did Orwell compare the sound of the conveyor belt in the mine?
(a) Thunder.
(b) An echo.
(c) A machine gun.
(d) A loud hum.

6. What was one "perk" given to miners that was actually off-set by transportation costs?
(a) Bonus for meeting coal goals.
(b) Free tool sharpening.
(c) Bonus for on-time work.
(d) Reduced cost of the coal for their houses.

7. How did D. H. Lawrence come to Orwell's mind as he rode the train?
(a) He looked out over snow-covered hills.
(b) He was reading a book of poetry.
(c) He met a passenger whose name was Lawrence.
(d) He looked at a beautiful girl.

8. What were the first sounds Orwell heard in the morning when he woke at the Brookers?
(a) The sound of birds chirping in the trees.
(b) The sound of mill girls' clogs down the cobbled street.
(c) The sound of hammering at the house next door.
(d) The sound of Mrs. Brooker bustling around the kitchen.

9. What is nystagmus?
(a) An eye disease.
(b) A heart disease.
(c) A nose disease.
(d) A lung disease.

10. What did the fillers wear?
(a) Shorts, light tee shirts and clogs.
(b) Long cotton pants and clogs.
(c) Shorts, light tee shirts and knee pads.
(d) Thin drawers, clogs and knee pads.

11. 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.

12. With what phrase did all of Mrs. Brooker's complaints end?
(a) "It does seem 'ard, don't it now?"
(b) "I hate it all, all I say."
(c) "It do seem unfair, don't it?"
(d) "I just as well die tonight!"

13. What did Mr. Brooker do while grumbling that it was "women's work?"
(a) Shop for groceries and mend curtains.
(b) Clean the bathrooms and cook oatmeal for dinner.
(c) Peel potatoes and clean house.
(d) Watch the television in the middle of the day.

14. What was the major difference between a mile above ground and a mile in the pit bottom?
(a) You could not measure distance in the pit bottom.
(b) You could not return the same way.
(c) You could not stand upright in the pit bottom.
(d) You were not able to hear anything in the pit bottom.

15. What was offered a very few of the miners in the better built mines?
(a) A check cashing facility.
(b) A hot meal.
(c) A pithead bath.
(d) A quart of water.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who did the tenants of the slum houses believe to be the worst landlords?

2. What did Orwell say about the Corporation housing as a whole?

3. Who did most of the cooking and laundry at the Brooker house?

4. Why did Orwell believe the return trip through the tunnels was worse than the initial one?

5. Why does every miner have a blue scar on his nose and forehead?

(see the answer keys)

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