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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How did Orwell describe a slag heap?
(a) "A thing of beauty rising in the distance."
(b) "A testiment to man's toil."
(c) "A horrid blight on the landscape."
(d) "A hideous thing, planless and functionless."

2. Why did Orwell have the opportunity to receive an expensive public school education?
(a) He was sent to school by his wealthy uncle.
(b) He was at the school as the guest of the Prime Minister.
(c) He was at the school on a scholarship.
(d) He was allowed to attend the school free because his father was an alum.

3. What did Orwell say was the only way to abolish class distinctions in England?
(a) You must be willing to incite a revolution.
(b) You must be willing to abolish part of yourself.
(c) You must be willing to eat fish and chips.
(d) You must be willing to move to northern England.

4. Where did Orwell first go to sleep with the beggars and criminals of the working class?
(a) Orangehouse and Greychapel.
(b) Wigan and Sheffield.
(c) Limehouse and Whitechapel.
(d) London and Sheffield.

5. What percentage of a person's income, whether employed or on unemployment, was given over to rent in Wigan?
(a) One fourth.
(b) One third.
(c) One half.
(d) One fifth.

6. Who did the work in the house of a married unemployed man?
(a) The man helped by maintaining the living and dining rooms.
(b) The couple split the chores in half to get more free time together.
(c) The man helped with certain chores such as washing dishes.
(d) A woman: the man did not help with any household tasks.

7. When Orwell said he was "advocatus diaboli" what did he mean?
(a) He knew the devil was in the details of the propaganda campaigns.
(b) He was being the devil's advocate for the sake of argument.
(c) He was certain the devil was keeping the masses away from Socialism.
(d) He did not really believe in Socialism.

8. What was the most obvious sign of malnourishment in the families of the unemployed men?
(a) Bad teeth.
(b) Bad eyesight.
(c) Bad speech.
(d) Bad hearing.

9. What was the number of people underfed in England based on Orwell's calculations?
(a) Over eleven million.
(b) Under seven million.
(c) Over ten million.
(d) Over twenty million.

10. Who was Comrade X?
(a) A member of the R.S.V.P. and a politician.
(b) A member of the C.P.G.B. and an author.
(c) A member of the N.W.P. and an author.
(d) A member of the A.C.L.U. and a politician.

11. Where did Orwell go before he turned twenty?
(a) Burma.
(b) Washington D.C.
(c) Belfast.
(d) Sudan.

12. How did a Northerner visiting Southern England see that part of the country?
(a) As snobbish, effeminate and lazy.
(b) As snobbish, wealthy and unconcerned.
(c) As snobbish, cruel and wealthy.
(d) As snobbish, uneducated and fantastic.

13. What did Orwell believe every unemployed man should be given if he wanted it?
(a) A patch of land and one hundred pounds.
(b) A patch of land and tools with which to grow his own food.
(c) A patch of land and a horse drawn wagon.
(d) A patch of land and a cow.

14. Why did Orwell believe it was not possible to have a trade union of middle class workers?
(a) During picketing, middle class men would get lunch brought to them by their wives.
(b) At times of strike, middle class men would be nagged by their families to go to work.
(c) During a strike, middle class men would move to another community.
(d) During union meetings, middle class men would want to talk rather than make deicsion.

15. Why were the industrial towns in England so ugly and noxious?
(a) The people were so poor they threw trash in the streets and did not paint their houses.
(b) The mayors did not enforce local laws of trash and smoke abatement.
(c) The government had given up helping this area of the country to deal with their filth.
(d) The modern methods of steel construction and smoke abatement were unknown.

Short Answer Questions

1. What were some of the misconceptions Orwell noted about Socialists in 1930's England?

2. What book did Orwell write telling of his experiences in London with the unemployed street people?

3. What did Orwell find hopeful about the unemployed men he met?

4. What did Orwell think was the "ugliest town in the Old World?"

5. What things did Orwell believe a good writer needed that an unemployed man could not find?

(see the answer keys)

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