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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why did Orwell believe the return trip through the tunnels was worse than the initial one?
(a) Because he was going slightly uphill on the return.
(b) Because he was terribly hungry.
(c) Because he was forced to move very quickly.
(d) Because he was alone in the dark.

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

3. Who wrote "The Coal Scuttle?"
(a) Mr. Joseph Jones, Mayor of Barnsley, Yorkshire.
(b) Mr. John Abbott, Mayor of Chelsey, Yorkshire.
(c) Mr. Paul McCartney, Mayor of Barnsley, Yorkshire.
(d) Mr. Albert Hall, Mayor of Chelsey, Yorkshire.

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

5. What is a "blind back?"
(a) A house with no lavatory.
(b) A house with no fence.
(c) A house with a tall fence.
(d) A house with no back door.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the cause of the great majority of accidents in the mine?

2. How did Orwell describe Mrs. Brooker?

3. How does a miner bathe after dinner?

4. What did the fillers wear?

5. Who were the fillers?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was one major convenience added to the more modern mines in England? What myth often told about miners did this modern convenience dispel?

2. What is nystagmus? How is it contracted? How is it cured? What happened to a miner in Orwell's time who contracted nystagmus?

3. How did a miner clean up upon returning home? Why was cleaning up after work such a difficult task?

4. Why did Orwell believe it was important to understand the working conditions of the miners? What did he see as the larger story?

5. What were the newer government (Corporation) houses like? What were the positive and negative aspects of the housing?

6. What were the three terms Orwell used to describe the construction of the substandard housing in Wigan and Sheffield? How are they each affected by the lavatories available to them?

7. What were some of the common conditions in the houses Orwell studied for his book?

8. What were the two largest causes of death to a miner on the job? What were the causes of these hazards?

9. When people moved into the Corporation housing, what were some of the restrictions by which they had to abide?

10. How did Orwell come to write "The Road to Wigan Pier?" When did he write the book? For whom? What were the three parts of the book when it was originally published?

(see the answer keys)

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