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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. What does "one up, one down" mean?
(a) One room on each storey.
(b) One room with a higher ceiling than the other.
(c) One ground floor, one basement.
(d) One room in front of another.

2. Upon what did Orwell believe our civilization is based?
(a) Law.
(b) Marriage.
(c) Money.
(d) Coal.

3. Which towns did Orwell note for their approach to tearing down slum housing and rebuilding?
(a) Liverpool and Manchester.
(b) Liverpool and Yorkshire.
(c) Liverpool and London.
(d) Liverpool and Sheffield.

4. How does a miner bathe after dinner?
(a) With a basin of water and a washcloth.
(b) In an outdoor shower.
(c) In a tub outside in the yard.
(d) In a hot bath tub.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Orwell find to be the determining factor in the way housekeeping was done?

2. What physical attributes did the fillers share?

3. Who was Old Jack?

4. What is "traveling?"

5. How did Orwell react to the train moving into the countryside?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Orwell describe his room at the Brookers?

2. Describe the elevator that took Orwell and the miners down to the tunnels.

3. What did the miners look like when they emerged from the coal mines? What were some of the first things they did upon coming above ground?

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

5. 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?

6. What did Orwell learn about the reality of the seven hour shift worked by the typical miner?

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

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

9. Who were some of the boarders at the Brooker's rooming house? How were thought of by the Brookers?

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

(see the answer keys)

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