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

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

3. What is "traveling?"
(a) Going up and down in the elevator.
(b) The unpaid time it takes to crawl through the tunnels to the job site.
(c) Getting to and from the mine from the miner's home.
(d) The unpaid time it takes to get from the job site to the eating area.

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

5. Who did the tenants of the slum houses believe to be the worst landlords?
(a) The wealthy buisnessman in London.
(b) The mayor or anyone in his office.
(c) The government.
(d) The poor woman who lives off the rent of her tenants.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many people shared the bedroom in which Orwell slept at the Brookers?

2. Why did men chew tobacco in the mines?

3. With what phrase did all of Mrs. Brooker's complaints end?

4. Who were the fillers?

5. At what time of year does the coal industry slack off?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the meals Orwell was offered while living at the Brookers. Who cooked the meals? What were the boarders given to eat for dinner?

2. 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?

3. Why were the fillers an important part of the coal mining business? What were their jobs?

4. 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?

5. Why did Orwell leave the Brookers? Where did he go? How did he respond to his train trip leaving town?

6. What were the caravan dwellings Orwell speaks about in his book? How many were there in Wigan? What were the living conditions in these caravan dwelling?

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

8. 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?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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