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

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

3. What did Old Jack say every night when he went to bed?
(a) "Good night, boys!"
(b) "Till the morrow!"
(c) "Tomorrow's comin'."
(d) "Sleep warm, then."

4. What is a cage?
(a) A steel box in which the foreman rides through the caverns.
(b) A steel box in which supplies and personal belongings are kept.
(c) A steel box that is lowered at a fast rate into the caverns of the mine.
(d) A steel box in which coal is transported to the surface.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What did miners tell Orwell about why they ate less than he did at a meal?

3. Who were the fillers?

4. Where was Orwell's bed in his room at the Brooker's house?

5. What was offered a very few of the miners in the better built mines?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

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

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

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

6. What were some of the reasons Orwell gave for a miner's pay being much lower than his publicized wage?

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

8. What difference did Orwell see in the lives of the working class and the bourgeois that had to do with the humiliation suffered by many miners?

9. 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?

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

(see the answer keys)

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