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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who tells the boys what to do on the morning of the lottery?
(a) No one, they all know their responsibility.
(b) Their mothers.
(c) Their fathers.
(d) The village council.

2. Where is Tessie by the time everyone has their stones?
(a) Behind Mr. Summers.
(b) In the center.
(c) With her family.
(d) Running to hide.

3. What does Tessie do with her paper?
(a) She looks at it and is dissapointed that hers is not the one.
(b) She runs around showing it to all the women.
(c) She holds it behind her back.
(d) She puts it in her purse.

4. What are some villages rumored to be doing with their lottery?
(a) Discontinuing it.
(b) Adding a consolation prize.
(c) Combining it with another holiday.
(d) Holding parades before the lottery.

5. Though they do not remember all the ancient ritual, what do the villagers all remember?
(a) The march.
(b) The stones.
(c) The burning of the box.
(d) The song.

6. What trouble does Bobby Martin get into?
(a) He puts the stones he collected in his pocket.
(b) He gets in a fight with another boy and has a bloody nose.
(c) He gets his clean clothes all dirty and has to go home and change.
(d) He does not respond to his mother's call and his father reprimands him.

7. What is Old man Warner's meaning when he says lottery in June, corn harvest soon?
(a) He thinks that June is too soon for the lottery.
(b) He judges time by the lottery.
(c) He thinks the lottery magically makes the harvest good.
(d) He sees the lottery as a way to fill time until the harvest.

8. What is Mrs. Hutchinson's behavior as she makes her way to her family?
(a) Somber and angry.
(b) Laughing and apologizing for being late.
(c) Anxious and in a hurry.
(d) Perplexed and confused.

9. What sound is heard as the papers are opened?
(a) The school marching band.
(b) A collective sigh.
(c) The women speaking all at once.
(d) Nothing. It is very quiet.

10. How many people live in the village?
(a) Just under 1,000.
(b) 3,446.
(c) About 300.
(d) Less than 100.

11. In the story, what idea does Shirley Jackson carefully avoid?
(a) The odds of winning.
(b) Sweepstakes.
(c) Winning the lottery.
(d) The time it takes to hold the lottery.

12. What is being used for the first time this year?
(a) A new black box.
(b) A bigger stool.
(c) Slips of paper instead of wood chips.
(d) Black and white ping pong balls.

13. How does Jackson suggest that tradition may be questioned?
(a) Old man Warner compares it to the Stone Age.
(b) Some people oppose the lottery and some villages have already stopped it.
(c) A lot about the lottery has been forgotten.
(d) The village is getting smaller so tradition may die out.

14. In a large village, how long might the lottery last?
(a) As much as seven days.
(b) Not long because of better equipment.
(c) An hour because the slips were mailed to the people.
(d) All day because they have more activities in the square.

15. Who helps hold the box to keep it steady?
(a) Mr. Graves and Mr. Summers.
(b) Mr. Martin and his son.
(c) Several of the larger boys.
(d) The mayor and the chief of police.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the tone as the story begins?

2. What is stressed as important to the lottery all through the story?

3. What is on each of the children's papers?

4. What is the date of the lottery?

5. What are the men doing before it is time for the lottery to begin?

(see the answer keys)

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