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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What type of story is THE LOTTERY?
(a) A comedy.
(b) A drama.
(c) A satire.
(d) A history.

3. What does Tessie try to do before Bill draws for the family?
(a) Find her three children to stand with their father.
(b) Run home to change clothes.
(c) Include her daughter's family in the drawing.
(d) Stand where the newspaper photographer can get her photo.

4. What is the tone as the story begins?
(a) Dry like a newspaper article.
(b) Cheerful, bright, and colorful.
(c) Dreary and ominous.
(d) An average day with overcast sky.

5. Old man Warner suggests that discontinuing the lottery would be doing what?
(a) Inviting strangers into the village.
(b) Going back to the Stone Age.
(c) Shaming the ancestors.
(d) Taking the life out of the village.

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

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

8. What is Mr. Zanini's distinction at the lottery?
(a) He is the only single man there.
(b) He is the last one to draw a slip from the black box.
(c) He is the oldest man at the lottery.
(d) He is the first one to draw in the lottery.

9. What is the instruction given to the villagers about what to do after they have drawn?
(a) They are to show their papers to everyone.
(b) They are to register with Mr. Graves as having drawn.
(c) They are not to look at thier papers untill all have drawn.
(d) They are to look at their papers but not show anyone else.

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

11. Who is the first person called to draw for the lottery?
(a) Mrs. Graves.
(b) Mr. Adams.
(c) Mr. Martin.
(d) Tessie Hutchinson.

12. Is Mr. Summers exempt from the lottery?
(a) Yes. But he makes a pretense of drawing anyway.
(b) Yes. Otherwise they would have to get a new administrator every year.
(c) No. But he is the only one allowed to look into the box while drawing.
(d) No. He calls out his own name, too.

13. Which man holds the winning paper?
(a) Bill Hutchinson.
(b) Mr. Graves.
(c) Bob Martin.
(d) Old man Warner.

14. What is the traditional job of the village boys on Lottery Day?
(a) They play an exhibition football game before the lottery.
(b) They form an honor guard for the lottery box.
(c) They keep the younger children off the grass.
(d) They collect stones and bring them to the town square.

15. What is revealing about the social order of the village?
(a) The women hold a superior position.
(b) The children and running around unsupervised.
(c) The men and women are not together.
(d) The men are drinking ale.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does the lottery begin late in this village?

2. When Mr. Summers says it is time, what does everyone do?

3. What is Jackson saying about tradition.

4. Why does his oldest son not draw for him?

5. What is the age of majority in the village?

(see the answer keys)

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