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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the village look like on the morning of the lottery?
(a) It is in the sun with neat houses, green lawns, and flowers everywhere.
(b) It is very metropolitan with shiny glass commercial buildings.
(c) It is gloomy and cold looking with gray houses.
(d) It is dusty and dry with the paint peeling off the houses.

2. What does everyone get at this point?
(a) Stones.
(b) Instructions.
(c) Refreshments.
(d) Blank papers.

3. What holiday is mentioned in the story that suggests this village is in America?
(a) Christmas.
(b) Groundhog Day.
(c) The 4th of July.
(d) Halloween.

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

5. What explanation does the late comer give for being late?
(a) Her clock had stopped.
(b) She forgot what day it is.
(c) She overslept.
(d) She had a cake in the oven.

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

7. Who is the last person accounted for before the lottery begins?
(a) Mrs. Dunbar.
(b) Old man Warner.
(c) Tessie Hutchinson.
(d) The tall Watson boy.

8. Why does Tessie try to add her daughter's family to Bill Hutchinson's second drawing?
(a) She is trying to get the whole thing done over.
(b) She wants her daughter to have a chance to win, too.
(c) She feels the need to have all her family with her.
(d) The more people in the drawing, the greater chance she has of not getting the dot.

9. Why does his oldest son not draw for him?
(a) He rus away when the lottery begins.
(b) He is too small to reach inside the box.
(c) The boy is not yet sixteen.
(d) His mother is next in line for the family.

10. Who is the first to hold up his slip of paper?
(a) Mr. Summers.
(b) Bill Hutchinson.
(c) Old man Warner.
(d) Mr. Graves.

11. What does Mr. Graves carry onto the village square?
(a) A trumpet to begin the ceremony.
(b) A three-legged stool.
(c) An American flag.
(d) A roster of the village people.

12. What is Old man Warner's meaning when he says lottery in June, corn harvest soon?
(a) He judges time by the lottery.
(b) He thinks that June is too soon for 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.

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

14. How do most of the villagers appear to regard the lottery?
(a) They look forward to it.
(b) They are confused about it.
(c) They do not like the suspense.
(d) They hate it.

15. What are the men doing before it is time for the lottery to begin?
(a) Standing in a group talking about tractors and rain.
(b) Standing together and talking about women.
(c) Standing together and talking politics.
(d) Standing in a group but not talking.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Mrs. Delacroix have in her hands?

2. What is the procedure after Bill reveals that his family is the one?

3. What is the tone as the story begins?

4. What does Jackson suggest about civic prominence in the character of Mr. Summers.

5. When is the lottery held each year?

(see the answer keys)

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