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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 1: "There Will Come Soft Rains".

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does the dog want to get into the kitchen so badly?
(a) It thinks the family is in the kitchen.
(b) The house has begun making pancakes.
(c) The rest of the house is filling with smoke.
(d) Its food dish is in the kitchen.

2. In which city does the story take place?
(a) Sacramento.
(b) Allendale.
(c) Petaluma.
(d) San Francisco.

3. From two thirty-five to four o'clock, what can readers infer that the family would ordinarily be doing?
(a) They would still be at work and school.
(b) Cleaning.
(c) Playing cards and having a snack.
(d) Having friends over to eat and listen to the radio.

4. What is strange about how the nursery reacts to the fire?
(a) The nursery deliberately opens its windows during the fire.
(b) The animal images seem to be aware of the fire.
(c) The voice in the nursery walls begins singing an old children's song.
(d) The nursery is the only room that does not turn on its sprinklers.

5. What is the probable purpose of emphasizing the roundness of the smoke plume and the great quantity of smoke?
(a) It points out how little chance the house really had.
(b) It reminds the reader of a nuclear explosion.
(c) It reinforces the "technology versus nature" motif.
(d) There is an implied comparison to a woman's skirts.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happens at ten o'clock?

2. In the sentence "The morning house lay empty," there is an example of which technique?

3. When the story ends, what is left standing?

4. What does the house provide after dinner?

5. What does Bradbury compare to Baal?

(see the answer key)

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