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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What happens at ten-fifteen?
(a) The sprinklers begin watering the lawn.
(b) The nursery walls come to life.
(c) A window breaks.
(d) The house shuts itself down.

3. When the story ends, what is left standing?
(a) One wall of the house.
(b) A tree.
(c) A distant building.
(d) Nothing.

4. What "delicacies" does the fire consume upstairs?
(a) The children's toys.
(b) Paintings by well-known artists.
(c) The clothing of every member of the family.
(d) Vinyl record albums by famous singers.

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

6. What happens to the dog when it cannot get into the kitchen?
(a) It dies.
(b) It leaves the house.
(c) It runs through the house breaking things.
(d) It scratches through the door.

7. What historical event is alluded to with the date given in the beginning of the story?
(a) The bombing of Hiroshima.
(b) The first testing of a nuclear bomb.
(c) The beginning of World War II.
(d) The beginning of the Cold War.

8. On what date does the story begin?
(a) August 6.
(b) April 4.
(c) April 6.
(d) August 4.

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

10. What happens at ten o'clock?
(a) The kitchen begins to make a second breakfast.
(b) The sun comes out.
(c) A stray animal wanders through the kitchen.
(d) The robot mice go back to their burrows.

11. In the image of animals, the panther is said to be "cavorting." What is this panther doing?
(a) Sleeping.
(b) Playing.
(c) Hunting.
(d) Eating.

12. Where are the "aluminium roaches and iron crickets"?
(a) In the yard.
(b) In the garage.
(c) In the nursery.
(d) In the walls.

13. What is the name of the family that owned the house?
(a) McClellan.
(b) Longfellow.
(c) Arthur.
(d) Fitzpatrick.

14. What can be seen on the house's west wall?
(a) Broken glass.
(b) A huge crater.
(c) Water beginning to seep in at the foundation.
(d) The silhouettes of the family.

15. What is thematically important about the cause of the fire in the kitchen?
(a) The fire is started by the family dog.
(b) The fire is started when the natural world intrudes into the house.
(c) The fire is started when one of the cleaning mice knocks over a cleaning product.
(d) The fire is started when the house's elaborate machinery begins to break down.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the job of the robot mice?

2. During the fire, what does Bradbury compare the house's dialogue to?

3. When the fire travels outside and up the sides of the house, it is described as what?

4. When the narrator tells readers that it seems like the voice-clock is worried that no one will get up, this is an example of what technique?

5. Which room recreates the sights, sounds, and smells of the African savanna?

(see the answer keys)

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