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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the name of the poem that the house reads after dinner?
(a) "August 6."
(b) "The Children's Hour."
(c) "There Will Come Soft Rains."
(d) "Fire and Ice."

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

3. What causes the fire to eventually win the battle with the house?
(a) The rain stops.
(b) The wind creates flames so intense the house cannot fight them.
(c) The house stops defending itself.
(d) The fire reaches the house's "brain" in the attic.

4. When the windows break and the wind makes the fire grow and spread, which thematic motif is reinforced?
(a) Nature and the house are in opposition.
(b) The house is a part of nature.
(c) The house is evil.
(d) Technology can be dangerous.

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

6. Who does the story imply is still alive in the city?
(a) No one.
(b) Some animals.
(c) The wealthy.
(d) A few scientists.

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

8. What is the job of the robot mice?
(a) Entertaining the dog.
(b) Entertaining the children.
(c) Alerting the house to intruders.
(d) Cleaning.

9. What does the dog do once it gets inside the house?
(a) It barks at every door.
(b) It falls asleep in the nursery.
(c) It looks through the house for the family's other dog.
(d) It begins eating the spoiled food.

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

11. What allusion is present in the weather box's announcement of the rain?
(a) There is a reference to a popular book of Bradbury's time.
(b) There is a reference to a Greek myth about rain and death.
(c) There is a reference to a famous Dutch painting.
(d) There is a reference to a very old folk tune, often sung by children.

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

13. In the sentence "The morning house lay empty," there is an example of which technique?
(a) Passive voice.
(b) Parallelism.
(c) Metaphor.
(d) Punning.

14. What is unusual about the images of the African animals?
(a) Their colors.
(b) Their faces.
(c) Their shapes.
(d) Their sizes.

15. At one point, Bradbury says that the house has a "preoccupation" with self-protection. What must be true about the house?
(a) It is bored by the idea of protecting itself.
(b) It is constantly trying to protect itself.
(c) It does not see a reason to try to protect itself.
(d) It is willing to do terrible things to protect itself.

Short Answer Questions

1. What can be seen on the house's west wall?

2. The line "And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn," contains an example of which technique?

3. "Seven-nine, breakfast time" is an example of which rhyming technique?

4. What does the house provide after dinner?

5. What is the first thing that the voice-clock announces?

(see the answer keys)

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