View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Bradbury metaphorically compare the house to?
(a) A closed umbrella.
(b) An elderly unmarried woman.
(c) A zoo.
(d) A bomb shelter.

2. What effect is the constant repetition and rhyming of the voice-clock probably meant to have?
(a) It stresses the forgetfulness of the family.
(b) It reinforces the similarity of everything that the voice clock says.
(c) It demonstrates a positive attitude toward technology.
(d) It echos the language of fairy tales and nursery rhymes.

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

4. "The house tried to save itself" is an example of which technique?
(a) Alliteration.
(b) Paradox.
(c) Personification.
(d) Onomatopoeia.

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

6. Who is the author of the poem that the house reads after dinner?
(a) Longfellow.
(b) Thomas.
(c) Teasdale.
(d) Bradbury.

7. What is the house compared to as it burns to the ground?
(a) A skeleton.
(b) A bonfire.
(c) A cigar.
(d) A bomb.

8. During the fire, what does Bradbury compare the house's dialogue to?
(a) A nursery rhyme.
(b) The epilogue of a play.
(c) A person's last words.
(d) The poem "There Will Come Soft Rains."

9. What is the reaction of nature to the end of human existence in the poem "There Will Come Soft Rains"?
(a) Nature is puzzled and uncertain.
(b) Nature celebrates the end of humankind.
(c) Nature is unaware and indifferent.
(d) Nature grieves the loss of humankind.

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

11. Bradbury mentions that martinis "manifested" on tables. What did the martinis do?
(a) Appeared.
(b) Sparkled.
(c) Evaporated.
(d) Spilled.

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

13. What does Bradbury compare to Baal?
(a) The incinerator.
(b) The house.
(c) The dog.
(d) The stove.

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

15. What causes the house to temporarily "give up" as the fire spreads?
(a) The house is waiting for the flames to reach the attic.
(b) There is no more water.
(c) The house is ready to "die."
(d) It has begun to rain outside.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does the dog want to get into the kitchen so badly?

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

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

4. To what story do the robot mice allude?

5. What is unusual about the images of the African animals?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 524 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample