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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the first thing that the voice-clock announces?
(a) It is raining.
(b) Time to get up.
(c) Time for work.
(d) Time for breakfast.

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

3. What does the garage do when no one drives the car away?
(a) Announces again that it is time to go to work and to school.
(b) Starts the car remotely.
(c) Uses the car horn to alert the family.
(d) Waits and then closes again.

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

5. 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.

6. What does "feathery fire" describe in the poem "There Will Come Soft Rains"?
(a) The color of a male robin's breast.
(b) The movement of flames destroying the earth.
(c) The movement of feathers in the sunshine.
(d) The color of the rays of the sun coming over the horizon.

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

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

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

10. 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 World War II.
(c) The beginning of the Cold War.
(d) The bombing of Hiroshima.

11. To what story do the robot mice allude?
(a) Little Red Riding Hood.
(b) Beauty and the Beast.
(c) Snow White.
(d) Cinderella.

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

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

14. 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.

15. Why do the robot mice come out when they do?
(a) They mistake the noise of the rain for an intruder.
(b) They are programmed to come out at nine-fifteen.
(c) They are looking for the family.
(d) There is food spilled near the table.

Short Answer Questions

1. "Mr. Featherstone" is an example of what literary technique?

2. What does Bradbury metaphorically compare the house to?

3. In which city does the story take place?

4. What does the house provide after dinner?

5. What effect is the constant repetition and rhyming of the voice-clock probably meant to have?

(see the answer keys)

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