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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which room recreates the sights, sounds, and smells of the African savanna?
(a) The bathroom.
(b) The living room.
(c) The kitchen.
(d) The nursery.

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

3. 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) It has begun to rain outside.
(d) The house is ready to "die."

4. Which is the best summary of how the poem "There Will Come Soft Rains" compares to the short story of the same name?
(a) The poem focuses more on the survival of a world without humans.
(b) The poem focuses more on the role of technology in humankind's demise.
(c) The poem is more hopeful about humankind's future.
(d) The poem is a darker version of the same ideas contained in the short story.

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

6. "Seven-nine, breakfast time" is an example of which rhyming technique?
(a) Slant rhyme.
(b) Eye rhyme.
(c) End rhyme.
(d) Identical rhyme.

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

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

9. What does Bradbury compare the chemical fire-fighting foam to?
(a) Elephants.
(b) Clouds.
(c) Snakes.
(d) Seafoam.

10. Just before the house collapses, what does it do?
(a) It dumps out all of the liquor, coffee, and milk in one last attempt to fight the fire.
(b) It shuts down entirely except for its "voice" function.
(c) It announces the wrong date and time.
(d) It begins performing multiple functions over and over.

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

12. "Mr. Featherstone" is an example of what literary technique?
(a) Kenning.
(b) Epithet.
(c) Paradox.
(d) Oxymoron.

13. When the fire travels outside and up the sides of the house, it is described as what?
(a) Overwhelming.
(b) Treacherous.
(c) Clever.
(d) Mischievous.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the house do with the uneaten breakfast?

2. Bradbury mentions that martinis "manifested" on tables. What did the martinis do?

3. What does the house provide after dinner?

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

5. What is the name of the poem that the house reads after dinner?

(see the answer keys)

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