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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What starts to slow Steinbeck's progress?
(a) Steinbeck is in awe of the scenery.
(b) Charley is having urinary trouble and their stops are taking longer.
(c) Steinbeck diverts from his itinerary.
(d) Steinbeck stops to take more photographs.

2. What holiday does Steinbeck celebrate with his wife in Texas?
(a) Thanksgiving
(b) Yom Kippur
(c) Halloween
(d) Christmas

3. What returns for Mrs. Steinbeck when she talks to a fellow Texan?
(a) Her temper
(b) Her Texas accent
(c) Her manners
(d) Her distrust

4. Who is Steinbeck drawn to at the rest stops?
(a) Tour groups
(b) Families
(c) Truck drivers
(d) Military personnel

5. What is Steinbeck given when he asks for a reading light?
(a) A coal oil lantern
(b) A table lamp
(c) A flashlight
(d) A floor lamp

6. What significant event does Steinbeck anticipate in Montana?
(a) Seeing Mount Rushmore
(b) Crossing the Colorado River
(c) Crossing the Continental Divide
(d) The geyser of Old Faithful

7. What does Steinbeck contemplate as he drives through Louisiana?
(a) How he hopes his new book will be a success
(b) The only black family he had known while growing up--the Coopers
(c) How he can't wait to get home
(d) What to give his wife for Christmas

8. After the border fiasco, Steinbeck admits that he loves countries but hates _____________________.
(a) governments
(b) driving
(c) rundown roadside rest areas
(d) inaccurate road maps

9. What does Steinbeck call the previous guest of a hotel room he waits in temporarily?
(a) The Invisible Man
(b) Johnny on the Spot
(c) Lonesome Harry
(d) Marvel the Magician

10. What does Steinbeck notice that have sprung up near urban centers?
(a) Baseball diamonds
(b) Drug stores
(c) Industrial parks
(d) Trailer parks

11. What does Steinbeck see beneath the bluster and brag of the Texans he knows?
(a) Ignorance
(b) Sensitivity
(c) Bad tempers
(d) Intelligence

12. What does the park ranger warn Steinbeck about as he enters the answer to #130?
(a) Falling rocks
(b) Extreme temperatures
(c) Bears
(d) Coyotes

13. According to Steinbeck, what do people living in a bland world crave?
(a) Sex and violence in their fiction
(b) Travel magazines about foreign countries
(c) Science fiction books
(d) Restaurants serving spicy foods

14. What impresses Steinbeck about the Oregon coast?
(a) The fog
(b) Sequoia trees
(c) The rocks
(d) The orchards

15. Whose birthplace is Steinbeck anxious to visit?
(a) John F. Kennedy
(b) Sinclair Lewis
(c) Pocahantas
(d) Knut Rockne

Short Answer Questions

1. Where does Steinbeck go to reminisce with an old friend?

2. Why does Steinbeck think the dairy farms he sees must be subsidized?

3. In what city in Louisiana does Steinbeck decide to stop?

4. To which state would Steinbeck like to move?

5. What does Steinbeck do to accelerate his trip?

(see the answer keys)

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