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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the setting in which the reader first meets the twelve characters who give the play its name?
(a) The bus in which the jurors are being transported to court.
(b) The murder scene.
(c) The jury room in a New York court.
(d) The court room.

2. Which juror rebukes Juror Ten for his racist comment?
(a) Juror Nine.
(b) Juror Eight.
(c) The foreman.
(d) Juror Seven.

3. What is the defendant's alibi?
(a) He claims to have been at the store.
(b) He claims to have been at the movies.
(c) He claims to have been hanging out with his friends.
(d) He claims to have been at the ball game.

4. Who is the defendant and for what is he being tried?
(a) A young man is being tried for the murder of his father.
(b) A man is being tried for the murder of the woman next door.
(c) A man is being tried for the murder of his son.
(d) A boy is being tried for the murder of a man downstairs.

5. How does the dissenting juror discredit the allegation that the murder weapon is unique?
(a) He says he has used a similar weapon for hunting.
(b) He presents an identical weapon taken from his own pocket.
(c) He shows pictures of several similar weapons.
(d) He reads an article stating that there are hundreds of similar weapons for sale in the community.

6. Based on the impact of their testimony on the jury, who are the two most important witnesses?
(a) A young boy next door and his mother.
(b) The policeman and the doctor.
(c) An old man who lives in the victim's apartment and a woman who lives across the street.
(d) An old man across the street and a woman downstairs.

7. How does the dissenting juror suggest that the jury should proceed instead of declaring a "hung" jury?
(a) He suggests they ask for additional evidence.
(b) He suggests they all take a new vote.
(c) He suggests the eleven men vote again while he abstains; if one of the eleven votes "not guilty" they should discuss the case further.
(d) He suggests they deliberate further.

8. Why is it clear from the dissenting juror's action that anyone could have had a weapon similar to the murder weapon?
(a) He purchased it for $10 from a hunting shop nearby.
(b) He borrowed it from a policeman who said they confiscate them from schoolboys all the time.
(c) He purchased it for $2.00 from a shop near the defendant's house.
(d) He found it on the street.

9. How many days has the trial been going on when the jurors begin their deliberations?
(a) Five days.
(b) Seven days.
(c) Three days.
(d) Six days.

10. What is the reaction of the jury when the dissenting juror discredits the allegation that the weapon is unique?
(a) They claim he is a criminal just like the defendant.
(b) They begin to fight him.
(c) They are enlightened.
(d) They are astonished and one says that it is illegal to purchase such things.

11. In the beginning of the deliberations, how do most of the jurors demonstrate a lack of seriousness about their role as jurors?
(a) They read the newspaper.
(b) They do not pay attention to the details.
(c) They are concerned about how the trial has kept them from attending to their own interests.
(d) They are casual in their discussions.

12. Which words suggest that the defendant should not have to prove his innocence?
(a) The defendant is innocent "unless the judge says he is guilty."
(b) The defendant is "innocent because there is no eye-witness."
(c) The defendant is "innocent until proven guilty."
(d) The defendant is "innocent unless the prosecution presents good evidence."

13. Apart from the action of the dissenting juror in Act 1, what other contributions from a juror suggest there is at least one other juror willing to stand up against the behavior of others?
(a) Juror Six says America is a free country.
(b) The foreman orders the jurors to be orderly.
(c) Juror One says people are free to disagree.
(d) A juror rebukes Juror Ten for his racist comment.

14. Where does the old man who testifies for the prosecution live?
(a) On the second floor of the apartment building where the murder occured.
(b) On the same floor where the murder occurred.
(c) On the ground floor.
(d) Across the street.

15. Apart from the defendant, who was arrested for handling a weapon?
(a) The storekeeper who sold the defendant a weapon.
(b) Juror Eight.
(c) The witness who took the weapon until the police arrived.
(d) The friend of the defendant.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who jams the murder weapon into the wall?

2. In what process does the defendant ask questions of the prosecution's witnesses?

3. What does the verdict from the second vote among jurors prove?

4. How does the dissenting juror explain the defendant's record of violence?

5. In what way is the vote suggested by the dissenting voter different from the previous vote?

(see the answer keys)

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