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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Of Holston, the narrator says in Chapter 2, “He pretended not to care, to be disinterested in” what?
(a) “The when of the cleaning.”
(b) “The past of the cleaning.”
(c) “The why of the cleaning.”
(d) “The how of the cleaning.”

2. What does Holston carry with him everywhere, according to the narrator in Chapter 1?
(a) A handgun.
(b) A newspaper clipping.
(c) A stapler.
(d) A lottery ticket.

3. What word from Chapter 1 refers to a road or path forming a route between two places?
(a) Onomatopoeia.
(b) Juggernaut.
(c) Thoroughfare.
(d) Ablation.

4. What did Holston and his wife hang over their bed to increase fertility?
(a) Garlic.
(b) Feathers.
(c) Potatoes.
(d) Pennies.

5. What were the children doing “while Holston climbed to his death” in Chapter 1?
(a) “The children were playing.”
(b) “The children were shooting.”
(c) “The children were weeping.”
(d) “The children were screaming.”

6. Holston’s office is described in Chapter 1 as being between the cafeteria and what?
(a) The zoo.
(b) The schoolroom.
(c) The nursery.
(d) The airlock.

7. What word from Chapter 1 refers to the surgical removal of body tissue?
(a) Articulation.
(b) Juggernaut.
(c) Ablation.
(d) Precision.

8. In the conclusion of Chapter 3, the narrator states that Holston’s “wife was poking some great, overly full balloon with” what?
(a) “A needle.”
(b) “A dagger.”
(c) “A sword.”
(d) “A broomstick.”

9. What word does Allison use in Chapter 3 to refer to all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively?
(a) Denouement.
(b) Generation.
(c) Juggernaut.
(d) Articulation.

10. What word from Chapter 1 means to oscillate or move rhythmically and steadily to and fro?
(a) Coalesce.
(b) Expel.
(c) Vibrate.
(d) Juggernaut.

11. How many years ago does the narrator say Donna Parkins was put to cleaning in Chapter 2?
(a) 15.
(b) 20.
(c) 3.
(d) 12.

12. What are described in Chapter 2 as “the only books to survive the uprising”?
(a) Children’s books.
(b) Religious books.
(c) History books.
(d) Science textbooks.

13. When the narrator says that Holston feels pressure to find someone to send to cleaning in Chapter 3, it is stated, “It was growing, like steam building up in the silo, ready to launch something out.” What literary technique is used in this sentence?
(a) Assonance.
(b) Onomatopoeia.
(c) Literary allusion.
(d) Simile.

14. The narrator says of Holston in Chapter 2, “He continued to see inevitable events from the past as” what?
(a) “Important.”
(b) “Avoidable.”
(c) “Accountable.”
(d) “Meaningful.”

15. What word from Chapter 2 refers to a minute area of illumination on a display screen?
(a) Pixel.
(b) Juggernaut.
(c) Polymer.
(d) Ablation.

Short Answer Questions

1. What word does Allison use in Chapter 3 to describe her supposition intended to the explain past events?

2. Whose son bumps into Holston’s knees at the top of the stairs in Chapter 1?

3. In describing the stairway in Chapter 1, the narrator says, “Each step was slightly bowed from” what?

4. What is described as “the only moving feature on the landscape” in Chapter 2?

5. What word from Chapter 2 refers to a difficult, unpleasant, or embarrassing situation?

(see the answer keys)

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