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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Bill say it would take over 31,000 years to do?
(a) Make the tax system fair.
(b) Pay off the national debt.
(c) Count a trillion dollars.
(d) Travel to Mars and back.

2. What does Bill hate about flying now that he is back in the U.S.?
(a) Having to show photo identification at the airport.
(b) The snacks are terrible.
(c) The price of tickets.
(d) No meals are served.

3. What does Bill say about American sports teams that would never happen in Britain?
(a) The players play for small salaries.
(b) A team can move its franchise to a new city.
(c) The players are all polite.
(d) The teams have cheerleaders.

4. What does Bill say about the way people of the world eat?
(a) Most people don't eat enough.
(b) Most people eat too much.
(c) There are thousands of foods but only a few are eaten a lot.
(d) We eat a huge variety of things.

5. What does Bill end up doing with all the food he buys at the supermarket?
(a) He throws half of it out.
(b) He eats his way through it and buys more.
(c) He eats his way through it and hates it.
(d) He makes his kids eat it all.

Short Answer Questions

1. What event in America is starting up as Bill begins writing his columns for his British audience?

2. What does Bryson say that all New Englanders do?

3. How does Bill know so much about motels?

4. What does Bill tell the reader about crime in New Hampshire?

5. What does Bill find in the bottom of his refrigerator, a left over from his junk-food shopping with his wife?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Bryson compare late television in the U.S. to late time television in Britain in his "Drug Culture"? What does he say about the American approach to over-the-counter medicine from watching commercials for these products?

2. "The Cupholder Revolution" details the proliferation of cupholders. What does Bryson have to say about them?

3. In "How to Have Fun at Home,"which household conveniences are high on Bill's approval list? Why?

4. What comparison does Bryson make between American baseball and English cricket in "Take Me Out to the Ballpark"?

5. In "The Inefficiency Report," Bryson says "Our subject today is large-scale incompetence in my native land." Give some examples of what he believes are areas of incompetence in 1990s America.

6. Bryson finds the lack of privacy in America to be a problem. List three examples of this problem that he cites in "Snoopers at Work."

7. Why does Bryson find going to a restaurant in the United States so difficult, as expressed in "What's Cooking"? How does he address the issue of the many varieties of food out there?

8. Summarize Bryson's trip to the supermarket in "Junk-Food Heaven." Include why he went shopping in the first place, what he saw at the store, and what was the ultimate outcome of that trip.

9. In "The War on Drugs," what examples does Bryson give to prove his belief about American drug laws being unfair?

10. "Tales of the North Woods" tells the reader something about the wilder side of New Hampshire, Bryson's new home state. What information does he share with the reader about the wilderness of New Hampshire?

(see the answer keys)

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