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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. After living in Britain for twenty years, what does Bill find refreshingly different about the United States?
(a) The informality.
(b) The weather.
(c) The government.
(d) The fashions.

2. What do U.S. post offices do once a year that Bill likes a lot?
(a) Have a charity softball game.
(b) Give customers free donuts, pastries, and coffee.
(c) Give customers free stamps.
(d) Give out door prizes.

3. What does Bill find in the bottom of his refrigerator, a left over from his junk-food shopping with his wife?
(a) Lettuce.
(b) Popsicles.
(c) Toaster tarts.
(d) Breakfast pizza.

4. In "The Risk Factor," what does Bryson say an American is twice as likely to do as a British person?
(a) Die is hospital.
(b) Die accidentally.
(c) Die in childbirth.
(d) Die of cancer.

5. What does Bill find to be a difficult adjustment for him when he returns to the U.S.?
(a) He cannot find what he wants in the stores.
(b) He has forgotten American English.
(c) He finds it very noisy.
(d) He left as a young man and came back middle-aged.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Bill explain the popularity of motel chains in America?

2. Bryson finds summer blockbuster movies annoying, but what does he have a real problem with?

3. What does Bill say is a strange feature of their car?

4. According to Bill, which offense do the British commit that he takes offense to?

5. In "Wide-Open Spaces," according to Bryson, who was an idiot?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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."

2. In "Mail Call," what points does Bryson bring up to compare American post offices and British post offices? Why does he prefer American post offices?

3. What does Bryson, who admits he "is no stranger to sloth," say about the walking habits of Americans in Essay 26, "Why No One Walks"?

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

5. What does Bryson say about regional accents in America in the 1990s in "Dying Accents"?

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

7. In "Design Flaws" Bryson compares running shoes and his computer keyboard. What does he say about each one?

8. In "Rule Number 1: Follow All Rules,"what does Bryson use as an example of a rule that must be followed in America? How does he compare the devotion to order in the U.S. and Britain?

9. 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.

10. What information about household accidents in America does Bryson give the reader in "Well, Doctor. I was Just Trying to Lie Down..."? Where did he find his information?

(see the answer keys)

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