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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Mary tells Patrick that he can eat his dinner where in the beginning of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) In his chair
(b) In the dining room
(c) At the diner
(d) At the restaurant

2. Where was author Roald Dahl born?
(a) Poland
(b) Wales
(c) Norway
(d) Russia

3. Who discovers a small patch of congealed blood on Patrick’s head when the police arrive?
(a) Sergeant Noonan
(b) Charlie
(c) O'Malley
(d) A police photographer

4. What is a prominent literary element in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) Symbolism
(b) Literary allusion
(c) Repetitive verse
(d) Onomatopoeia

5. What reason does Mary give to the store clerk for her staying in tonight?
(a) The restaurant is closed
(b) The car needs repairs
(c) She is feeling ill
(d) Patrick is tired

6. Mary stops to wonder after killing Patrick, “What were the laws about murderers with” what?
(a) Unborn children
(b) Medical conditions
(c) Ties to their victims
(d) Religious convictions

7. What kind of look describes Mary’s eyes in the beginning of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) Placid
(b) Excited
(c) Mourning
(d) Wondering

8. The narrator states that Mary “loved to” do what “in the presence of this man” (Patrick) in the beginning of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) Entertain
(b) Pray
(c) Philosophize
(d) Luxuriate

9. One of the officers in the kitchen says of Patrick, “The doc says his skull was smashed all to pieces just like from a” what?
(a) Baseball bat
(b) Tire iron
(c) Sledgehammer
(d) A piece of firewood

10. What word used in describing the story’s setting refers to a piece of furniture, as in a dining room, often with shelves or drawers?
(a) Frontslab
(b) Topdrawer
(c) Rearshelf
(d) Sideboard

11. What does the store clerk inquire if Mary wants to purchase?
(a) Meat
(b) A newspaper
(c) Wine
(d) Milk

12. Patrick’s “statement” to Mary is not detailed in the text, but is said to last now long at most?
(a) 3-4 minutes
(b) 4-5 minutes
(c) 1-2 minutes
(d) 2-3 minutes

13. How long does Patrick remain standing before he crashes to the carpet?
(a) 15-20 seconds
(b) 5-10 seconds
(c) 2-3 seconds
(d) 4-5 seconds

14. What is the store clerk’s response when Mary asks him if he thinks her dinner will be all right despite being cooked from frozen?
(a) Personally, I don’t believe it makes any difference
(b) Personally, I would thaw it first
(c) Personally, I will only eat them fresh
(d) I wouldn’t know, I am a vegetarian

15. Who is the officer who is asked by another in the kitchen, “What do you think?”
(a) The fingerprint man
(b) Sergeant Noonan
(c) Charlie
(d) O'Malley

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Patrick’s profession in the short story?

2. One of the officers in the kitchen says of the murder weapon, “"Personally, I think it's” where?

3. What member of the investigative team departs after the body has been carried out on a stretcher?

4. What happens to the murder weapon in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

5. Mary is said to watch Patrick as he relates his statement “with a kind of dazed” what?

(see the answer keys)

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