View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What kind of store does Mary go to after killing Patrick?
(a) A candy store
(b) A taxidermy store
(c) A bookstore
(d) A grocery store

2. What word from the story refers to a state of being desperate or wild with excitement, passion or fear?
(a) Grief
(b) Frantic
(c) Wonder
(d) Astonishment

3. When Mary gets up to leave the room after Patrick’s related his story, she cannot feel what?
(a) Her feet touching the floor
(b) Her eyes, gazing around the room
(c) Her hands reaching for her coat
(d) Her face looking in the mirror

4. “Lamb to the Slaughter” was adapted for an episode of what television show?
(a) The Twilight Zone
(b) Unsolved Mysteries
(c) Saturday Night Live
(d) Alfred Hitchcock Presents

5. As the search goes on, Mary knows that there are other policemen searching where?
(a) At her mother’s house
(b) At the grocery store
(c) In the garden around the house
(d) In the cellar and attic

6. What is Mary’s last name in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) Matheson
(b) Moore
(c) Markley
(d) Maloney

7. How many notes does the police detective have when he returns from checking Mary’s alibi at the store?
(a) A page of notes
(b) A couple of sentences as notes
(c) Two pages of notes
(d) A paragraph of notes

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

9. What is Patrick’s profession in the short story?
(a) He is a doctor
(b) He is a truck driver
(c) He is a taxicab driver
(d) He is a policeman

10. When Sergeant Noonan offers to take Mary to another house for the night, she responds that she “didn’t feel like she could move even” how much “at the moment”?
(a) A centimeter
(b) An inch
(c) A foot
(d) A yard

11. According to the narrator, “the detectives kept asking [Mary] a lot of questions. But they always treated her” how?
(a) Kindly
(b) Respectfully
(c) Innocently
(d) Suspiciously

12. What beverage is sitting out as Mary waits in the opening of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) Tea and lemon juice
(b) Coffee and milk
(c) Whiskey and soda water
(d) Orange juice and rum

13. What color is Patrick’s second drink that he makes for himself described as?
(a) Light brown
(b) Dark amber
(c) Light crimson
(d) Black

14. What does Mary say when the police pick up after she calls them?
(a) My husband has been attacked
(b) There has been a murder
(c) I need an ambulance
(d) Quick! Come quick! Patrick’s dead!

15. Patrick tells Mary in the story, “I've thought about it a good deal and I've decided the only thing to do is” what?
(a) Get a divorce
(b) Put the baby up for adoption
(c) Tell you right away
(d) Pray for forgiveness

Short Answer Questions

1. What time does the clock say when Mary begins to listen for her husband’s arrival in the beginning of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

2. How long does Patrick remain standing before he crashes to the carpet?

3. The narrator states that Mary “loved to” do what “in the presence of this man” (Patrick) in the beginning of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

4. How is the room that Mary waits in described in the opening of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

5. What does Patrick say when Mary “began to get frightened” in the first section of the story?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 571 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample