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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What is Sergeant Noonan’s first name in the story?
(a) Peter
(b) James
(c) Jack
(d) Patrick

3. One of the policemen says to Mary, “It’s the old story. Get the weapon, and you’ve got” what?
(a) A good lead
(b) More questions
(c) The answers
(d) The man

4. Author Roald Dahl is perhaps best known for writing what children’s novel?
(a) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
(b) Where the Wild Things Are
(c) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
(d) Sarah, Plain and Tall

5. “Lamb to the Slaughter” was written and is presumably set in what era?
(a) The 1920s
(b) The 1950s
(c) The 1940s
(d) The 1930s

6. What does Mary request while she’s rehearsing in her room after killing Patrick?
(a) Potatoes and peas
(b) Her mother’s phone number
(c) Ham and eggs
(d) A lawyer

7. What is Mary’s presumed reason for going to the store in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) To establish an alibi
(b) She needed vegetables
(c) She was out of milk
(d) She wanted to get away from her husband

8. What word from the story means a punishment imposed or incurred for a violation of law?
(a) Motive
(b) Judgment
(c) Penalty
(d) Evidence

9. What does Mary attempt to do in the bedroom after killing Patrick?
(a) Call her mother
(b) Cry
(c) Scream
(d) Smile

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

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

12. How does Mary kill her husband in the story?
(a) She strangles him
(b) She poisons him
(c) She hits him over the head
(d) She shoots him in the chest

13. What is described in the Thermos bucket in the opening of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) A bottle of beer
(b) A bottle of champagne
(c) Stagnant water
(d) Fresh ice cubes

14. Sergeant Noonan discovers that what is still on in the kitchen?
(a) Mary’s blender
(b) Mary’s lights
(c) Mary’s toaster
(d) Mary’s oven

15. Where in “Lamb to the Slaughter” does the rising action take place?
(a) When the police arrive at Mary’s door
(b) When Mary goes to the store
(c) When Patrick tells Mary he’s leaving her
(d) When Mary calls the police

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Patrick tells Mary after relating his story that “there needn’t really be any” what?

3. What is Mary’s response when Patrick tells her, “Listen, I’ve got something to tell you”?

4. Who is the officer who is asked by another in the kitchen, “What do you think?”

5. What is the presumed setting of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

(see the answer keys)

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