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The Importance of Being Earnest

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The Importance of Being Earnest

Oscar Wilde

Quiz

1. Why does Lane think it isn't polite to listen to Algernon's piano-playing?

(A) Because Lane is only a servant

(B) Because Algernon plays so badly

(D) Because he knows Algernon is shy about his playing

2. What does Algernon tell Jack he has always suspected him of being?

(A) A Communist

(B) A Liberal Unionist

(D) A Tory

3. What leads Algernon to think Jack is leading a double life?

(A) A letter

(B) A diary

(D) A handkerchief embroidered with strawberries

4. What does Jack say it is a very ungentlemanly thing to read?

(A) Gwendolen's diary

(B) French drama

(D) A private cigarette case

5. At first, Jack tells Algernon that Cecily is his what?

(A) Sister

(B) Aunt

(D) Former governess

6. What does Algernon mean when he says that Lady Bracknell rings the doorbell in a “Wagnerian manner”?

(A) That she is humming “The Ride of the Valkyrie”

(B) That she is dressed up like one of the Valkyrie

(D) That she has a tendency to burst into song

7. Why does Lane claim that there were “no cucumbers at the market”?

(A) Because he thinks Algernon should go on a high-protein diet

(B) Because Algernon has eaten all the cucumber sandwiches himself

(D) B and C

8. What does Gwendolen say they live in?

(A) A pigsty

(B) An age of ideals

(D) An age of surfaces

9. What does Gwendolen say the name Ernest produces?

(A) Vibrations

(B) Suspicions

(D) A and C

10. What is Lady Bracknell's reaction when Jack admits to her that he smokes?

(A) Shock

(B) Disgust

(D) A coughing fit

11. Where did old Mr. Thomas Cardew find Jack as a baby?

(A) In a cloakroom at a railway station

(B) Shropshire

(D) The British Museum

12. What is Lady Bracknell's objection to Jack as a prospective suitor to Gwendolen?

(A) His smoking

(B) His lack of an occupation

(D) His politics

13. What does Algernon begin playing offstage at the conclusion of Jack's interview with Lady Bracknell?

(A) A funeral march

(B) “The Wedding March”

(D) “The Ride of the Valkyrie”

14. What is Gwendolen's response to the story of Jack's origins?

(A) She is shocked

(B) She is disgusted

(D) She thinks it's a hoot

15. Who does Algernon think ought to set an example for the upper classes?

(A) The prime minister

(B) The lower classes

(D) The clergy

16. What does Jack call Lady Bracknell behind her back?

(A) A Gorgon

(B) An organ

(D) A Bunburyist

17. Why hasn't Jack told Gwendolen that he has an excessively pretty young ward?

(A) Because Gwendolen might be jealous

(B) Because Gwendolen might want to borrow some of her clothes

(D) Because Gwendolen herself is extremely unattractive

18. What is the name of Algernon's imaginary friend?

(A) Harbury

(B) Bunbury

(D) Bunberry

19. Where is Jack's house in the country?

(A) Shropshire

(B) Hertfordshire

(D) Sussex

20. Why is Cecily nervous about meeting Jack's brother Ernest?

(A) Because he's wicked

(B) Because he'll find out about their engagement

(D) Because she's afraid he'll look just like everyone else

21. Where has Cecily recorded her engagement to Jack's brother Ernest?

(A) In the Times

(B) In the family bible

(D) In her diary

22. Why has Cecily broken off her engagement to Algernon?

(A) She discovered that Jack's brother is more wicked than she thought

(B) She discovered that Jack's brother is less wicked than she thought

(D) She had met someone else

23. Why does Gwendolen never travel without her diary?

(A) She is trying to come to terms with herself

(B) She has a poor memory

(D) One should always have something sensational to read on the train

24. Why does Gwendolen tell Cecily that cake and sugar are no longer fashionable?

(A) She wants to give her friendly advice

(B) She thinks Cecily herself could stand to lose a few pounds

(D) She wants to insult Cecily

25. Why does Cecily put sugar in Gwendolen's tea?

(A) She doesn't hear what Gwendolen said

(B) She doesn't understand what Gwendolen said

(D) She wants to insult Gwendolen

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Victorian Literature

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