Bitter Almonds Quiz
Bitter Almonds Quiz
Reading Check & Analysis: "The Landlady" by Roald Dahl
Score ____ / 25 pts
Name:
Date:
Period:
Directions: Select the best choice for Questions 1–3. For Questions 4–5, write concise, complete answers citing textual evidence. 5 Questions
1. What compels Billy Weaver to stay at the boarding house instead of continuing to the Bell and Dragon pub?
4 pts
A. A porter at the train station urged him to avoid the pub.
B. The glowing "BED AND BREAKFAST" sign holds a hypnotic, compelling pull.
C. The Bell and Dragon pub is boarded up and dark for the winter.
D. The landlady opens the door and physically guides him into the foyer.
2. When Billy inspects the guest-book on the piano, what detail immediately strikes and puzzles him?
4 pts
A. The pages are entirely blank except for his own newly written name.
B. Every previous visitor signed in with the same fictitious address.
C. There are only two entries in over two years, and both names sound familiar.
D. Both previous names were crossed out with bold strokes of red ink.
3. What macabre fact does Billy uncover about the dachshund asleep by the hearth and the parrot in the cage?
4 pts
A. Both are dead and have been stuffed and preserved through taxidermy.
B. They are mechanical clockwork novelties manufactured to imitate life.
C. They belonged to Christopher Mulholland and were left behind.
D. They have been drugged with sleeping draughts to keep the house quiet.
4. Sensory Detail & Foreshadowing: Billy notices his tea smells faintly of "bitter almonds." What lethal substance does this scent signify, and what does it reveal about the landlady's true intentions toward Billy?
6 pts
5. Dramatic Irony: The landlady remarks that Mr. Mulholland and Mr. Temple "haven't left at all" and are together "on the third floor." Explain how Dahl uses dramatic irony here to communicate the previous guests' fate to the reader.
7 pts
English Language Arts • Suspense & Literary Devices
Page 1 of 1 "The tea tasted faintly of bitter almonds..."
