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English Quiz - Non-fiction (Questions)

Non-fiction is factual, which means that it is presented as fact. The majority of the reading material with which we come into contact every day is likely to be non-fiction. What do a take-away menu and a scientific paper have in common? They are both non-fiction. The author's own opinions on the subject often come out in the form of bias, opinion, or emotive language, so the factual nature of what you are reading should always be questioned.

Test your knowledge by trying this quiz on non-fiction.

1. Which of the following is NOT an example of a non-fiction text?
[ ] A poem
[ ] An autobiography
[ ] A history book
[ ] A travel book
2. What would you be looking for if skim reading a text?
[ ] Page numbers
[ ] Graphs
[ ] Words highlighted in bold
[ ] Key words
3. In which of the following non-fiction texts would presentational devices be most important?
[ ] A letter
[ ] A menu
[ ] A diary
[ ] A biography
4. The purpose of non-fiction is to...
[ ] inform
[ ] entertain
[ ] advise
[ ] Any of the above
5. What is meant by 'subtext'?
[ ] The meaning of a text which is written in small print
[ ] The explicit meaning of a text
[ ] The implicit meaning of a text
[ ] The opposite meaning to a text
6. The author of a non-fiction text...
[ ] will always be impartial (unbiased)
[ ] might display a particular attitude toward the subject
[ ] must include one opinion for every two facts
[ ] will always display bias
7. What is meant by 'layout'?
[ ] The intended audience of a non-fiction text
[ ] The font used in a non-fiction text
[ ] The list of contents in a non-fiction text
[ ] The way in which the different elements of a text are presented on the page
8. In deciding who is the intended audience of a particular text, what would you consider?
[ ] Language, tone and style
[ ] The author's name
[ ] The price of the publication only
[ ] Whether the text uses figurative language
9. Which of these words could NOT be used to describe the tone of a text?
[ ] Humorous
[ ] Serious
[ ] Passionate
[ ] Useful
10. In comparing two non-fiction texts written on the same subject, what should you be sure to mention?
[ ] Whether you agree with either text
[ ] The intended audience and purpose of each text
[ ] Which text is longer
[ ] Which text you like better

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Non-fiction text types

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English Quiz - Non-fiction (Answers)
1. Which of the following is NOT an example of a non-fiction text?
[x] A poem
[ ] An autobiography
[ ] A history book
[ ] A travel book
2. What would you be looking for if skim reading a text?
[ ] Page numbers
[ ] Graphs
[ ] Words highlighted in bold
[x] Key words
3. In which of the following non-fiction texts would presentational devices be most important?
[ ] A letter
[x] A menu
[ ] A diary
[ ] A biography
A menu would be very hard to navigate if it were written in continuous, paragraphed prose. Menus make use of such features as changes in font style and font size, bold print, italics, pictures, headings and subheadings, colour, borders and boxed text
4. The purpose of non-fiction is to...
[ ] inform
[ ] entertain
[ ] advise
[x] Any of the above
Non-fiction can have many purposes: it can inform, entertain, advise, persuade, describe, instruct, or argue, among other things
5. What is meant by 'subtext'?
[ ] The meaning of a text which is written in small print
[ ] The explicit meaning of a text
[x] The implicit meaning of a text
[ ] The opposite meaning to a text
'Implicit' means 'implied'. To understand subtext, you need to look beyond the obvious meaning
6. The author of a non-fiction text...
[ ] will always be impartial (unbiased)
[x] might display a particular attitude toward the subject
[ ] must include one opinion for every two facts
[ ] will always display bias
Writers of some types of non-fiction, such as news reports, aim for impartiality, but this is not a necessity of every type. Many non-fiction texts are subtly (or not so subtly) biased in favour of the author's opinion on the subject
7. What is meant by 'layout'?
[ ] The intended audience of a non-fiction text
[ ] The font used in a non-fiction text
[ ] The list of contents in a non-fiction text
[x] The way in which the different elements of a text are presented on the page
8. In deciding who is the intended audience of a particular text, what would you consider?
[x] Language, tone and style
[ ] The author's name
[ ] The price of the publication only
[ ] Whether the text uses figurative language
9. Which of these words could NOT be used to describe the tone of a text?
[ ] Humorous
[ ] Serious
[ ] Passionate
[x] Useful
A piece of writing may be useful to you, but 'tone' describes the author's attitude to the subject (i.e. serious, passionate, angry, humorous, dispassionate, etc.)
10. In comparing two non-fiction texts written on the same subject, what should you be sure to mention?
[ ] Whether you agree with either text
[x] The intended audience and purpose of each text
[ ] Which text is longer
[ ] Which text you like better