Logo

Literature: Senior High School: 11th and 12th Grade Quiz - Of Mice and Men - Understanding the Text (Questions)

This Literature quiz is called 'Of Mice and Men - Understanding the Text' and it has been written by teachers to help you if you are studying the subject at senior high school. Playing educational quizzes is one of the most efficienct ways to learn if you are in the 11th or 12th grade - aged 16 to 18.

It costs only $12.50 per month to play this quiz and over 3,500 others that help you with your school work. You can subscribe on the page at Join Us

This senior high school English Literature quiz will test you on John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Although comprehension accounts for the first steps in approaching any work, it is not always easy to understand a text. Authors have a variety of methods through which to convey meaning and very rarely state what they mean directly. Instead, they use character, setting, plot, theme and dialog to show the reader what they wish to convey.

[readmore]

As a reader, you must pay close attention and try to understand the text as you read. Sometimes it becomes apparent that you will need to reread certain sections, especially if a later turn of events shows that you might have missed something. Don’t worry! This happens to all readers and shows that you are paying attention!

Comprehension works on several levels simultaneously. Think about context and setting and how these relate to events. Consider too how events relate to each other. One helpful method for understanding a text is to create a timeline of events. Remember, though, that events are not always revealed in the order in which they occur chronologically. Sometimes it can be useful to create chapter summaries when the structure of a text differs from the chronological timeline.

Think about characters’ actions and what these reveal about their motivations. Do any clues in the text explain their behavior? Should readers take their words at face value, or should their subtext be examined more closely? Do characters’ words always match their actions and their beliefs? Try to answer why or why not, justifying your views by referring in detail to the text.

Analyzing beginnings and endings is a very useful activity. Why does the text begin where it does? How do you come to find out about previous events? Is there any distance between the narrator and the time when reported events took place? Are future events foreshadowed? How? Analyze individual chapters in the same way: think about the significance of their beginnings and endings. Undertaking detailed analysis of this sort will really improve your knowledge and understanding of the text!

Read the questions below on Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and test your knowledge and understanding of the text.

[/readmore]
1. What are George and Lennie employed to do at the ranch?
[ ] Pick fruit
[ ] Cut and bale hay
[ ] Clean outhouses
[ ] Buck barley
2. For how long do Lennie and George expect their jobs to last?
[ ] Around a month or two
[ ] Six months
[ ] One year
[ ] They expect to work permanently at their new jobs
3. Why does George look out for Lennie?
[ ] George automatically feels responsible for everyone
[ ] George made a promise to Lennie's Aunt Clara to look out for him
[ ] Lennie followed George out to work and the two men got used to being together
[ ] George fell in with Lennie by chance and expects to leave him as soon as it is convenient
4. Why did Lennie and George have to leave Weed?
[ ] The job digging a cess-pool had come to an end
[ ] The men of Weed believed that Lennie attacked a young woman
[ ] They were fired from their last job
[ ] They left Weed in search of more highly-paid work
5. Why is Curley often looking for his wife?
[ ] He is jealous
[ ] She wanders about trying to befriend the workers on the ranch
[ ] She does not like Curley or feel loved by him and is in search of an escape
[ ] All of the above
6. What makes the dream of owning a home, a ranch and some rabbits a sudden possibility for Lennie and George?
[ ] Slim's sudden interest in joining them
[ ] Candy's offer of his life savings
[ ] Their high wages on the ranch
[ ] Crooks's offer to work just for his keep on their land
7. What does Crooks do to upset Lennie on the night the other men go into town?
[ ] He makes Lennie feel unwelcome in his room
[ ] He argues with Lennie about being excluded from the bunkhouse
[ ] He suggests that George will abandon Lennie
[ ] He tells Lennie he will never own any rabbits
8. Why does Curley's wife seek out Lennie in the barn?
[ ] She is drawn to Lennie because he injured Curley
[ ] She wishes to tell him about her dream of becoming a movie star
[ ] She is looking for something she needs in the barn and bumps into Lennie by chance
[ ] She is looking for Slim, but finds Lennie by chance
9. Why does Lennie eventually begin to talk to Curley's wife? Choose the best answer.
[ ] He ignores George's warning because he thinks she is pretty
[ ] He is interested in hearing about her life
[ ] He wants to tell her about the puppy
[ ] He discovers that she also likes rabbits
10. Why does George shoot Lennie?
[ ] He can no longer bear the burden of looking after Lennie
[ ] He is angry with Lennie for ruining the dream of owning a place of their own
[ ] He knows that Lennie has no chance of escape from violent justice this time
[ ] He feels sorry for Curley's loss
Logo
Literature: Senior High School: 11th and 12th Grade Quiz - Of Mice and Men - Understanding the Text (Answers)
1. What are George and Lennie employed to do at the ranch?
[ ] Pick fruit
[ ] Cut and bale hay
[ ] Clean outhouses
[x] Buck barley
Lennie and George are hired to work as "buckers", which means they will carry and load the barley harvest
2. For how long do Lennie and George expect their jobs to last?
[x] Around a month or two
[ ] Six months
[ ] One year
[ ] They expect to work permanently at their new jobs
As casual agricultural laborers, George and Lennie must move from one ranch to another in a constant search for work
3. Why does George look out for Lennie?
[ ] George automatically feels responsible for everyone
[ ] George made a promise to Lennie's Aunt Clara to look out for him
[x] Lennie followed George out to work and the two men got used to being together
[ ] George fell in with Lennie by chance and expects to leave him as soon as it is convenient
George has no family and feels that traveling in companionship protects him from falling into antisocial behavior. He tells the boss that he made a promise to Lennie's "old lady", lying about being cousins and about Lennie being kicked in the head by a horse, too. He later tells the truth to Slim
4. Why did Lennie and George have to leave Weed?
[ ] The job digging a cess-pool had come to an end
[x] The men of Weed believed that Lennie attacked a young woman
[ ] They were fired from their last job
[ ] They left Weed in search of more highly-paid work
Lennie got himself into trouble by trying to touch a young woman's dress, frightening her and panicking himself at her screams for help. The two men are forced to hide from the group of men seeking violent revenge
5. Why is Curley often looking for his wife?
[ ] He is jealous
[ ] She wanders about trying to befriend the workers on the ranch
[ ] She does not like Curley or feel loved by him and is in search of an escape
[x] All of the above
Curley's insecurity and violence, mingled with his wife's loneliness and naivety, leave the men of the ranch dreading her frequent appearances
6. What makes the dream of owning a home, a ranch and some rabbits a sudden possibility for Lennie and George?
[ ] Slim's sudden interest in joining them
[x] Candy's offer of his life savings
[ ] Their high wages on the ranch
[ ] Crooks's offer to work just for his keep on their land
The wages of a casual laborer are low and unreliable. Candy's modest savings have been augmented by a payout for losing his hand on the ranch. His offer of money to the two men makes their dream possible in an instant
7. What does Crooks do to upset Lennie on the night the other men go into town?
[ ] He makes Lennie feel unwelcome in his room
[ ] He argues with Lennie about being excluded from the bunkhouse
[x] He suggests that George will abandon Lennie
[ ] He tells Lennie he will never own any rabbits
At first Crooks enjoys teasing Lennie until he realizes how seriously frightened (and unpredictable) Lennie has become at the thought of facing the world without George
8. Why does Curley's wife seek out Lennie in the barn?
[x] She is drawn to Lennie because he injured Curley
[ ] She wishes to tell him about her dream of becoming a movie star
[ ] She is looking for something she needs in the barn and bumps into Lennie by chance
[ ] She is looking for Slim, but finds Lennie by chance
Curley's wife, who doesn't yet realize that Lennie has the mental age of a child, thinks she can flirt with him with the aim of enlisting him as protection from Curley
9. Why does Lennie eventually begin to talk to Curley's wife? Choose the best answer.
[ ] He ignores George's warning because he thinks she is pretty
[ ] He is interested in hearing about her life
[x] He wants to tell her about the puppy
[ ] He discovers that she also likes rabbits
When she asks what he is hiding, Lennie shows her the puppy and begins to talk about his dream of owning rabbits, sharing his sorrow and fear that George will be angry with him
10. Why does George shoot Lennie?
[ ] He can no longer bear the burden of looking after Lennie
[ ] He is angry with Lennie for ruining the dream of owning a place of their own
[x] He knows that Lennie has no chance of escape from violent justice this time
[ ] He feels sorry for Curley's loss
George wishes to protect Lennie from violent retribution, but also knows there is no possibility of running away in this case. Very few people would understand that Lennie did not intentionally kill, or even mean to hurt, Curley's wife