Name___________________________________________Date______________________Period______Score_______The Importance of Being Earnest Act I Reading Quiz

________1. Why does Lane think it isn't polite to listen to Algernon's piano-playing?

A. Because Lane is only a servantB. Because Algernon plays so badlyC. Because Lane is tone deafD. Because he knows Algernon is shy about his

playing

________2. What does Algernon tell Jack he has always suspected him of being?

A. A CommunistB. A Liberal UnionistC. A BunburyistD. A Tory

________3. What leads Algernon to think Jack is leading a double life?

A. A letterB. A diaryC. An inscriptionD. A handkerchief embroidered with strawberries

________4. What does Jack say it is a very ungentlemanly thing to read?

A. Gwendolen's diaryB. French dramaC. More than half of modern literatureD. A private cigarette case

________5. At first, Jack tells Algernon that Cecily is his what?

A. SisterB. AuntC. Hair coloristD. 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 ValkyrieC. That she rings insistently, leaving her finger on the

bell for a long timeD. 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

C. Because he wants to get Algernon off the hookD. B and C

________8. What does Gwendolen say they live in?A. A pigstyB. An age of idealsC. A house in ShropshireD. An age of surfaces

________9. What is Lady Bracknell's reaction when Jack admits to her that he smokes?

A. ShockB. DisgustC. ApprovalD. A coughing fit

________10. Where did old Mr. Thomas Cardew find Jack as a baby?

A. In a cloakroom at a railway stationB. ShropshireC. A foundling hospitalD. The British Museum

________11. What is Lady Bracknell's objection to Jack as a prospective suitor to Gwendolen?

A. His smokingB. His lack of an occupationC. His originsD. His politics

________12. What is Gwendolen's response to the story of Jack's origins?

A. She is shockedB. She is disgustedC. She thinks it's romanticD. She thinks it's a hoot

________13. Who does Algernon think ought to set an example for the upper classes?

A. The prime ministerB. The lower classesC. The queenD. The clergy

________14. What does Jack call Lady Bracknell behind her back?

A. A GorgonB. An organC. A Liberal UnionistD. A Bunburyist

________15. What is the name of Algernon's imaginary friend?

A. HarburyB. BunburyC. MarkbyD. Bunberry

________16. Where is Jack's house in the country?A. ShropshireB. HertfordshireC. WorthingD. Sussex