Hard Times Quizzes

Hard Times Quiz 1

By John Burton · Last reviewed September 09, 2001

1 What is Sissy's real name?

Meredith

Josephine

Cecilia

Sleary
2 Who offers the "correct" definition of a horse?

Bitzer

Louisa

Mr. Sleary

Mr. Thomas Gradgrind
3 What is the model for Mr. Gradgrind's school?

Stone Lodge

The panopticon

The factory

Parliament
4 Where does Mr. Gradgrind live?

In his school

Westminster

Stone Lodge

In "a banker's room"
5 Who is not one of the Gradgrind's children?

Charles

Louisa

Adam Smith

Jane
6 At the beginning of Hard Times who is Sissy's "legal guardian"?

Her father

Her mother

Mr. M'Choakumchild

Mr. Sleary
7 What is Signor Jupe's true profession?

Veterinary Surgeon

Banker

Drunkard

Circus Performer
8 What is the name of the Public House where Sissy lives?

Pegasus's Wings

The Pegasus

Pegasus's Arms

Pegasus's Legs
9 Coketown is a literary representation of which major British city?

Manchester

Birmingham

Liverpool

London
10 What does Mr. Bounderby think that the poor want?

Turtle soup and a golden spoon

Public welfare

An endless supply of gin

Venison and a golden egg
11 What killed Mrs. Sparsit's husband?

A burglar

The fits

A train

French liquor
12 Why does the "mysterious old woman" come to Coketown each year?

To lodge at Mr. Bounderby's house

To smell the city air

To cheer up Stephen Blackpool

To see the fine city gentlemen
13 Dickens compares Mr. Gradgrind to which character of children's fairy tales?

Bluebeard

King Arthur

Ali Baba

The giant from "Jack and the Beanstalk"
14 Where does Mr. Bounderby say that he lived as a young man?

In a small country town

Overseas

London

In the gutter
15 Who pays Stephen an unwelcome visit in the middle of the night?

His drunk wife

Slackbridge

Tom Gradgrind

The "mysterious old woman"
16 Who arranges the marriage between Louisa and Mr. Bounderby?

Mr. and Mrs. Gradgrind

Mr. Gradgrind and Mr. Bounderby

Louisa and Mr. Gradgrind

Tom Gradgrind and Mr. Bounderby
17 Who does Louisa love more than anyone else?

Her new husband, Mr. Bounderby

Her mother, Mrs. Gradgrind

Her brother, Tom Gradgrind

Herself
18 Coketown is likened to what fallen city of the Bible?

Babylon

Babel

Albion

Jerusalem
19 What name is used to describe Tom in the second half of the novel?

"Kid"

"Malthus"

"Icarus"

"Whelp"
20 Who is not an employee of Mr. Bounderby at some point in the novel?

Stephen Blackpool

Tom Gradgrind

Mr. Harthouse

Bitzer
21 What is the name of Slackbridge's labor movement?

United Tribunal of Hands

Coketown Hands United

United Aggregate Tribunal

United Coketown Hands
22 Why does Stephen Blackpool refuse to join the labor movement?

Because he does not trust Mr. Slackbridge

Because of a promise to Rachael

Out of loyalty to Mr. Bounderby

Because he is afraid of losing his job
23 When does Mrs. Sparsit move into Bounderby's bank?

After Bounderby sells his country house

After she retires

After the theft

After Bounderby is married
24 What is Harthouse's nickname?

Great Pyramid

Kid

Jem

Hart
25 What is Louisa's "curious reserve"?

Her insistence on attending lectures

Her resistance to Mr. Harthouse's advances.

Her hidden stash of bank-notes

Her spite for Mrs. Sparsit

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