1. What, in the chapter “Sounds,” does Thoreau describe as having the roar of a fierce beast?
A. A wolf
B. A moose
C. A train
D. A riverboat
2. In what town did Thoreau spend most of his life?
A. Boston
B. Concord
C. Plymouth
D. Providence
3. What college did Thoreau attend?
A. Amherst
B. Harvard
C. Oxford
D. Yale
4. In what season does Thoreau conclude his stay at Walden Pond?
A. Summer
B. Winter
C. Autumn
D. Spring
5. When did Thoreau move in to his house at Walden Pond?
A. 1836
B. 1845
C. 1848
D. 1854
6. What, according to Thoreau, do the mass of men lead?
A. Lives of quiet deprecation
B. Lives of quiet derivation
C. Lives of quiet desperation
D. Lives of quiet deviation
7. Which of the following was closest to Thoreau’s house at Walden Pond?
A. A canal
B. A mill
C. A railroad
D. A school
8. What was the approximate maximum number of visitors that Thoreau received in his house at a single time?
A. One
B. Three
C. Thirteen
D. Thirty
9. Which crop did Thoreau raise in the greatest quantity?
A. Beans
B. Peas
C. Potatoes
D. Turnips
10. What war was the United States involved in during Thoreau’s stay at Walden Pond?
A. The Civil War
B. The French and Indian War
C. The Mexican War
D. The Spanish-American War
11. For what was Thoreau put into jail by the town constable?
A. Perjury
B. Tax evasion
C. Treason
D. Trespass
12. Which of the following is not the name of a pond Thoreau describes?
A. Flints’ Pond
B. Golden Pond
C. Goose Pond
D. White Pond
13. When Thoreau encounters a woodchuck in the woods, how does he react?
A. He wants to paint a picture of it
B. He wants to speak with it
C. He wants to capture it and keep it for his pet
D. He wants to eat it
14. Which poet made frequent visits to Thoreau’s cabin at Walden?
A. William Ellery Channing
B. Emily Dickinson
C. Walt Whitman
D. William Wordsworth
15. Between what creatures does Thoreau witness a battle?
A. Ants
B. Mice
C. Birds
D. Cats
16. Which philosopher pays a lengthy visit to Thoreau’s cabin at Walden?
A. Amos Bronson Alcott
B. George Santayana
C. John Dewey
D. William James
17. To what does Thoreau partly attribute John Field’s poverty?
A. His physical handicaps
B. His small farm
C. Unfair discrimination by local employers
D. His Irish heritage
18. Approximately how deep is Walden Pond at its deepest point?
A. 10 feet
B. 50 feet
C. 100 feet
D. 500 feet
19. Why do a large group of men arrive at Walden Pond in the winter of 1846–1847?
A. To chop down a number of trees
B. To clear the pond of ice for commercial
sale
C. To play a game of ice hockey
D. To pressure Thoreau into paying the debts he has accumulated
in back-taxes
20. Which of the following does Thoreau value most highly?
A. Fame
B. Love
C. Money
D. Truth
21. What, as Thoreau describes it at the end of the work, is the sun?
A. A lantern in the sky
B. A morning star
C. A red dwarf waiting to happen
D. A symbol of our lives
22. What was the title of Thoreau’s first published book?
A. A Week on the Merrimack and Concord
Rivers
B. “Civil Disobedience”
C. Nature
D. Walden
23. What cause did Thoreau take up most earnestly in the 1850s?
A. Abolitionism
B. Labor Reform
C. Temperance
D. Women’s Suffrage
24. What is Thoreau’s interaction with the loon mentioned at the end of “Brute Neighbors”?
A. He is imitating it
B. He is painting it
C. He is hunting it
D. He is playing with it
25. What color is the ice of Walden Pond?
A. Bluish
B. Yellowish
C. Pure white
D. Greenish
1: C; 2: B; 3: B; 4: D; 5: B; 6: C; 7: C; 8: D; 9: A; 10: C; 11: B; 12: B; 13: D; 14: A; 15: A; 16: A; 17: D; 18: C; 19: B; 20: D; 21: B; 22: A; 23: A; 24: D; 25: A