Hard Times Charles Dickens MCQs Elective Core English BSc Hons

Question. What is the main principle of Mr. Gradgrind’s philosophy?
(a) Fact
(b) fancy
(c) Love
(d) Patriotism

Answer: A

Question. Who robs the bank in the novel Hard Times?
(a) Stephen
(b) Tom
(c) Sissy
(d) Mrs. Sparsit

Answer: B

Question. What is the common name for poor Coketown factory workers?
(a) Cogs
(b) Scum
(c) Hands
(d) Proles

Answer: C

Question. Sissy believes her father abandoned her for what reason?
(a) Her own best interest
(b) To elope with a Frenchwoman
(c) Grief over her mother’s death
(d) A desire to see the world

Answer: A

Question. At the beginning of the story Mr Gradgrind calls the pupils by numbers. What number is Sissy Jupe?
(a) ten
(b) twenty
(c) thirty
(d) Forty

Answer: B

Question. In Hard Times Thomas Gradgrind is described as a man of
(a) facts and calculations
(b) dreams and aspirations
(c) facts and discipline
(d) wisdom and knowledge

Answer: A

Question. Stephen Blackpool could not divorce his wife because divorce was
(a) not permitted
(b) accepted as a sin
(c) denied by her wife
(d) not affordable for the poor

Answer: C

Question. Dickens described the smoke of industrialized Coketown as
(a) the serpents of smoke
(b) dark and evil
(c) the industrial smoke
(d) the deathly smoke

Answer: D

Question. Dickens’ Hard Times is a novel of social protest which attacks
(a) socialism
(b) communitarianism
(c) existentialism
(d) utilitarianism

Answer: A

Question. Which of the following characters dies during the course of the novel Hard Times?
(a) Sleary
(b) Mrs. Gradgrind
(c) Gradgrind
(d) James Harthouse

Answer: B

Question. _____ is the common name given to the poor Coketown factory workers
(a) Combination
(b) Hands
(c) Labors
(d) Unions

Answer: B

Question. Who is Kidderminster?
(a) A circus worker who dresses up as Cupid
(b) Mr. Gradgrind’s fellow Member of Parliament
(c) Sissy’s father
(d) The Hand who organizes the workers’ union

Answer: A

Question. Hard Times is divided into three sections entitled
(a) Sowing, Gardening and Reaping
(b) Sowing, Reaping and Garnering
(c) Sowing, Gathering and Reaping
(d) Sowing, Harvesting and Garnering

Answer: B

Question. Who offers the “correct” definition of a horse in Hard Times?
(a) Mr. Sleary
(b) Louisa
(c) Bitzer
(d) Mr. Thomas Gradgrind

Answer: A

Question. What does Rachael find that leads her to believe Stephen has been murdered?
(a) A trail of bloody footprints
(b) A note from the killer
(c) His hat, abandoned in a field
(d) An empty bottle of poison

Answer: C

Question. How does Stephen in Hard Times die?
(a) He is crushed by factory machinery
(b) A fall into Old Hell Shaft
(c) Murder
(d) Malnutrition as a result of poverty

Answer: B

Question. Hard Times was first published in :-
(a) 1846
(b) 1854
(c) 1860
(d) 1865

Answer: B

Question. Who is the first character to speak in the novel Hard Times?
(a) Bounderby
(b) Mr Gradgrind
(c) Sissy
(d) Bitzer

Answer: B

Question. What is the name of Sissy’s father’s dog?
(a) Happylegs
(b) Bandylegs
(c) Merrylegs
(d) Mr. Snips

Answer: C

Question. In the novel Hard Times, who runs the circus?
(a) Sleary
(b) Bitzer
(c) Mrs. Pegler
(d) Sissy’s father

Answer: A

Question. At the beginning of the novel Hard Times, who is Sissy's “legal guardian”?
(a) Her Father
(b) Mr. Choakumchild
(c) Her Mother
(d) Mr. Sleary

Answer: B

Question. Where does Louisa flee after Harthouse’s declaration of love?
(a) Her husband’s house
(b) Her father’s house
(c) Stephen’s room
(d) The circus

Answer: B

Question. Mr. Bounderby is described as a
(a) ‘Bully of humility’
(b) ‘Bully of facts’
(c) ‘Bully of fancy’
(d) ‘Bully of imagination’

Answer: D

Question. About how much money is stolen from the bank in Hard Times?
(a) 150 pounds
(b) 3,000 pounds
(c) 40,000 pounds
(d) 128,000 pounds

Answer: A

Question. Which character in Hard Times is a Member of Parliament?
(a) Bounderby
(b) Mr. McChoakumchild
(c) Bitzer
(d) Gradgrind

Answer: D

Question. In which city does most of the novel take place?
(a) Coketown
(b) Liverpool
(c) London
(d) Evenly divided between Coketown and London

Answer: A

Question. Why is Stephen unable to marry Rachael?
(a) He is already married
(b) He is too old
(c) He is too poor
(d) She is in love with another man

Answer: A

Question. . Mrs. Pegler is the mother of which character?
(a) Gradgrind
(b) Sissy
(c) Stephen
(d) Bounderby

Answer: D

Question. What is Harthouse's nickname?
(a) Great Pyramid
(b) Hart
(c) Kid
(d) Jem

Answer: C

Question. Why does Stephen Blackpool refuse to join the labour movement?
(a) Because of a promise to Rachel
(b) Out of loyalty to Mr. Bounderby
(c) Because he does not trust Mr. Slackbridge
(d) Because he is afraid of losing his job

Answer: B

Question. How do the poor of Coketown attempt to improve their conditions?
(a) By burning the factory
(b) By looting the bank
(c) By forming a union.
(d) By petitioning Parliament for assistance.

Answer: C

Question. What is the name of Mrs. Sparsit’s aristocratic relative?
(a) Col. Reginald Powler
(b) Lady Scadgers
(c) Rupert Hardwick, Esq.
(d) Ephraim Gride

Answer: B

Question. What does Gradgrind hope Tom will be able to do after Stephen’s death?
(a) Escape England
(b) Move up at the bank
(c) Marry Sissy
(d) Inherit Stephen’s fortune

Answer: A

Question. What is Bounderby’s son’s name?
(a) Bitzer
(b) Tom
(c) James Harthouse
(d) Bounderby has no son

Answer: D

Question. What is Bitzer’s defining characteristic?
(a) His pale skin
(b) His facial scar
(c) His limp
(d) His red hair

Answer: A

Question. What are Sissy’s father’s first words after he returns to his daughter?
(a) “Oh, Sissy, how I’ve missed you!”
(b) “At last . . . at long last . . . my daughter. . . .”
(c) “Child, do you not know me at last?”
(d) He never returns

Answer: D

Question. From what does Mrs. Sparsit imagine Louisa falling?
(a) A ladder
(b) A staircase
(c) The opera balcony
(d) The moon

Answer: B

Question. Who is the first character to speak in the novel?
(a) Bounderby
(b) Sissy
(c) Bitzer
(d) Gradgrind

Answer: D

Question. What motivates Harthouse to become one of Gradgrind’s political disciples?
(a) He believes in Gradgrind’s philosophy of fact
(b) Boredom
(c) The desire for wealth
(d) Pride

Answer: B

Question. Thomas Gradgrind was a man of
(a) Realities
(b) Little Faith
(c) Facts
(d) Wit

Answer: C

Question. Stephen dies when he falls into ___________

Answer: Old Hell Shaft

Question. In the end, Bounderby dies of _________________________

Answer: a fit in the street

Question. Hard Times was published in ________

Answer: 1857

Question. Hard Times is a novel about the _______ Revolution.

Answer: Industrial

Question. _______, the orator, looked about him with a withering smile.

Answer: Slackbridge

Question. Louisa Gradgrind said, “All that I know is, your ______ and your teaching will not save me.”

Answer: philosophy

Question. Book the Second in Hard Times is called ________________.

Answer: Reaping

Question. The workers in Hard Times are referred to as ___________.

Answer: Hands

Question. Mr. Gradgrind refers to Sissy Jupe as girl number _______

Answer: twenty

Question. The factory workers in Coketown tries to improve their poor condition by _________.

Answer: forming a union

Question. __________ is the name of Sissy's father's dog.

Answer: Merrylegs

Question. ________ is the main principle of Mr. Grandgrind’s philosophy

Answer: Fact

Question. Hard Times deals with 2 major institutions of human life, namely ________________________

Answer: education and family

Question. Gradgrind is described as a ‘Bully of ____________’

Answer: Imagination

Question. Hard Times is a novel of social protest which attacks _______

Answer: Utilitarianism

Question. The century in which Hard Times was written is marked by ____________________________

Answer: the Industrial Revolution

Question. In Hard Times, ________ robs the bank.

Answer: Tom

Question. Coketown, was a triumph of facts, it had no taint of _____________ in it.

Answer: Fancy

Question. Sissy’s real name is _____________.

Answer: Cecilia Jupe

Question. Mr. Gradgrind says that _______ alone are wanted in life.

Answer: Facts