"Harrison Bergeron" Quiz

What mainly do the following lines about the ballerinas reveal (paragraph 10)?

They weren't really very good—no better than anybody else would have been, anyway. They were burdened with sashweights and bags of birdshot, and their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in

• A. The ballerinas are the only people left who are allowed to be beautiful.

• B. Dance is the last remaining art form.

• C. Shielding high intelligence or good looks keeps the public from feeling inferior.

• D. People are forced to wear their handicaps in order to encourage them to become even stronger.

The news announcer’s speech impediment in the following passage (paragraph 37) adds to the development of the story mainly by _______________________.

• A. showing that people in this world are not put in a position to excel

• B. suggesting that Harrison should have become a news announcer

• C. showing that there is a lot of pressure on people who are on television to be perfect

• D. explaining that the government does not want people to learn any news from the television

What is most closely the significance of “Halloween and hardware” in the passage below (paragraph 44)?

The rest of Harrison's appearance was Halloween and hardware. Nobody had ever born heavier handicaps.

• A. Harrison is now significantly shorter-than-average.

• B. Harrison is such a superior being because he is part machine.

• C. Harrison has been able to take his handicaps and make them more advantageous to him.

• D. Harrison has had his looks altered significantly by costuming and handicaps.

Which of the following inferences is best supported by the story?

• A. Television is intended to distract people from their emotions.

• B. Part of being equal is that everyone in 2081 is given the same handicaps.

• C. George believes that he is significantly more intelligent than he actually is.

• 
  D. George and Hazel want to see their son punished for his crimes.

What mainly do the following lines reveal about George's perspective of their society? (paragraph 29)

"If I tried to get away with it," said George, "then other people’d get away with it—and pretty soon we'd be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else. You wouldn't like that, would you?"

• 
  A. He believes he is more intelligent than Hazel

• B. He agrees with the values of their society

• C. He wishes he could remove his handicaps just for a little while

• D. He doesn't want to hurt Hazel's feelings

The television does not go out until after Diana Moon Glampers shoots and threatens people most likely because ___________________.

• A. those in charge know that the viewing public craves watching violence

• B. it was most likely an accident that the signal aired the shooting

• C. the government wants the public to witness that the authorities are still in control

• D. the authorities are trying to protect the families of the victims

Which of the following selections is most closely true?

• A. Harrison was locked up as a baby because the government immediately detected he was abnormal.

• B. Everybody living in 2081 is actively seeking their own way to rebel.

• C. No one in 2081 is able to recognize certain people as being more intelligent or more attractive than anyone else.

• D. The new systems in 2081 are designed to lower the standards of what is considered average.

What is most closely the meaning of gravely as it is used in the following passage (paragraph 68)?

"Harrison and his Empress merely listened to the music for a while—listened gravely, as though synchronizing their heartbeats with it."

• A. solemnly

• B. foolishly

• C. impatiently

• D. quietly

Match each line of dialogue with its speaker.

• One of the Ballerinas

• “I'd have chimes on Sunday—just chimes. Kind of in honor of religion.”

• George

• “Two years in prison and two thousand dollars fine for every ball I took out. I don't call that a bargain.”

• Harrison

• “If you see this boy, do not—I repeat, do not—try to reason with him.”

• Hazel

• “Play your best and I'll make you barons and dukes and earls.”

Match each object or idea that comes up in Harrison Bergeron with its significance within the world of the story.

• Competition

• Conspicuously still permitted to be in people’s home and consumed by them

• Shots Being Fired

• 
  Gives one the ability to defy both the laws of the government and the laws of nature

• Beer

• Seen as an inevitable result if people are not kept at identical levels

• Passion

• Used to distract critical or deep thoughts that George begins to have