Quiz on 'There Will Come Soft Rains'

Where are the human beings in “There Will Come Soft Rains”? Identify the choice that best answers the question.

• They are at work or at school.

• They have moved to a different city.

• They have been killed by a nuclear bomb.

• They are being held prisoner in the basement of an automated house.

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E1.4F

Which details show what has happened to the owners of the house in “There Will Come Soft Rains”? Identify the choice that best answers the question.

• The stove prepares a breakfast that goes uneaten.

• Mrs. McClellan likes to listen to poetry in the evenings.

• The house keeps itself clean and protects itself from harm.

• The shapes of four people are burned into the side of the house.

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E1.5C

What is the most likely meaning of the word attending as it is used in this sentence? Noah stayed at his daughter's bedside while she had the flu, attending to her by giving her water and wiping her brow when she woke throughout the night.

• taking charge of

• making believe that

• helping or caring for

• listening carefully to

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E1.2A

Part A What is surprising about what happens to the dog in “There

Will Come Soft Rains”?

• The robot mice are trained to recognize the dog but do not help it.

• The house tries to provide medical aid to the dog but it refuses help.

• The dog gets sick even though it has no outward symptoms of illness.

• The hungry dog cannot get food even though the house can still cook.

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E1.5J

Part B: What detail from the story supports the answer to Part A?

• A dog whined, shivering, on the front porch. The front door recognized the dog voice and opened.

• The dog, once huge and fleshy, but now gone to bone and covered with sores, moved in and through the house, tracking mud.

• [The] dog sniffed the air and scratched the kitchen door. Behind the door, the stove was making pancakes which filled the house with a rich baked odor and the scent of maple syrup. The dog frothed at the mouth, lying at the door, sniffing . . .

• [The dog] ran wildly in circles, biting at its tail, spun in a frenzy, and died. It lay in the parlor for an hour. . . . Delicately sensing decay at last, the regiments of mice hummed out as softly as blown gray leaves in an electrical wind. Two-fifteen. The dog was gone.

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E1.5C