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George Orwell - Exam
Contributed by: Guy
  • 1. In which year was George Orwell born?
A) 1920
B) 1945
C) 1910
D) 1903
  • 2. What is George Orwell's real name?
A) Alexander Pushkin
B) George Herman Ruth Jr.
C) Eric Arthur Blair
D) Winston Churchill
  • 3. Where was George Orwell born?
A) France
B) England
C) India
D) USA
  • 4. Which war did George Orwell fight in?
A) Vietnam War
B) Gulf War
C) Spanish Civil War
D) World War I
  • 5. Which other famous author was a close friend of George Orwell?
A) J.K. Rowling
B) Jane Austen
C) Aldous Huxley
D) Stephen King
  • 6. What is the subtitle of George Orwell's novel 'Animal Farm'?
A) A Historical Biography
B) A Science Fiction Novel
C) A Thriller
D) A Fairy Story
  • 7. What is the first name of the protagonist in '1984'?
A) Sam
B) Winston
C) Tom
D) Rick
  • 8. What was George Orwell's job in Burma?
A) Police Officer
B) Architect
C) Chef
D) Pilot
  • 9. What is the name of the farm in the novel 'Animal Farm'?
A) Manor Farm
B) Green Pastures Farm
C) Paradise Meadows Farm
D) Happy Farm
  • 10. What is the fictional language created by George Orwell in '1984'?
A) Cooltalk
B) Newspeak
C) Wordplay
D) Dreamwords
  • 11. What is the name of the leader of Animal Farm?
A) Julius
B) Alexander
C) Abraham
D) Napoleon
  • 12. In which year did George Orwell pass away?
A) 1980
B) 1970
C) 1950
D) 1960
  • 13. What pen name did Eric Arthur Blair use for his writing?
A) Eric Blair
B) George Orwell
C) Arthur Orwell
D) E.A. Blair
  • 14. In which year was George Orwell's dystopian novel 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' published?
A) 1949
B) 1938
C) 1945
D) 1950
  • 15. What is the title of George Orwell's work that documents his experience in industrial Northern England?
A) Homage to Catalonia
B) Nineteen Eighty-Four
C) The Road to Wigan Pier
D) Animal Farm
  • 16. Which term, coined by George Orwell, describes totalitarian and authoritarian social practices?
A) Doublethink
B) Big Brother
C) Newspeak
D) Orwellian
  • 17. Who was George Orwell's principal tutor at Eton?
A) Steven Runciman
B) A. S. F. Gow
C) Aldous Huxley
D) Cyril Connolly
  • 18. What was George Orwell's father's occupation in the Indian Civil Service?
A) Teacher
B) Sub-Deputy Opium Agent
C) Doctor
D) Lawyer
  • 19. Where did Eric Blair first meet Cyril Connolly?
A) Wellington College
B) Henley-on-Thames school
C) Eton College
D) St Cyprian's School
  • 20. Which school did George Orwell attend as a day student at age five?
A) Eton College
B) Wellington College
C) St Cyprian's School
D) A Catholic convent in Henley-on-Thames
  • 21. What was the relationship between George Orwell and Jacintha Buddicom?
A) Classmates only
B) Adolescent sweethearts
C) Cousins
D) Teacher-student
  • 22. Which school did Eric Blair attend after St Cyprian's and before Eton?
A) Henley Grammar School
B) Shiplake College
C) Wellington College
D) Harrow School
  • 23. What was the name of George Orwell's essay based on his time at St Cyprian's?
A) Homage to Catalonia
B) Such, Such Were the Joys
C) The Road to Wigan Pier
D) Animal Farm
  • 24. Which of George Orwell's works is an account of his experiences in the Spanish Civil War?
A) Nineteen Eighty-Four
B) Homage to Catalonia
C) Animal Farm
D) The Road to Wigan Pier
  • 25. What was George Orwell's family background described as?
A) Lower-upper-middle class
B) Working-class
C) Middle-class
D) Upper-class
  • 26. What was the name of George Orwell's first published magazine at Eton?
A) Eton Wall Game
B) College Days
C) Bubble and Squeak
D) The Election Times
  • 27. Which university did George Orwell not attend due to financial constraints?
A) University of London
B) None, he did not go to university
C) Cambridge University
D) Oxford University
  • 28. What was the profession of George Orwell's grandfather, Thomas Richard Arthur Blair?
A) Anglican clergyman
B) Teacher
C) Lawyer
D) Opium agent
  • 29. In which year did George Orwell join the Indian Imperial Police in Burma?
A) 1922
B) 1919
C) 1930
D) 1925
  • 30. What was the name of the ship on which George Orwell sailed to Burma?
A) SS Herefordshire
B) SS India
C) SS Britannia
D) SS Empire
  • 31. Where did George Orwell receive his police training in Burma?
A) Katha
B) Mandalay
C) Rangoon
D) Maymyo
  • 32. What was the monthly salary of George Orwell when he completed his training?
A) Rs. 800
B) Rs. 600
C) Rs. 740
D) Rs. 525
  • 33. Which town in Burma was known for having the refinery of the Burmah Oil Company?
A) Maymyo
B) Syriam
C) Katha
D) Moulmein
  • 34. What did George Orwell adopt in Burma that he kept for the rest of his life?
A) A pencil moustache
B) Sideburns
C) No facial hair
D) A beard
  • 35. What did George Orwell's tattoos look like?
A) Dragon designs on his arms
B) Stars on his shoulders
C) Small untidy blue circles on each knuckle
D) Crosses on his wrists
  • 36. In which month and year did George Orwell resign from the Indian Imperial Police?
A) July 1927
B) December 1929
C) September 1926
D) March 1928
  • 37. Which novel by George Orwell was based on his experiences in the Burma police?
A) 1984
B) Burmese Days
C) Animal Farm
D) Homage to Catalonia
  • 38. What did George Orwell write about his experience of executing a prisoner?
A) Keep the Aspidistra Flying
B) "A Hanging"
C) "Shooting an Elephant"
D) Burmese Days
  • 39. Which ethnic group's churches did George Orwell attend in Burma?
A) Burmese
B) Karen
C) Chinese
D) Indian
  • 40. What was the name of the town where George Orwell's maternal grandmother lived?
A) Moulmein
B) Maymyo
C) Katha
D) Rangoon
  • 41. Which author did Orwell consider to be about as good a novelist as one can be today, despite holding 'untenable opinions'?
A) Herman Melville
B) Mark Twain
C) Graham Greene
D) Evelyn Waugh
  • 42. Which city did Orwell visit quickly after his stay in Wigan?
A) Manchester
B) Liverpool
C) Sheffield
D) Barnsley
  • 43. Who described George Orwell and Richard Rees as 'moth-eaten and prematurely aged'?
A) Cyril Connolly
B) Mabel Fierz
C) Elizaveta Fen
D) Rosalind Obermeyer
  • 44. Which political leader's military uprising concerned Orwell in 1936?
A) Oswald Mosley
B) John Strachey
C) Harry Pollitt
D) Francisco Franco
  • 45. Who visited Orwell in March 1949 at the sanatorium?
A) Sonia Brownell
B) Ann Popham
C) Celia Kirwan
D) Eileen Blair
  • 46. Where did George Orwell return to England from in December 1929?
A) Bramley
B) London
C) Paris
D) Southwold
  • 47. Which journal published George Orwell's first article as a professional writer?
A) Monde
B) G. K.'s Weekly
C) New Adelphi
D) Le Progrès Civique
  • 48. Which government department did Celia Kirwan work for when she visited Orwell?
A) Home Office
B) Ministry of Defence
C) Information Research Department (IRD)
D) Foreign Office
  • 49. What was the title of George Orwell's first published essay in English?
A) "The Spike"
B) "How the Poor Die"
C) "A Farthing Newspaper"
D) "La Censure en Angleterre"
  • 50. Who helped Orwell secure accommodation on the island of Jura?
A) Isaac Deutscher
B) David Astor
C) E. H. Carr
D) Barbara Ward
  • 51. Who ran the second-hand bookshop where Orwell worked?
A) Nellie Limouzin
B) Francis and Myfanwy Westrope
C) Jon Kimche
D) Richard Rees
  • 52. In which year was Orwell listed at number 8 on the BBC's The Big Read poll?
A) 2003
B) 2011
C) 1984
D) 2021
  • 53. Who complimented George Orwell's 'clarity and good sense' in a review of 'Down and Out in Paris and London'?
A) T. S. Eliot
B) Cecil Day-Lewis
C) Max Plowman
D) Richard Rees
  • 54. Which magazine accepted George Orwell's work "The Spike" for publication?
A) New Adelphi
B) Le Progrès Civique
C) Monde
D) G. K.'s Weekly
  • 55. Which hospital did George Orwell go to when he fell seriously ill in February 1929?
A) Southwold General Hospital
B) Hôpital Cochin
C) Rue du Pot de Fer Clinic
D) Portobello Road Hospital
  • 56. Who found George Orwell a flat in Parliament Hill?
A) Francis Westrope
B) Mabel Fierz
C) Nellie Limouzin
D) Rosalind Obermeyer
  • 57. Which novel did George Orwell's experiences at the bookshop contribute to?
A) 1984
B) Animal Farm
C) Keep the Aspidistra Flying
D) Burmese Days
  • 58. Where did Orwell move to live on 22 May 1946?
A) Manchester
B) Barnhill, Jura
C) Shanghai
D) London
  • 59. What was the title of George Orwell's first article to appear in England?
A) "A Farthing Newspaper"
B) "La Censure en Angleterre"
C) "The Spike"
D) "How the Poor Die"
  • 60. What illness did George Orwell contract after a motorcycle trip that developed into pneumonia?
A) Tuberculosis
B) Influenza
C) A chill
D) Bronchitis
  • 61. Where did George Orwell settle back into after returning to England?
A) An apartment in Paris
B) A flat in London
C) A cottage near Cambridge
D) The family home at Southwold
  • 62. Who was the clergyman's daughter that George Orwell became acquainted with in Southwold?
A) Ruth Pitter
B) Brenda Salkeld
C) Mabel Fierz
D) Eleanor Jacques
  • 63. What new medicine was used to treat Orwell's tuberculosis?
A) Penicillin
B) Streptomycin
C) Morphine
D) Aspirin
  • 64. What was the side effect Orwell experienced from streptomycin treatment?
A) Anemia
B) Toxic epidermal necrolysis
C) Hypertension
D) Diabetes
  • 65. Who did Orwell marry on 9 June 1936?
A) Eileen O'Shaughnessy
B) Aunt Nellie
C) Joan Rees
D) Sylvia Townsend Warner
  • 66. What type of man did Orwell associate the face he saw in Dickens's writing with?
A) An indifferent observer
B) A nineteenth-century liberal, a free intelligence
C) A conservative traditionalist
D) A religious zealot
  • 67. Where did George Orwell stay when he first arrived in Manchester?
A) A common lodging-house
B) At Aunt Nellie's cottage
C) In Wigan
D) Over a tripe shop
  • 68. What was the reason Victor Gollancz turned down 'Burmese Days'?
A) Lack of interest in the subject matter
B) Financial constraints
C) Potential suits for libel
D) Poor writing quality
  • 69. What activity did Orwell enjoy outside of writing, as revealed four years later?
A) Fishing
B) Cooking
C) Gardening
D) Hunting
  • 70. Which publishing house published 'Down and Out in Paris and London' on 9 January 1933?
A) Victor Gollancz Ltd
B) Harper & Brothers
C) Faber & Faber
D) Adelphi
  • 71. In which arrondissement of Paris did George Orwell live during early 1928?
A) 5th arrondissement
B) 9th arrondissement
C) 3rd arrondissement
D) 7th arrondissement
  • 72. Who were George Orwell's flatmates at 50 Lawford Road?
A) Francis Westrope and Myfanwy Westrope
B) Michael Sayers and Rayner Heppenstall
C) Jon Kimche and Richard Rees
D) Rosalind Obermeyer and Elizaveta Fen
  • 73. Which author did Orwell describe as a 'good bad poet'?
A) Henry Miller
B) G. K. Chesterton
C) Evelyn Waugh
D) Rudyard Kipling
  • 74. What did Gollancz add to 'The Road to Wigan Pier' while Orwell was in Spain?
A) A chapter on the Spanish Civil War
B) A disculpatory preface
C) A foreword by Richard Rees
D) An introduction by John McNair
  • 75. What was the subject that became George Orwell's obsessive focus in his writings?
A) Politics
B) War
C) Poverty
D) Literature
  • 76. What was Sonia Brownell's health condition when she settled out of court in 1980?
A) She had fully recovered
B) She was in perfect health
C) She was hospitalized
D) She was becoming increasingly ill
  • 77. Which writer did Orwell criticize for devoting himself to 'Roman Catholic propaganda'?
A) Ralph Waldo Emerson
B) G. K. Chesterton
C) Arthur Koestler
D) George Gissing
  • 78. Which writer did George Orwell mention as the modern writer who influenced him most?
A) T. S. Eliot
B) James Joyce
C) W. Somerset Maugham
D) D. H. Lawrence
  • 79. Which organization was Orwell mistakenly thought to need papers from for crossing into Spain?
A) The Independent Labour Party
B) The Communist Party of Great Britain
C) The Special Branch
D) Some left-wing organisation
  • 80. In what year was Orwell's essay 'British Cookery' discovered in the British Council's archives?
A) 2000
B) 1946
C) 2019
D) 1984
  • 81. Which author did George Orwell admire and imitate when exploring poorer parts of London?
A) Henri Barbusse
B) Max Plowman
C) Ruth Pitter
D) Jack London
  • 82. What was the name of the tea-house run by George Orwell's sister Avril in Southwold?
A) A bakery
B) A bookstore
C) A tea-house
D) A café
  • 83. What did Orwell's list, given to Celia Kirwan, consist mainly of?
A) Anti-war activists
B) British politicians
C) Writers with pro-communist leanings
D) Communist leaders
  • 84. Where did George Orwell live while working at the bookshop?
A) Lawford Road, Kentish Town
B) Parliament Hill
C) University College London
D) Warwick Mansions, Pond Street
  • 85. What was the name of the group Orwell was a leading figure in?
A) Shanghai Club
B) Leftist Journalists Union
C) London Writers' Guild
D) British Authors Society
  • 86. When did George Orwell stop working at Booklovers' Corner?
A) Beginning of February 1935
B) June 1935
C) August 1935
D) End of January 1936
  • 87. Who shared the job with George Orwell at Booklovers' Corner?
A) Richard Rees
B) Mabel Fierz
C) Cyril Connolly
D) Jon Kimche
  • 88. What type of writing did George Orwell continually support himself through?
A) Book-reviewing
B) Poetry
C) Playwriting
D) Novel-writing
  • 89. Which illness did Orwell suffer from in February 1946?
A) Tubercular haemorrhage
B) Pneumonia
C) Influenza
D) Bronchitis
  • 90. What was the name of the cartoonist who drew strips for Animal Farm?
A) Jim Davis
B) Gary Larson
C) Norman Pett
D) Charles Schulz
  • 91. Where was the Adelphi Summer School held in 1936?
A) Manchester
B) Langham
C) Wigan
D) Sheffield
  • 92. Who gave George Orwell social and financial support while he lived in Paris?
A) Max Plowman
B) Henri Barbusse
C) Ruth Pitter
D) His aunt Ellen (Nellie) Kate Limouzin
  • 93. Where did Orwell go for a sanatorium treatment in January 1949?
A) Cranham, Gloucestershire
B) London
C) Manchester
D) Shanghai
  • 94. Who helped George Orwell find lodgings when he moved to London?
A) Ellen Limouzin
B) Henri Barbusse
C) Ruth Pitter
D) John Middleton Murry
  • 95. Who diagnosed Orwell with tuberculosis in December 1947?
A) A chest specialist from Glasgow
B) David Astor
C) Dr. John Smith
D) An unnamed local doctor
  • 96. Who did Orwell apply to unsuccessfully for papers to go to Spain?
A) Frank Meade
B) Harry Pollitt
C) John McNair
D) Victor Gollancz
  • 97. Which author did Orwell NOT mention in his essay on Charles Dickens?
A) Fielding
B) Defoe
C) Swift
D) Hemingway
  • 98. What was the name of Orwell's cottage in Wallington, Hertfordshire?
A) Headingley House
B) Langham Cottage
C) Bryn Hall
D) The Stores
  • 99. Which coal mine did Orwell visit in Wigan?
A) Grimethorpe
B) Headingley
C) Bryn Hall
D) Langham
  • 100. What was the title of George Orwell's essay based on his experiences at Hôpital Cochin?
A) "La Censure en Angleterre"
B) "How the Poor Die"
C) "The Spike"
D) "A Farthing Newspaper"
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