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