The Mysterious Benedict Society Review

The story takes place in a city called...

• Stonetown
• Sontag
• Stonybrook
• Stoneville

Which of the following best describes the Emergency that is taking place in the story?

• ""Naturally, when Reynie and Miss Perumal first met, they had discussed the Emergency at great length."
• ...although Reynie rarely watched television, he knew the Emergency was the main subject of the news programs every day, as it had been for years. 
• "The newspaper that morning had been filled with the usual headlines, several of them devoted to what was commonly called the Emergency..."
• "Things had gotten desperately out of control, the headlines reported; the school systems, the budget, the pollution, the crime, the weather...why everything, in fact, was a mess."

According to the text, why does the pencil woman leave the testing room?

• The text does not explain why she leaves the testing room.
• She leaves because she is looking for her next snack.
• She leaves because she is trying to avoid any angry parents who question the results of the test.
• She leaves abruptly because she likes to pretend she is an escape artist.

How does Reynie help Rhonda Kazembe with her pencil problem?

• He breaks his pencil in two so that she can have one half and he can have the other.
• He uses his bucket of items to get her pencil from the drain.
• He allows Rhonda to lower him to the grate so he can fish for the pencil.
• He does not help her because if he does, he will be late for the test.

Which of the following shows that Reynie figured out how the second test worked?

• "Something about the question seemed awfully familiar-- so familiar that he felt pressed to think about it."
• "The answer to question one lay hidden in question twenty-one. This wasn't a test of knowledge at all--it was a puzzle!"
• "Reynie was so delighted he nearly leaped from his desk and cheered."
• "Eagerly he set to the task of finding the correct answers."

To show her gratitude for what Reynie did to help her with her pencil, what does Rhonda offer Reynie?

• Another pencil to replace the one he broke for her.
• A copy of the test booklet.
• The answers to the second test.
• A lock of her long, green hair.

Where does Reynie live?

• With his aunt and uncle in Stonetown.
• In the Stonetown orphanage.
• With Miss Perumal.
• With Mr. Rutger

Based on how it is used in sentence, which of the following is the best definition for "deviate"?
"If he happened to be late, or to bring two pencils, or forget his eraser, or in any other way deviate from the instructions, he would not be allowed to take the test and that would be that."

• to go against the established course of action.
• to follow all instructions clearly.
• to demonstrate knowledge of instructions given.
• to forget something or to be late in any way.

What are some reasons Mr. Rutger gives Reynie for not allowing him to go to an advanced school?

• He has no specific reasons why he should not go to another school.
• Reynie repeatedly asked Mr. Rutger to go to an advanced school.
• Mr. Rutger insisted that Reynie would fare better at the orphanage at that he was more comfortable there.
• Mr. Rutger hired Miss Perumal.

What is suspense?

• a state or feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen.
• an untrustworthy narrator.
• an interruption of the chronological sequence of an event that happened before.
• when the author provides hints or clues about what his going to happen later in the story.