Name: Date:
“Flowers for Algernon”
Daniel Keyes
FIRST READ: Comprehension
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
1. In “Flowers for Algernon,” what happens during Charlie’s first inkblot test?
a. He sees many pictures in the inkblot.
b. He cannot see any pictures in the inkblot.
c. He shows he has an extremely violent temper.
d. He performs badly, compared to Algernon.
2. In “Flowers for Algernon,” why do the doctors use Charlie in their
experiment?
a. They see that he has bonded with Algernon.
b. They believe that he is motivated to try to learn.
c. They know that he can get a better job if his skills improve.
d. They realize that he is the only person who is willing to participate.
3. In “Flowers for Algernon,” why do Charlie’s fellow workers want him fired?
a. They become jealous of Charlie’s good fortune.
b. They think that Charlie has begun lying and stealing.
c. They become frightened by Charlie and distrustful of his new
intelligence.
d. They resent Charlie for damaging the factory and making their jobs
harder.
4. In “Flowers for Algernon,” what is one aspect of the text that shows
Charlie is returning to his old condition?
a. He learns German.
b. He says he hates Algernon.
c. He starts to spell badly again.
d. He asks Miss Kinnian to dinner.
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GRADE 8 • UNIT 4 • SELECTION TEST
“FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON” BY DANIEL KEYES
Name: Date:
5. Which phrase best describes Charlie at the end of “Flowers for
Algernon”?
a. sad but hopeful
b. relieved but bitter
c. angry and threatening
d. proud and conceited
FIRST READ: Concept Vocabulary
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
6. Which of these situations would most likely arouse suspicion?
a. You are running late for school, and your little sister is ready to go.
b. You are studying for a test, and your little sister is working on her
homework.
c. Your piece of cake is missing, and your little sister has chocolate stains
on her shirt.
d. Your piano recital is on Saturday, and your little sister has invited two of
her friends to attend.
7. If a person’s vision experiences deterioration, what is happening to the person?
a. The person’s vision is improving.
b. The person’s vision is becoming worse.
c. The person’s vision is remaining the same.
d. The person’s vision is unable to be tested.
8. What kind of behavior would be most typical of someone who is
introspective?
a. warm, outgoing friendliness
b. consistent disobedience
c. thoughtful self-analysis
d. heartbreaking sorrow
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GRADE 8 • UNIT 4 • SELECTION TEST
“FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON” BY DANIEL KEYES
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CLOSE READ: Analyze the Text
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
9. What conclusion about Charlie is most clearly supported by this excerpt from
the first section of “Flowers for Algernon”?
I hope they use me. Miss Kinnian says maybe they can make me smart. I want to
be smart. My name is Charlie Gordon. I am 37 years old and 2 weeks ago was my
brithday. I have nuthing more to rite now so I will close for today.
a. He cannot control his temper.
b. He has below-average intelligence.
c. He sees and hears things that are not there.
d. He cannot hold down a job and support himself.
10. Choose the conclusion a reader can most accurately draw from this excerpt
from “Flowers for Algernon.”
They called the mouse Algernon. Algernon was in a box with a lot of twists and
turns like all kinds of walls and they gave me a pencil and a paper with lines and
lots of boxes. On one side it said START and on the other side it said FINISH. They
said it was amazed and that Algernon and me had the same amazed to do. I dint
see how we could have the same amazed if Algernon had a box and I had a paper
but I dint say nothing.
a. The doctors find Charlie amazing.
b. Charlie finds Algernon amazing.
c. Algernon is running in a maze.
d. Algernon is able to read.
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GRADE 8 • UNIT 4 • SELECTION TEST
“FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON” BY DANIEL KEYES
Name: Date:
11. The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.
Part A In “Flowers for Algernon,” what is the main reason that Charlie wants
to increase his intelligence?
a. He is very competitive and wants to beat Algernon when they are tested.
b. He knows that he is different and wants to be more like other people.
c. He wants to please Miss Kinnian and is afraid he will disappoint her.
d. He is a lonely person with no close friends or social life.
Part B Which of the following quotations from “Flowers for Algernon” best
supports the answer to Part A?
a. Anyway that test made me feel worser than all the others because they did
it over 10 times with difernt amazeds and Algernon won every time. I dint
know that mice were so smart.
b. I don’t understand why I never noticed how beautiful Miss Kinnian really
is. … I think from the beginning I had the feeling that she was an
unreachable genius—and very, very old.
c. How strange it is that people of honest feelings and sensibility, who would
not take advantage of a man born without arms or legs or eyes—how such
people think nothing of abusing a man born with low intelligence.
d. I see that even in my dullness I knew that I was inferior, and that other
people had something I lacked—something denied me. … Even a feeble-
minded man wants to be like other men.
CLOSE READ: Analyze Craft and Structure
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
12. From what point of view is “Flowers for Algernon” told?
a. first person, from Charlie’s point of view
b. first person, from Charlie’s doctors’ point of view
c. third person, telling the thoughts of many characters
d. third person, telling the thoughts of just Charlie and Miss Kinnian
13. In “Flowers for Algernon,” Charlie feels happy and excited when he hears that
he will have the operation. How does the point of view of the story affect the
way readers learn about his feelings?
a. The story is told by Charlie, but readers must guess how Charlie feels.
b. The story is told by Charlie, so readers hear about his feelings directly
from him.
c. The story is told by a narrator, so readers get an outsider’s explanation of
Charlie’s feelings.
d. The story is told by Dr. Nemur, so readers learn what the tests show
about Charlie’s feelings.
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GRADE 8 • UNIT 4 • SELECTION TEST
“FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON” BY DANIEL KEYES
Name: Date:
14. In “Flowers for Algernon,” which of these themes are best supported by the
allusion that the character named Fanny makes to the biblical story of Eve and
the tree of knowledge? Choose two options.
a. It is wrong to want something that you don’t already have.
b. Nature is a source of spiritual comfort to human beings.
c. People should not try to change what God has created.
d. Change can be unexpectedly frightening.
e. Knowledge can be very powerful.
15. The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.
Part A What main theme about science is most clearly suggested by Charlie’s
experience in “Flowers from Algernon”?
a. Science always helps improve the world.
b. Science often harms the environment.
c. Science may do unexpected harm.
d. Science often wastes money.
Part B Which quotation from “Flowers for Algernon” best supports the answer
to Part A?
a. I figured out a new way to line up the machines in the factory, and
Mr. Donnegan says it will save him ten thousand dollars a year in labor
and increased production. He gave me a $25 bonus.
b. Contrary to my earlier impressions of him, I realize that Dr. Nemur is not
at all a genius. He has a very good mind, but it struggles under the specter
of self-doubt. He wants people to take him for a genius. Therefore, it is
important for him to feel that his work is accepted by the world.
c. How strange it is that people of honest feelings and sensibility, who would
not take advantage of a man born without arms or legs or eyes—how such
people think nothing of abusing a man born with low intelligence.
d. Algernon died two days ago. Dissection shows my predictions were right.
His brain had decreased in weight and there was a general smoothing out
of cerebral convolutions as well as a deepening and broadening of brain
fissures.
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GRADE 8 • UNIT 4 • SELECTION TEST
“FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON” BY DANIEL KEYES
Name: Date:
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: Word Study
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
16. Which of the following provides a meaning of the Latin prefix sub-?
a. under
b. above
c. in front of
d. together with
17. On a page of text, where would you most likely find a subheading, which is a
type of title? Use your knowledge of the prefix sub- to help you answer.
a. next to the main title
b. above the main title
c. at the top of the page
d. beneath the main title
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: Conventions
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
18. What is the direct object in this sentence?
In the beginning, Charlie misspelled many words in his journal.
a. beginning
b. Charlie
c. words
d. journal
19. What is the indirect object in this sentence?
The doctors gave him many tests of his intelligence.
a. doctors
b. him
c. tests
d. intelligence
20. Which of these sentences contains an indirect object?
a. The doctors will give Charlie an operation.
b. Charlie is scared of the procedure.
c. He carries a rabbit’s foot for luck.
d. The operation seems successful.
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GRADE 8 • UNIT 4 • SELECTION TEST
“FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON” BY DANIEL KEYES
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