The Great Gatsby, Chapter 7 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Why has Gatsby replaced all of his servants at the beginning of Chapter 7?

   • Tom Buchanan had been paying them to spy on him
   • His servants were stealing from him
   • He is closing the house to go away for the rest of the summer
   • Correct answer: He wants people who will not gossip about Daisy's visits

   Gatsby tells Nick he replaced his servants with people connected to Wolfshiem because "I wanted somebody who wouldn't gossip. Daisy comes over quite often—in the afternoons."

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2. 2

   Question 2. What observation does Gatsby make about Daisy's voice that Nick finds revelatory?

   • Her voice is full of secrets
   • Her voice is full of sorrow
   • Correct answer: Her voice is full of money
   • Her voice is full of music

   Gatsby says "Her voice is full of money," and Nick recognizes this as the "inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals' song of it."

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3. 3

   Question 3. Who drives which car on the trip from the Buchanans' house to New York?

   • Correct answer: Tom drives Gatsby's yellow car with Nick and Jordan; Gatsby and Daisy take Tom's blue coupé
   • Tom drives Gatsby's yellow car with Daisy; Gatsby takes Nick and Jordan in the coupé
   • All five ride together in Gatsby's big yellow car
   • Gatsby drives Daisy in his yellow car; Tom takes Nick and Jordan in the blue coupé

   Tom insists on driving Gatsby's yellow car, taking Nick and Jordan with him, while Gatsby and Daisy follow in Tom's blue coupé. This car swap becomes crucial to the plot.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What does Daisy ultimately admit during the Plaza Hotel confrontation?

   • She married Tom because she was tired of waiting for Gatsby
   • Correct answer: She loved both Tom and Gatsby at different times
   • She has been planning to leave Tom for years
   • She never loved either Tom or Gatsby

   Despite Gatsby's demand that she say she never loved Tom, Daisy breaks down and admits "I did love him once—but I loved you too." She cannot fully erase her past with Tom.

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5. 5

   Question 5. What criminal activity does Tom accuse Gatsby of at the Plaza Hotel?

   • Selling stolen bonds through his business partners in Chicago
   • Correct answer: Bootlegging grain alcohol through drugstores with Wolfshiem
   • Counterfeiting money for organized crime
   • Faking his war record and the medal from Montenegro

   Tom reveals that Gatsby and Wolfshiem "bought up a lot of side-street drug stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter," and hints at even larger criminal schemes.

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6. 6

   Question 6. Why does Myrtle Wilson run into the road when she sees the yellow car?

   • She is confused by the headlights and stumbles into the road accidentally
   • She is chasing the little dog Tom bought her in the city
   • She is trying to stop what she thinks is Gatsby's car to confront him
   • Correct answer: She is trying to escape from George Wilson and recognizes the yellow car as the one Tom was driving earlier

   George had locked Myrtle upstairs after discovering her affair. When she sees the yellow car—which Tom had been driving earlier that day—she runs out, likely believing Tom is behind the wheel and can help her escape.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What does Nick see when he peers through the pantry window at the Buchanans' house?

   • Correct answer: Daisy and Tom sitting together with an air of natural intimacy
   • Tom shouting at Daisy across a plate of cold chicken
   • Daisy flashing her bedroom light on and off for Gatsby
   • Tom on the telephone telling the police about Gatsby's yellow car

   Nick sees Tom and Daisy sitting at the kitchen table with cold chicken and ale, Tom talking intently with his hand covering hers. Nick notes "an unmistakable air of natural intimacy" and says they appeared to be "conspiring together."

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8. 8

   Question 8. What significant personal milestone does Nick realize during the events at the Plaza Hotel?

   • It is the anniversary of his father's death
   • It is his wedding anniversary
   • Correct answer: It is his thirtieth birthday
   • It has been one year since he moved to New York

   After the confrontation, as Tom, Jordan, and Nick prepare to leave the Plaza, Nick suddenly remembers: "I just remembered that today's my birthday. I was thirty."

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9. 9

   Question 9. What does Tom tell George Wilson about the yellow car at the scene of Myrtle's death?

   • He says the yellow car belongs to Gatsby, who was at the wheel
   • Correct answer: He says the yellow car he was driving earlier was not his and that he hasn't seen it all afternoon
   • He tells Wilson that Daisy was driving
   • He says he passed the yellow car going fifty or sixty on the road

   Tom tells Wilson "That yellow car I was driving this afternoon wasn't mine—I haven't seen it all afternoon," effectively directing Wilson's suspicion toward Gatsby as the car's owner.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which of these events actually happened in this chapter?

    • Gatsby's daughter Pammy appears briefly during the lunch scene at the Buchanans' house.

      Didn't happen

      Pammy is Daisy and Tom's daughter, not Gatsby's. She does appear briefly during the lunch scene, and Gatsby looks at the child with surprise—Nick notes that Gatsby had "never really believed in its existence before."

    • Jordan Baker suggests going to the movies to escape the heat when the group reaches New York.

      Happened

      Jordan does suggest the movies: "Those big movies around Fiftieth Street are cool." However, Daisy complains it's too hot, and Tom directs them to the Plaza Hotel instead.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does "dilatory" mean as used in the sentence: 'After a pause he added "sir" in a dilatory, grudging way'?

    • Widening or growing larger in size
    • Polite and deferential
    • Prompt, eager and quick to respond
    • Correct answer: Slow and intended to cause delay

    Dilatory means slow or tending to cause delay. The butler deliberately pauses before adding "sir," showing his reluctance and lack of respect.

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12. 12

    Question 12. In the phrase "the transition from libertine to prig was so complete," what does "prig" mean?

    • A greedy, rude and ill-mannered person
    • A person who lives a wild, immoral life
    • Correct answer: A self-righteously moralistic person
    • A boastful person who shows off wealth

    A prig is someone who is self-righteously moralistic and acts superior to others. Nick describes Tom's hypocritical transformation from a man who has affairs (libertine) to someone lecturing others about morality (prig).

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does "portentous" mean in the phrase "the portentous menacing road of a new decade"?

    • Correct answer: Ominously significant; foreboding
    • Long, winding and hard to travel
    • Brightly lit and welcoming
    • Hopeful and full of bright promise

    Portentous means ominously significant or serving as a warning of something momentous. Nick uses it to describe his dread at turning thirty, seeing the coming decade as threatening.

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