The Hunger Games, Chapter 2 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. When Katniss reaches Prim at the steps of the stage, what does she do?

   • She lifts Prim into her arms and carries her back
   • She begs Effie Trinket to draw a different name
   • She asks the mayor to let both sisters go home together
   • Correct answer: She pushes Prim behind her with one sweep of her arm

   Katniss reaches Prim just as she is about to mount the steps and sweeps her behind her before volunteering.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Why does Katniss speak harshly to Prim on the stage?

   • Correct answer: She fears that tears on camera will mark her as weak
   • She is angry that Prim screamed in front of everyone
   • She blames Prim for taking extra tesserae in secret
   • She wants Gale to hurry Prim away from the square

   The reapings are replayed on television that night, and Katniss believes crying would mark her as an easy target.

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3. 3

   Question 3. Katniss notes that even which people in the crowd refuse to clap?

   • The families of tributes from earlier Hunger Games
   • The merchants who stand at the front of the crowd
   • Correct answer: The people holding betting slips on the reaping
   • The Peacekeepers standing guard around the square

   Not even the ones holding betting slips, who are usually beyond caring, applaud her.

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4. 4

   Question 4. How does Haymitch's fall from the stage help Katniss?

   • It gives her a moment to slip away and speak to Gale
   • Correct answer: It turns the cameras away so she can compose herself
   • It makes the crowd laugh and breaks the tension a bit
   • It delays the drawing of the boy tribute for an hour

   With every camera trained on Haymitch, Katniss has time to release the choked sound in her throat and steady herself.

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5. 5

   Question 5. Why does Katniss call her own volunteering "the radical thing"?

   • Volunteering is forbidden by the Treaty of Treason
   • Only boys have ever volunteered in District 12
   • Correct answer: Most people's family devotion stops short on reaping day
   • Children from the Seam are not permitted to take another's place

   Peeta's brothers do not step forward, and Katniss notes that family devotion only goes so far for most people on reaping day.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What did Katniss decide the morning after Peeta threw her the bread?

   • Correct answer: That the burning must have been an accident
   • That the baker had told his son to help her family
   • That the boy expected to be paid back for the loaves
   • That his mother had scorched the loaves on purpose

   She wondered whether he burned the bread deliberately but dismissed the idea, deciding it must have been an accident.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What does the sight of the first dandelion make Katniss realize?

   • That her mother would recover once the weather warmed
   • Correct answer: That the woods she knew from her father could feed them
   • That the spring would bring larger grain rations
   • That she ought to thank the boy who had helped her

   The dandelion makes her think of the hours in the woods with her father, and she knows how the family will survive.

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8. 8

   Question 8. Why does the crowd's silence count as a form of protest?

   • It is meant to frighten Effie Trinket off the stage
   • It shows the crowd is too stunned to follow what the rules require
   • It signals that the crowd wants someone else to go
   • Correct answer: It refuses the applause the Capitol's ceremony asks for

   Effie calls for applause, and by withholding it the people say they do not agree with or condone the reaping.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events happen at the reaping in this chapter?

   • Gale carries Prim over to Katniss's mother.

     Happened

     Gale lifts Prim off the ground and carries her off toward Katniss's mother.

   • One of Peeta's older brothers tries to volunteer.

     Didn't happen

     No one steps forward for Peeta; Katniss thinks one brother is probably too old and the other won't volunteer.

   • Effie Trinket tries to straighten her slipping wig.

     Happened

     Effie tries to straighten her wig, which has slipped far to the right.

   • Katniss breaks down in tears when Haymitch hugs her.

     Didn't happen

     Katniss comes close to tears, but Haymitch's antics and his fall from the stage give her time to compose herself without crying.

   • The mayor reads the Treaty of Treason aloud.

     Happened

     The mayor reads the long Treaty of Treason, as he must every year, while Katniss remembers the bread.

   • Effie draws Gale's name before she draws Peeta's.

     Didn't happen

     Effie draws a single slip from the boys' ball, and the name on it is Peeta Mellark.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which of these events happen in Katniss's memory of the rainy afternoon?

    • Katniss tries to trade Prim's old baby clothes at the market.

      Happened

      Katniss tries to trade Prim's threadbare old baby clothes in the public market, but there are no takers.

    • Katniss goes alone to the Hob to sell the clothes.

      Didn't happen

      Katniss is too frightened to go into the Hob alone, and she drops the clothes in a mud puddle.

    • The baker's wife threatens to call the Peacekeepers.

      Happened

      The baker's wife screams at Katniss and asks whether she wants her to call the Peacekeepers.

    • Katniss takes a loaf from the bakery's front window.

      Didn't happen

      Katniss steals nothing: the baker's trash bin is bare, and the boy throws her two burned loaves.

    • The family eats an entire loaf that night.

      Happened

      At home Katniss slices the bread, and the family eats an entire loaf, slice by slice.

    • The boy speaks to Katniss at school the next day.

      Didn't happen

      At school the boy does not acknowledge her, though that afternoon he stares at her across the school yard.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does "dissent" mean as used in: "the boldest form of dissent they can manage"?

    • Quiet sorrow for someone who has died
    • Correct answer: Open disagreement with those in power
    • Polite respect shown to a visiting guest
    • Fearful obedience to the district's laws

    Dissent is disagreement with authority; the crowd's silence shows they reject the reaping.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does "tenuous" mean as used in: "Clearly hoping to contain her tenuous hair situation"?

    • Correct answer: Weak and likely to give way
    • Carefully styled and elegant
    • Brightly colored and showy
    • Freshly washed and still damp

    Tenuous means shaky or weak; Effie's wig has slipped badly to one side and may fall.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does "predicament" mean as used in: "So I kept our predicament a secret."?

    • A careful plan made for the future
    • A bitter quarrel between relatives
    • A debt owed to a kind neighbor
    • Correct answer: A hard situation with no easy way out

    Katniss means the family's dangerous secret: her mother can no longer care for them, and if that became known the girls would be sent to the community home.

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