The Great Automatic Grammatizator – MCQs (25 Questions)
Choose the correct option for each question.
-
Who is the author of "The Great Automatic Grammatizator"?
a) Roald Dahl
b) Italo Calvino
c) Kurt Vonnegut
d) Ray Bradbury -
In what year was the story originally published?
a) 1950
b) 1953
c) 1955
d) 1960 -
What is Adolph Knipe's profession at the beginning of the story?
a) A writer
b) An electrical engineer
c) A magazine editor
d) A publisher -
Who is Knipe's boss in the story?
a) Mr. Bohlen
b) Mr. John
c) Mr. Knipe Senior
d) Mr. Dahl -
What is the name of the machine that Knipe creates?
a) The Automatic Writer
b) The Great Automatic Grammatizator
c) The Story Machine
d) The Electric Novelist -
Why does Knipe have the idea to build the machine?
a) He wants to help struggling writers
b) He is frustrated with his own failed attempts at writing and rejection
c) Mr. Bohlen suggests the idea
d) He wants to prove machines are superior to humans -
What key observation does Knipe make about English grammar?
a) Grammar is impossible to learn
b) Grammar is governed by rules that are almost mathematical in nature
c) Grammar changes constantly
d) Grammar is different in every country -
What does the machine use instead of numbers to function?
a) Letters
b) Punctuation marks
c) Words
d) Concepts -
How long does the machine take to produce a story initially?
a) One second
b) Five seconds
c) Thirty seconds
d) Five minutes -
What is the primary issue the machine faces in its early operation?
a) It produces no text at all
b) It produces random characters without spaces or proper formatting
c) It only generates titles
d) It refuses to function -
What does Mr. Bohlen want Knipe to adapt the machine to produce?
a) Poems
b) Novels
c) Newspapers
d) Advertisements -
What is Knipe's ultimate business strategy?
a) Sell the machine to publishers
b) Open a legitimate writing company
c) Pay successful authors to stop writing and sell their names
d) Teach creative writing -
What percentage of successful authors does Knipe manage to contract?
a) Around 30 percent
b) Around 50 percent
c) Around 70 percent
d) Around 90 percent -
What is the result of Knipe's plan after one year?
a) Half of all novels published in English are machine-made
b) He has bought out all writers in America
c) The literary world has rejected his plan
d) Publishers refuse to print machine-made stories -
How does the first successful author react when Knipe tries to buy her out?
a) She immediately accepts his offer
b) She calls police
c) She is intrigued and visits to see the machine
d) She threatens him with legal action -
What realization does Knipe have about which authors to approach?
a) He should target the most successful writers
b) He should focus on mediocre writers
c) He should approach only wealthy writers
d) He should target struggling writers -
What is the main argument Knipe uses to convince authors to quit writing?
a) They are not talented enough
b) The "creative urge" is nonsense; writers only care about money
c) Technology will replace them anyway
d) Magazines are closing down -
Who is the narrator of the story?
a) Adolph Knipe
b) Mr. Bohlen
c) An unnamed writer with nine starving children
d) A magazine editor -
What is the narrator's dilemma at the end of the story?
a) Whether to sue Knipe
b) Whether to report the scheme to authorities
c) Whether to sign Knipe's contract despite having nine starving children
d) Whether to move to another country -
What literary device does Dahl use most effectively in the story?
a) Metaphor
b) Irony and satire
c) Alliteration
d) Personification -
What does the machine symbolize in the story?
a) Progress and development
b) The dangers of automation and commercialization destroying creativity
c) Human intelligence
d) The future of education -
What main theme does the story explore?
a) Love and romance
b) Adventure and discovery
c) Commercialization versus creativity and human greed
d) Family relationships -
How relevant is Dahl's story to modern times?
a) It has no relevance today
b) It is remarkably relevant with AI and automated content generation
c) It only applies to 1950s technology
d) It is purely fictional with no real-world connection -
What critique is Dahl making through this story?
a) Criticism of lazy workers
b) Criticism of the commercialization of art and the destructive power of greed
c) Praise for technological advancement
d) Criticism of magazine editors' intelligence -
What is the "old truth" that worries Knipe initially?
a) Machines are expensive
b) A machine is incapable of original thought
c) English grammar is too complex
d) Stories cannot be formulaic
Answer Key
i) a – Roald Dahl
ii) b – 1953
iii) b – An electrical engineer
iv) a – Mr. Bohlen
v) b – The Great Automatic Grammatizator
vi) b – He is frustrated with his own failed attempts at writing and rejection
vii) b – Grammar is governed by rules that are almost mathematical in nature
viii) c – Words
ix) c – Thirty seconds
x) b – It produces random characters without spaces or proper formatting
xi) b – Novels
xii) c – Pay successful authors to stop writing and sell their names
xiii) c – Around 70 percent
xiv) a – Half of all novels published in English are machine-made
xv) c – She is intrigued and visits to see the machine
xvi) b – He should focus on mediocre writers
xvii) b – The "creative urge" is nonsense; writers only care about money
xviii) c – An unnamed writer with nine starving children
xix) c – Whether to sign Knipe's contract despite having nine starving children
xx) b – Irony and satire
xxi) b – The dangers of automation and commercialization destroying creativity
xxii) c – Commercialization versus creativity and human greed
xxiii) b – It is remarkably relevant with AI and automated content generation
xxiv) b – Criticism of the commercialization of art and the destructive power of greed
xxv) b – A machine is incapable of original thought