The Machine Stops

Reading Check questions are designed for in-class review on key plot points or for quick verbal or written assessments. Multiple Choice and Short Answer Quizzes create ideal summative assessments, and collectively function to convey a sense of the work’s tone and themes.

Reading Check

1. In his first call to Vashti, what does Kuno ask his mother to do?

2. Why doesn’t the machine show nuanced facial expressions?

3. What is Vashti’s objection to looking at stars and mountains?

4. What illegal activity does Kuno describe doing when he is visited by his mother?

5. What does Kuno see the Mending Apparatus do right before he passes out?

6. What does Homelessness mean in the story?

7. What does Kuno do to prepare to go to the surface and why?

8. How do the people in the Machine respond when it starts to fail?

9. How does the Famous Lecturer justify the new ban on going to the surface?

10. What kills thousands of people instantly when the Machine stops?

Multiple Choice

1.     At the beginning of the story, Vashti is impatient with Kuno because she is supposed to

_________ in a few minutes.

A) meet a friend

B) go to sleep

C) give a lecture

D) catch a train

2. Why hasn’t Vashti seen Kuno in years?

A) He lives on the other side of the world.

B) They stopped speaking after a falling out.