Q 01/05

Which condition does Louis, hero of E. B. White's The Trumpet of the Swan, overcome by learning the trumpet?

A) Born unable to fly

B) Born without a voice

C) Born with a crooked wing

D) Born unable to swim

Answer · why

B) Born without a voice

Born without a voice, Louis cannot make the trumpeting call swans use to court a mate, so the cob steals him a brass trumpet as a substitute.

Q 02/05

How are Boston's Swan Boats, Louis's employer in The Trumpet of the Swan, propelled across their pond?

A) Pedalled by the driver

B) Towed by a motor launch

C) Rowed by two oarsmen

D) Pulled by an underwater cable

Answer · why

A) Pedalled by the driver

Pedalled by the driver, who sits inside the fiberglass swan and works the paddles like a bicycle, the boats have kept the same design for over 140 yea...

Q 03/05

Which Stephen Foster song does Louis play to win Serena when she lands at the Philadelphia Zoo?

A) Old Folks at Home

B) Hard Times Come Again No More

C) Beautiful Dreamer

D) Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair

Answer · why

C) Beautiful Dreamer

Beautiful Dreamer was published in March 1864, two months after Foster's death, and the serenade wins Serena over on the spot.

Q 04/05

How does newly hatched Louis greet Sam Beaver, since he cannot chirp like his brothers and sisters?

A) Nibbles Sam's finger

B) Tugs at Sam's shoelace

C) Climbs up onto Sam's knee

D) Flaps both wings

Answer · why

B) Tugs at Sam's shoelace

Louis tugs at Sam's shoelace, and that tug is how the cob and pen realise their youngest cannot make a sound.

Q 05/05

In which US state does Louis's family winter at the Red Rock Lakes refuge in The Trumpet of the Swan?

A) Montana

B) Wyoming

C) Colorado

D) Alaska

Answer · why

A) Montana

Montana's Red Rock Lakes refuge is a real place, set aside in 1932 largely to save the trumpeter swan when fewer than 200 were known to survive.