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1. PART A: Which statement expresses one of the main themes of the poem?
A. It can be better to live in the present, because reflecting on the past and
planning for the future can bring worry and disappointment.
B. It is humans’ responsibility to care for the environment and their fellow
creatures on Earth.
C. Humans rarely feel guilty about their impact on the environment, because
natural resources are necessary for them to survive.
D. The damage that humans inflict upon the environment and the animals that
inhabit it are irreversible.

2. PART B: Which TWO details from the text best support the answer to Part A?
A. “I'm truly sorry man's dominion / Has broken Nature's social union” (Lines 7-8)
B. “I doubt not, sometimes, that you may steal; / What then? Poor beast, you must
live!” (Lines 13-14)
C. “You thought to dwell, / Till crash! The cruel plough passed / Out through your
cell” (Lines 28-30)
D. “Without house or holding, / To endure the winter’s sleety dribble, / And hoarfrost cold” (Lines 34-36)
E. “The best laid schemes of mice and men / Go often askew, / And leave us
nothing but grief and pain” (Lines 39-41)
F. “Still you are blessed, compared with me! / The present only touches you” (Lines
43-44)

3. PART A: How is the speaker affected by the knowledge that he has destroyed the mouse’s
home?
A. The speaker feels guilty that he has destroyed the mouse’s home when the
mouse is just trying to survive.
B. The speaker is upset that the mouse’s presence in his field is delaying him from
ploughing the rest of the field.
C. The speaker is confident that the mouse will be able to survive the cold winter,
even without its house.
D. The speaker is impressed that the mouse is intelligent enough to prepare for the
winter by creating shelter.

4. PART B: Which quote from the text best supports the answer to Part A?
A. “I would be loath to run and chase you, / With murdering scraper” (Lines 5-6)
B. “Which makes you startle / At me, your poor, earth born companion” (Lines
10-11)
C. “Your small house, too, in ruin! / Its feeble walls the winds are scattering!” (Lines
19-20)
D. “You saw the fields laid bare and empty, / And weary winter coming fast” (Lines
25-26)

5. How does the poet’s comparison of mice and humans in the final two stanzas contribute to
the poem’s overall meaning?