Esio Trot KS3 Quiz (With Answers)

Q1 of 30

Why is Mr Hoppy too shy to speak properly to Mrs Silver?

• He is deeply in love with her and too nervous to say what he feels
• He is rude and prefers to keep to himself
• He is embarrassed about the untidy state of his flat
• He disapproves of keeping tortoises as pets

Q2 of 30

What does Mrs Silver want more than anything?

• For her tortoise Alfie to grow bigger
• A companion to spend time with in her old age
• A new and larger flat
• A garden so Alfie has more space

Q3 of 30

How does Mr Hoppy plan to make Mrs Silver think Alfie is growing?

• He gives Mrs Silver a fake scientific explanation for rapid tortoise growth
• He builds a special cage that makes tortoises look bigger
• He quietly swaps Alfie for slightly larger tortoises over several weeks
• He secretly feeds Alfie special vitamins

Q4 of 30

What is 'Esio Trot' and where does it come from?

• It is 'tortoise' spelled backwards
• An ancient Greek phrase meaning 'beloved creature'
• A Norwegian word meaning 'grow quickly'
• A word Mr Hoppy invents to impress Mrs Silver

Q5 of 30

How does Mr Hoppy secretly acquire all the tortoises he needs?

• He finds them in the park and keeps them on his balcony
• He visits pet shops across London buying tortoises of gradually increasing sizes
• He borrows them from a local zoo
• He orders them by post from a specialist breeder

Q6 of 30

What is the moral problem at the heart of Mr Hoppy's plan?

• He is breaking the law by keeping so many tortoises
• He is wasting money he cannot afford
• He is putting the tortoises in danger by keeping them in a small flat
• He is deceiving someone he claims to love by secretly replacing her pet without her knowledge

Q7 of 30

How does Mrs Silver feel when she thinks Alfie has grown so quickly?

• She immediately tells all her friends about the miracle
• She worries that Alfie is ill and eating too much
• She is suspicious and takes Alfie to a vet
• She is overjoyed

Q8 of 30

How does the story end?

• Mrs Silver discovers the truth by accident but is not angry
• Mr Hoppy reveals his plan and Mrs Silver is so charmed that she agrees to marry him
• Mr Hoppy confesses and Mrs Silver forgives him
• The deception is never discovered and they begin a relationship built on a lie

Q9 of 30

Why does Dahl treat Mr Hoppy's deception gently rather than as a serious wrong?

• Because Mrs Silver is naive and deserves to be deceived
• Because the tortoises are unharmed
• Because it is clearly driven by love and results in happiness for everyone
• Because the deception is so absurd that the reader cannot take it seriously

Q10 of 30

What makes this story feel different in tone from Dahl's stories for younger children?

• Its quiet, romantic focus on adult loneliness gives it a tenderness that is unusual for Dahl
• It has no magic or unusual creature
• It is much longer and more complex
• It deals with themes of grief and loss that children cannot understand

Q11 of 30

What does Mr Hoppy grow on his balcony?

• Herbs and vegetables
• He has no plants
• Tomatoes and runner beans
• Flowers of all kinds

Q12 of 30

What tool does Mr Hoppy invent to help with the tortoise swaps?

• Long wooden tongs to reach down and swap the tortoises while Mrs Silver is away
• A basket he lowers on a rope
• A special trolley to lower the tortoises between balconies
• A pulley system attached to his railing

Q13 of 30

Why does Mrs Silver believe the chant is working?

• She trusts Mr Hoppy completely because he seems so knowledgeable
• She notices the tortoise eating more enthusiastically
• She measures Alfie every week and he seems slightly bigger
• She sees Alfie moving faster which she interprets as a sign of growth

Q14 of 30

What is the overall mood of 'Esio Trot'?

• Warm and gentle
• Dark and unsettling
• Funny but with a sad undertone
• Exciting and fast-paced

Q15 of 30

What does the story say about loneliness in old age?

• That it is inevitable and nothing can be done
• That small connections and small kindnesses can mean everything
• That elderly people should seek professional company
• That animals are the best cure for loneliness

Q16 of 30

Esio Trot is a gentle love story with no children as protagonists. How does this make it stand apart from Dahl's other work?

• It is just different
• Dahl always wrote about adults too, a reading that locates the novel's meaning in its historical and personal context rather than in its literary structure
• By focusing on elderly adults' loneliness and longing, Dahl shows his range and empathy beyond child characters
• It is a weaker book

Q17 of 30

Mr Hoppy deceives Mrs Silver throughout the story. Is this deception romantic or troubling? How does Dahl make the reader sympathise with a lie?

• It is completely romantic
• It is only troubling
• The deception is ethically complex
• It is only romantic

Q18 of 30

What does Alfie the tortoise represent in terms of Mrs Silver's emotional life?

• Alfie is a plot device
• Alfie represents love, constancy and companionship
• He is just a pet
• Tortoises make poor pets

Q19 of 30

The reversed word 'Esio Trot' is treated as magic. What does this suggest about how belief and love can transform ordinary things into the miraculous?

• It was a clever joke, and
• The 'magic' works because Mrs Silver's belief and hope are real
• It is just a trick
• Words have real power

Q20 of 30

How does the setting — two modest flat balconies — enhance rather than limit the story? What does small-scale intimacy add?

• Small scale creates intimacy
• Mr Hoppy needed more space
• A bigger setting would be better
• The setting limits the story

Q21 of 30

The ending is almost impossibly happy. Is this earned? What emotional need does it meet in the reader?

• For a story about loneliness and gentle, unreciprocated love, the happy ending feels genuinely cathartic
• It is too convenient
• It was earned through suffering
• The ending is too neat

Q22 of 30

Mr Hoppy speaks very few words to Mrs Silver before his plan. What does Dahl suggest about the difficulty of expressing love, particularly for shy or reserved people?

• He was rude, and
• He didn't love her really, a reading that locates the novel's meaning in its historical and personal context rather than in its literary structure
• Shy people always fail
• Mr Hoppy's shyness is deeply recognisable

Q23 of 30

How does Dahl use the repetition of swapping tortoises to create narrative momentum in an otherwise very gentle story?

• The plan was too complicated
• Repetition is unnecessary here
• The gradual process of substitution creates a kind of ticking clock
• The repetition is boring

Q24 of 30

Esio Trot was first published in 1990, near the end of Dahl's life. How might biographical context — including his own experiences of love and loss — inform the story's tenderness?

• He wrote it for a child, a reading that locates the novel's meaning in its historical and personal context rather than in its literary structure
• Dahl was always gentle, a reading that locates the novel's meaning in its historical and personal context rather than in its literary structure
• Biography doesn't matter
• Late-career tenderness often reflects personal reckoning

Q25 of 30

Is it significant that Mr Hoppy uses TORTOISES as the vehicle for his plan? What does the tortoise symbolise that another animal might not?

• Any animal would work
• Tortoises were convenient
• Tortoises are funny
• Tortoises represent patience, longevity and slow progress

Q26 of 30

How does Dahl balance comedy and genuine emotion in this story? Does one undermine the other?

• The book is funny, and
• They undermine each other
• The comedy (the absurdity of 140 tortoises in a flat) and the emotion (Mr Hoppy's genuine longing) coexist naturally
• The book is emotional, and

Q27 of 30

Mrs Silver loves Alfie deeply but does not know Mr Hoppy exists. What does this social invisibility of lonely people suggest?

• People in flats don't interact
• She was rude, a reading that locates the novel's meaning in its historical and personal context rather than in its literary structure
• Loneliness makes people invisible to others absorbed in their own world
• Mr Hoppy hid from her

Q28 of 30

What does the story suggest about the relationship between action and speech in expressing love? Is the plan better or worse than simply telling her how he feels?

• Telling her would be better
• Speaking would have been wrong
• Actions are always better
• The plan is a love letter expressed in action rather than words

Q29 of 30

The Quentin Blake illustrations give the characters warmth and gentle comedy. How important is illustration in creating the story's emotional tone?

• Blake's soft, slightly sketchy style creates immediate warmth for both characters
• Illustrations are decoration
• The text creates all the emotion
• Illustrations are separate from text

Q30 of 30

Could Esio Trot be seen as a fairy tale for adults? What elements does it share with the fairy tale tradition?

• Fairy tales are different
• Like a fairy tale, it features a wish (Mr Hoppy's love), a magical transformation (Alfie 'growing'), a patient hero and a happy ending
• Adults don't have fairy tales
• It is not a fairy tale