Ratburger GCSE Quiz (With Answers)

Q1 of 15

How does Walliams use the setting of a tower block to explore themes of poverty and social disadvantage?

• All children in tower blocks are unhappy
• The tower block is background, and
• Tower blocks are irrelevant
• The cramped, difficult conditions of the tower block establish Zoe's social vulnerability and show how poverty limits choices and makes children like Zoe more exposed to exploitation

Q2 of 15

What does Zoe's love for Armitage suggest about the human need for connection and companionship?

• It shows she prefers animals to people
• She is too attached to an animal
• Even in a deeply isolating environment with an absent father and hostile stepmother, Zoe finds love and purpose through Armitage
• Rats are good pets

Q3 of 15

How does Walliams use the character of Burt to make a dark point about exploitation and predatory behaviour towards vulnerable communities?

• Burt is a funny villain, and
• Burt specifically targets a poor neighbourhood, exploiting people who cannot afford to question cheap food
• All burger sellers are dishonest
• Burt is an unrealistic villain

Q4 of 15

What role does Zoe's father play in the novel, and what does his depression suggest about the impact of poverty on adult wellbeing?

• Depression is not a real problem
• He is a bad father
• His depression and unemployment show how poverty can break adults as well as children
• He is irrelevant irrelevant

Q5 of 15

How does Walliams make Zoe a sympathetic but active protagonist rather than a passive victim of her circumstances?

• Zoe is passive throughout
• Despite genuine hardship, Zoe shows resourcefulness, love and courage
• Zoe gets lucky, and
• Her teacher solves everything, a reading that locates the novel's meaning in its historical and personal context rather than in its literary structure

Q6 of 15

What might Armitage the rat represent symbolically in the context of Zoe's difficult life?

• He is just a pet
• He represents Zoe's eccentricity, a reading that locates the novel's meaning in its historical and personal context rather than in its literary structure
• Rats are not symbolic
• Armitage represents joy, agency and something precious that belongs entirely to Zoe

Q7 of 15

How does the novel use comedy about disgusting food to engage young readers while exploring serious themes about food safety and exploitation?

• Walliams supports bad food hygiene
• The serious themes overwhelm the comedy
• Dark humour about rat burgers makes disturbing ideas about food contamination and exploitation accessible and entertaining for young readers, while still delivering a genuine moral critique
• The comedy is for fun, and

Q8 of 15

What does the stepmother character represent in the tradition of children's literature?

• She fits the archetype of the wicked stepmother
• All stepmothers are wicked
• The character is original with no literary tradition
• A realistic portrayal of stepmothers

Q9 of 15

How does the talent show sequence allow Walliams to explore the theme of unexpected talent and hidden worth?

• It is just exciting
• The talent show becomes a moment where the overlooked
• Talent shows are unrealistic
• the talent matters, not the symbolism, and

Q10 of 15

What does the resolution — Zoe exposing Burt on television — suggest about justice and the power of speaking out?

• The resolution is unrealistic
• Television always delivers justice, and
• The resolution shows that speaking out, even when you are small and powerless, can have enormous consequences
• Justice happens automatically, and

Q11 of 15

How does Walliams portray the relationship between Zoe and Miss Swallow to suggest the importance of just one caring adult in a child's life?

• Miss Swallow's recognition of Zoe's situation and genuine care shows that one attentive, kind adult can make a transformative difference to a vulnerable child's experience
• Miss Swallow interferes too much
• Teachers can't help with home problems
• Miss Swallow is not important

Q12 of 15

In what ways does Ratburger follow and subvert the Cinderella narrative?

• Fairy tales are irrelevant here
• It has nothing to do with Cinderella
• Like Cinderella, Zoe is a poor child with a wicked stepmother who triumphs
• Zoe is not like Cinderella at all

Q13 of 15

What does the novel suggest about the vulnerability of children in poverty to being exploited or overlooked by adult society?

• Poverty doesn't affect children's safety
• Zoe's situation shows how children in poverty can be invisible to protective systems and dangerously exposed to exploitation
• Children in poverty are resilient and need no help
• bad parents create vulnerable children, and

Q14 of 15

How does the choice of a rat — an animal considered disgusting by most people — as the hero's companion make a point about judging by appearances?

• Making a rat
• It is just a funny choice
• Rats are funny animals, and
• The choice was random

Q15 of 15

Ratburger was published in 2012. What contemporary anxieties about food, safety and poverty does it reflect?

• It has no contemporary relevance
• The novel is set in a fictional world, and
• These issues don't affect Britain
• Published during the horsemeat scandal era and rising food bank usage, the novel taps into genuine anxieties about food safety, corporate dishonesty and the vulnerability of the poor to exploitation