Can you complete these great first lines?

For this week’s post, I offer Ragan readers a distraction.

Take a break from writing that social media post, white paper or annual report message, and test your literary knowledge.

Fill in the blanks for these renowned first lines in literature:

1. “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking ____________.”
“1984” by George Orwell

2. “In a hole in the ground there lived a ____________.”
“The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien

3. “It was a pleasure to ____________.”
“Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury

4. “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous ____________.”
“The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka

5. “____________was dead: to begin with.”
“A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens

6. “In my younger and more vulnerable years my ____________ gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.”
“The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald

7. “You better not never tell nobody but ____________.”

“The Color Purple” by Alice Walker