The story begins in Stonetown. Eleven-year-old Reynard “Reynie” Muldoon, a brilliant orphan, is reading a newspaper. Headlines about the Emergency don’t catch his interest, as it has been “the main subject of the news programs every day, as it had been for years” (3). Instead he notices a newspaper advertisement asking, “ARE YOU A GIFTED CHILD LOOKING FOR SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES?” (3). His tutor, Miss Perumal, encourages him to apply.

When Reynie goes take the test, there is a long line of children waiting, all with their parents. The first part of the test is predictable, with typical mathematical problems. The second section is curious, starting with “Do you like to watch television?” (9) and ending with “Are you brave?” (10).

The test is administered by a woman who announces that Reynie is the only child who will advance to the second phase of testing. She indicates the rules for pencils, erasers, and disqualification. The other children cry and complain bitterly as they leave.

Reynie goes to the second day of testing. He meets a girl named Rhonda who offers him the answers to the test, but he declines. As the children receive their tests, they cry or otherwise panic. Reynie finds the questions impossible to answer and he despairs.