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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Before he took a step, what visual problem did Sacks have?
(a) He could not distinguish colors.
(b) The floor looked closer than it actually was.
(c) He could not judge objects or distances.
(d) He could not see his feet.

2. What advantage did the mystics and metaphysical poets offer?
(a) Deep expressions of despair.
(b) Beautiful language to express hope.
(c) Hope without a specific religion.
(d) Vivid pictures of the abstract concepts which Sacks sought.

3. Sacks was excited about buying books written by a man named Head. What was the author's first name?
(a) Howard.
(b) Hugo.
(c) Henry.
(d) Herbert.

4. While watching the surgery on his right leg, what time does Sacks remember?
(a) His time in the Casting Room.
(b) Preparation for his first surgery.
(c) The moment he faced the bull.
(d) His agonizing move down the mountain.

5. What concerto did Sacks listen to on a cassette tape?
(a) Beethoven's Piano Concerto #5.
(b) Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto.
(c) Dvorak's Cello Concerto in B Minor.
(d) Mozart's Flute Concerto No. 2 in D Major.

6. Why was it so difficult for Sacks to take the first step?
(a) He could not get his sense of balance.
(b) He had forgotten how to walk.
(c) He felt that the physiotherapists were pressuring him.
(d) His feet felt too heavy to lift.

7. At what moment did Sacks's leg "return" to his body?
(a) When he had taken several steps.
(b) When he heard Mendelssohn's music in his head.
(c) When he remembered the rhythm of hiking up the mountain.
(d) When he walked and felt sensation in it.

8. To what does Sacks compare the coming revolution in neurology?
(a) Newton's discovery.
(b) The French Revolution.
(c) The American Revolution.
(d) Galileo's discovery.

9. If an outsider were to observe the patients at the convalescent home, what would he have seen?
(a) Depth and secrecy.
(b) Darkness and secrecy.
(c) Artificial friendships.
(d) Lightheartedness and frivolity.

10. At the beginning of Chapter Four, what is the essence of William Harvey's questions?
(a) How much control does man have over his movements?
(b) What is the first cause of movement?
(c) What is the first cause of thought?
(d) What controls all bodily movements?

11. Why was Sacks sent to a convalescent home before going home?
(a) He could not bear the idea of reentering the world.
(b) Patients had to be reacclimated to the world.
(c) He was not strong enough to go home.
(d) His family did not think he was ready to come home.

12. To what does Einstein compare creating a new theory?
(a) Tearing down a house to build a skyscraper.
(b) Building a skyscraper.
(c) Climbing a mountain.
(d) Rediscovering the world.

13. During his recovery, what did Sacks decide was the most important thing of all?
(a) Health.
(b) Strength.
(c) Life.
(d) Family.

14. What was the name of the convalescent home where Sacks recovered?
(a) Because his mental faculties are not engaged in the world around him.
(b) Because, if he has strong familial support, the world's shrinking does not matter.
(c) Because his frame of reference has also shrunk.
(d) Because he is caught up in the intricacies of his disease.

15. What is the most important reason for the young painter's misery?
(a) He could not hide his wish for death.
(b) He was impatient for the moment of death.
(c) He knew he was dying and could not accept it.
(d) He could not hide his worsening illness.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the quote from St. John of the Cross in Chapter Three, where does the light guide the man?

2. What was scheduled for Wednesday the 11th?

3. How had Sacks tried to revive his left leg?

4. Why did Sacks refer to the doctor's visits as "odious" (Chapter Six, pg 159)?

5. What group of people did Weir Mitchell write about?

(see the answer keys)

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