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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Abbey is convinced that horses are
(a) Pack animals
(b) Meant to be subdued
(c) Gregarious beings
(d) Meant to be broken

2. Abbey wishes that the tourists would get out of their vehicles and
(a) Walk on the land
(b) Buy some lunch
(c) Have a Coke
(d) Drink from the streams

3. The meaning of Abbey's words, "claritas, integritas, veritas" can be found in this quote:
(a) I am here...to confront, immediately and directly if it's possible, the bare bones of existence
(b) ...the desert reveals itself nakedly and cruelly, with no meaning but its own existnece
(c) To meet God or Medusa face to face, even if it means risking everything human in myself
(d) Paradox and bedrock.

4. The beautiful flower Larkspur can be
(a) Deadly for cattle
(b) Made into healing salve
(c) Used for herbal teas
(d) Poisonous to humans

5. Fred Burkett's favorite hiding place to watch for speeders was
(a) Leveled by vandals
(b) Now obsolete
(c) Blown over in the wind
(d) Sawed down by Abbey

Short Answer Questions

1. Abbey admits that he, too, is a member of

2. Abbey tries to convince Moon-Eye to come with by telling him a story about

3. The pika is an animal that lives and feeds on

4. Separating from other human beings feels to Abbey like

5. Abbey describes the experience of noontime in the desert like

Short Essay Questions

1. What influences Abbey's final decision to abandon his quest for Moon-Eye?

2. Try to explain Abbey's rambling about naming things.

3. Why was Abbey not interested in living with the Supai Havasu Indians?

4. Abbey gives us two facts in the early part of this chapter that make it clear that this trip was taken in a decade long-past. What is it?

5. Why does Abbey prefer the desert to other environments?

6. Why do the men make jokes about the dead man?

7. Do you think Abbey intended to risk his life by spending the entire day trying to entice Moon-Eye to come to him.

8. Abbey does not speak highly of the man-made lakes on the Colorado. Why?

9. Why does Edward Abbey seemingly push the limits of safety by living in isolation and putting himself in dangerous situations?

10. What are a few good words that would describe Abbey's impression of the desert at this time of year, and at noon? Is there any other place, time, state of mind or being, to which this same set of words also applies?

(see the answer keys)

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