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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Dillard opens this first chapter remembering this animal.
(a) a poodle that lived down the street from her
(b) a robin whose nest fell from the tree
(c) an alligator she saw in the zoo
(d) an old tomcat that she used to have

2. What is Dillard illustrating in her story about the Polyphemus moth from her childhood?
(a) the indifference humans often exhibit towards the natural world
(b) she has a good memory
(c) kids are cruel
(d) moths have to spread their weeks when born

3. How much of life which has ever been created, is living at the present time?
(a) 80 percent of all life ever created still exist
(b) around 45 percent
(c) about half
(d) about ten percent

4. If you could watch the unfolding through time of every thing that ever existed on Earth, what does Dillard say you would see?
(a) joy
(b) destruction and fear
(c) upheaval and violence
(d) an endless tempest of beauty

5. What does Dillard find out when she takes her first course in French?
(a) she has no aptitude for languages
(b) it's more difficult than Spanish
(c) French sounds better than English
(d) she realizes that she will have to learn French word by word

6. One branch of Jewish philosophy believes that part of the responsibility of humans is to do what?
(a) stand in for God with the animals
(b) to help God by hallowing creation
(c) planting trees
(d) to experience the moment

7. How do ladybugs hibernate?
(a) ladybugs hibernate in large masses
(b) ladybugs hide beneath the bark on trees
(c) ladybugs die off in winter
(d) ladybugs hibernate under the roots of trees

8. What causes most insects' behavior?
(a) the structure of their exoskeleton
(b) external stimuli
(c) innate programming
(d) imitating parents

9. In Chapter 3, Dillard stalks a bird along the iced over creek. What kind of bird was it?
(a) blue jay
(b) coot
(c) duck
(d) robin

10. What is the translation of trompes-l' esprit ?
(a) tribulation preceeds victory
(b) triumph and agony
(c) trick of the mind
(d) till tomorrow

11. What is the literal act of seeing?
(a) using binoculars to see a great distance
(b) learning how to spot the different wildlife
(c) watching for movement in the clouds
(d) opening the eyes and looking straight ahead

12. How does Dillard see time?
(a) as being too long when waiting
(b) as a continuous loop or an ascending spiral
(c) as a maze of days
(d) as an arrow through space

13. How does Dillard think of Tinker Creek in the first chapter?
(a) that she'd rather live somewhere else
(b) as an anchor that keeps her steady in the current of life
(c) as a place that time forgot
(d) as a scary, mysterious place

14. If there were only one tree in the world, what would happen, according to the author?
(a) there would not be enough oxygen to breath
(b) the world would cease to exist
(c) all creatures would travel to touch it in order to feel secure
(d) humans would all live around the tree

15. What does the author believe separates humans from their creator and humans from each other?
(a) hate
(b) self-consciousness
(c) indifference
(d) fear

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Dillard visualize the present?

2. What is the analogy she draws between the snake skin and the seasons?

3. Why do the male praying mantis come near the female?

4. What is one of Dillard's main occupations in the winter?

5. What did Dillard do at one time about insects as a child?

(see the answer keys)

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