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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Dillard thought once that awesome artistry can be laced with savagery. To what did she refer?
(a) when a thunderstorm blew down a tree
(b) when she watched sharks tear into a school of fish
(c) when her tomcat bit the head off a mouse
(d) when ants attacked a lady bug

2. What does she realize is the best way to quiet her mind?
(a) taking a sleeping pill
(b) by offering a nonchalant nod to the presence of words in the head
(c) sitting quietly and breathing deeply
(d) counting from 100 to zero backwards

3. What does the author believe about acts of physical courage?
(a) they are heroic
(b) they are energizing
(c) men do them more than women
(d) they can tire you out

4. How does Dillard visualize the present?
(a) as the middle of everything
(b) as a wave that explodes over her head
(c) as a hawk soaring on the breeze
(d) as a hummingbird that stops for nectar

5. How do honey bees survive the cold of winter?
(a) cluster together in giant balls
(b) they don't survive, honey bees die off in the winter
(c) go to sleep inside their honey combs
(d) build nest in the ground and sleep during winter

6. Why did Indians used grooved arrows?
(a) the hunter could follow the trail of blood that flows down the groove
(b) so they would fly farther
(c) so they were lighter to carry around
(d) it made them more accurate

7. In Chapter 7 who gravitates towards the circle on the bottom of Dillard's fishbowl?
(a) baby tadpoles
(b) light-loving plankton
(c) a scavenger fish
(d) the biggest goldfish

8. How does the author say one can obtain "unself-conscious state?"
(a) through intense exercise
(b) through desperate illness
(c) through meditation
(d) pure devotion to whatever one is doing at the moment

9. How do mice reach the grain at the top of a stalk?
(a) they climb a tree and jump onto the stalk
(b) they climb the stalk on the back of other mice
(c) mice chew wheat stems piece by piece
(d) they wait for the farmer to cut the field

10. In Alaska and northern Canada during winter what is a topic of continual fascination?
(a) the exact day that the ice will break up each spring
(b) when the Canadian geese will fly north
(c) if the accumulated snow will reach 20 feet
(d) if ice fishing is dangerous

11. What does Dillard say is the way to tell winter has arrived?
(a) when you have to make your first fire
(b) when you see the first snowfall
(c) when the creek's water has frozen
(d) you can taste winter's arrival on the air

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

13. How are Eskimos able to survive in such a harsh environment as theirs?
(a) they had to possess an intimate understanding of their natural world
(b) they eat a lot of whale
(c) they wear seal fur
(d) their igloos are kept very warm

14. Even though she is no scientist, what did Dillard decide she will do in her valley?
(a) raise sheep
(b) plant a flower garden
(c) she will explore her valley and report the unmapped frontiers
(d) erect a new cabin

15. Dillard says that a particular object remains unseen until what happens?
(a) one's attention is focused on it
(b) it moves
(c) a light is turned on
(d) the name of the object is known

Short Answer Questions

1. Before a baby can distinguish objects, what kind does it prefer?

2. What does Dillard believe is healing?

3. How are ladybugs shipped to gardeners?

4. According to Dillard, how is the past healed?

5. Generally, what will praying mantises eat?

(see the answer keys)

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