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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Zaroff enjoy about hunting humans?
(a) It breaks a powerful taboo.
(b) They sometimes escape him.
(c) They can reason.
(d) It reminds him of being in the war.

2. What reason does Whitney give Rainsford for the sailors' fear of the island?
(a) Ships often sink there.
(b) Sailors are not rational thinkers.
(c) He does not know why they fear it.
(d) Sailors keep disappearing there.

3. Why does Rainsford stand up on the ship's rail?
(a) He thinks that he hears gunfire.
(b) He is trying to signal another ship.
(c) He is trying to reach something stuck in the rigging.
(d) He has been drinking and is fooling around.

4. What is the best description of the General's servant's clothing?
(a) He is dressed in a butler's uniform.
(b) He is dressed like a hunter.
(c) He is wearing an expensive suit.
(d) He is in a military uniform.

5. Which animal does Rainsford call the most dangerous?
(a) Tigers.
(b) Cape buffalo.
(c) Jaguars.
(d) Human beings.

6. What does Rainsford see is true about three sides of Zaroff's house?
(a) They are crumbling into disrepair.
(b) They are surrounded by a fence.
(c) They are built over cliffs.
(d) They have no windows.

7. What is the name of the island on which the story takes place?
(a) Shipwreck Island.
(b) The island is unnamed.
(c) Ship-Trap Island.
(d) Sunken Ship Island.

8. What is unusual about the door knocker on Zaroff's house?
(a) It is in the shape of a gargoyle.
(b) It is in the shape of a hunting dog's head.
(c) It does not seem to make any sound.
(d) It is rusted into place.

9. Into what two groups does Rainsford divide up the world?
(a) Strong and weak.
(b) Hunters and hunted.
(c) Thinkers and feelers.
(d) Brave and cowardly.

10. Why does Rainsford have difficulty seeing the island from the ship?
(a) It is raining.
(b) He has bad eyesight.
(c) There is no moon.
(d) He is looking in the wrong direction.

11. As Rainsford nears the island, what does he hear?
(a) The sound of his ship hitting the rocks.
(b) Recorded music.
(c) A scream and a gunshot.
(d) A splash as if something has fallen in the water.

12. How does Rainsford end up alone on deck?
(a) He and his partner argue, and his partner doesn't want to be around him for a while.
(b) The captain calls his partner below deck.
(c) His partner goes below deck to fetch a map to show Rainsford.
(d) His partner goes below deck to sleep.

13. On page 1, the narrator says that the night "was palpable as it pressed its thick warm blackness in upon the yacht." What does "palpable" mean in this context?
(a) Dark and forbidding, gloomy.
(b) Soft enough to be squeezed or manipulated.
(c) Able to be felt or touched.
(d) Warning of bad things to come.

14. What does Zaroff say is the problem with ordinary big-game hunting?
(a) The prey animal has almost no chance of survival.
(b) It wastes the life of an animal for no purpose.
(c) There are too many other great hunters in the world.
(d) It does not take the feelings of the prey animal into account.

15. What makes the General's servant intimidating when he first opens the door?
(a) He is huge and is holding a gun.
(b) He has a deep scar on one side of his face.
(c) He blocks Rainsford from seeing into the house.
(d) He shoves Rainsford back and refuses to allow him inside.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Zaroff's response to Rainsford's arrival?

2. Which word best describes the inside of Zaroff's house?

3. Which character says, on page 31, "Instinct is no match for reason"?

4. When Rainsford introduces himself to the General's servant, what is the man's response?

5. What does Zaroff imply he was afraid of when he realized that hunting had begun to bore him?

(see the answer keys)

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