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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Hutchison ask Krakauer to check because it does not feel right?

2. Which climber is found alive as well, although he is missing one of his gloves?

3. Who radios in that he is very tired when he is at the summit, then complains about how he doesn't feel well?

4. Who evacuated with Fox via helicopter from Mount Everest?

5. Who tells one of Fischer's Sherpas to stay behind?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Krakauer realize about the hiker he thought to be Harris?

2. What items was Krakauer going to take out of his pack when he got to the summit, although he decides not to once he is there?

3. Why does Pittman fall to the ground as they are approaching the summit?

4. Which route did the Indian team take in order to reach the summit?

5. What does Hutchison tell Krakauer which surprises him?

6. When Hall doesn't tell his group when they will be turning back when they reach the summit, what does Krakauer interpret this to mean?

7. What does Fischer do with his oxygen tank when he begins to make his descent from the summit?

8. What does Krakauer tell Hutchison to do?

9. What has happened to Weathers, according to Hutchison's discovery?

10. What does Groom say about the tanks of oxygen at the South Summit, even though Harris was mistaken about this fact?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The relationships between characters is something intriguing to the reader. At times, there is an open sense of competition, for others, there is a sense of camaraderie.

Part 1: What are some examples of positive relationships between hikers on the mountain?

Part 2: What are some examples of potentially negative relationships between hikers on the mountain?

Part 3: How might this difficult challenge of hiking to the summit affect those hikers on the mountain? What does such an impossible task do to those around the hikers? To their families?

Essay Topic 2

When Hall says, "The trick is to get down alive," it seems to be foreshadowing for the rest of the tale. This knowledge that getting down is the hard part is something all of the hikers could have benefited from.

Part 1: In what ways is getting down the mountain harder than getting up the mountain?

Part 2: What are some of the ways Hall and the other teams attempted to make the climb down easier on the hikers?

Part 3: What other ways might the hikers have better approached the trek back down the mountain? Are there any ways you can think of that might have made this journey smoother?

Essay Topic 3

The leaders of the teams, Scott Fischer and Rob Hall, were very experienced climbers on Mount Everest. At the same time, their eventual demise shows they were just as powerless over the mountain.

Part 1: Describe the character of Rob Hall. What was he like? What makes him a strong and a weak leader?

Part 2: Describe the character of Scott Fischer. What was he like? What makes him a strong and a weak leader?

Part 3: Compare and contrast these two figures. How are they alike and how are their different?

(see the answer keys)

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