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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. What does the expedition party do on their first night at sea?
(a) They sing love songs and read poems to the stars.
(b) They identify the different constellation and gave a price on who can name the most.
(c) They play cards while drinking beer.
(d) They stay out to look at the stars while taking turns on the helm.

2. How does Steinbeck compare navigation at sea to life?
(a) He likens trying to keep a course to attempting to achieve an ideal.
(b) He likens sea navigation to cooking a gourmet course.
(c) He likens trying to keep a course to walking a tight pole.
(d) He likens sea navigation to courting a girl.

3. What important part of history is happening at the time of the expedition?
(a) The Formula One Grand Prix.
(b) World War II.
(c) World War I.
(d) The Summer Olympics.

4. Which piece of equipment receives positive feedback from the author?
(a) The diesel engine and the outboard motor.
(b) The diesel engine.
(c) None. Everything was trashed by the author.
(d) The outboard motor.

5. What does the expedition party do after sorting the specimen they have collected?
(a) They pack all the specimen in ice bags and send it back to the US.
(b) They sell the specimen to the locals in San Lucas.
(c) They buy jewelry for their girlfriends and wives back at home.
(d) They go ashore and visit a local cantina in the town of San Lucas.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why are the particular dates chosen for an expedition?

2. What scientific testing does Steinbeck intend to do on the liquor?

3. What does Steinbeck think about the various descriptions they have read of Cabo San Lucas?

4. What does the author describe in the story, particularly at the beginning of the book?

5. What does Tex find out about the skiff's outboard motor?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are Steinbeck's thoughts on his expedition compared to those of Charles Darwin? What are the similarities and differences?

2. Describe Tony and make some assumptions on the way he looks.

3. Steinbeck notices two men and a woman in Cabo San Lucas, paddling their canoe to the boat to do a little talking. He remarks that the indigenous people's sense of time is different from theirs. Describe the group that Steinbeck encounters, and what about their appearance invites such remarks from Steinbeck?

4. What are the recordings in The Log from the Sea of Cortez? Enumerate as many as you can.

5. Briefly explain Steinbeck's theory on "murdering" a boat.

6. Explain Steinbeck's theory on man's struggle for dominance. What is his theory on how one group never stays in power for a very long time?

7. Describe Steinbeck's theory on aphrodisiacs and how he encounters some in Cabo San Lucas.

8. Describe the members of the expedition team and their vehicle.

9. Build on Steinbeck's theory of why the expedition members do not want to catch and cook porpoises.

10. Describe Tiny's encounter with a sea turtle.

(see the answer keys)

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