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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. After he falls into the crevasse, what does Joe see through the hole far above?
(a) Sunlight.
(b) Stars.
(c) Simon's body.
(d) Clouds.

2. After reciting a soliloquy as a preoccupying game, Joe realizes what?
(a) That he's in a snow cave.
(b) That he hates Shakespeare.
(c) That last night's storm is not over.
(d) That he is desperately thirsty.

3. Joe reaches an open void while abseiling deep into the crevasse, and he struggles to continue. He compares the sensation to which experience?
(a) Standing on a diving board and staring into the pool.
(b) Standing in the doorway of a plane, wearing a parachute.
(c) The moment before saying "yes" in a marriage ceremony.
(d) Riding a bike for the first time.

4. While abseiling deeper into the crevasse, Joe is certain of two things. What are they?
(a) Simon is dead and will never be found.
(b) There is a way out of the crevasse and he will find it.
(c) Simon is alive and will come back for him.
(d) Simon is gone and will not return.

5. What becomes Joe's obsession in the moraines?
(a) Footprints.
(b) Rocks.
(c) Water.
(d) The smell of urine.

6. What does Simon say the mountain has taken?
(a) His dignity.
(b) Everything.
(c) His achievement.
(d) Joe.

7. What does Joe do to find out if Simon has fallen to his death?
(a) He asks Richard.
(b) He taps their secret code on the ice wall.
(c) He calls him on the radio.
(d) He pulls the rope.

8. At seven o'clock on the eve of their departure from base camp, Simon and Richard hear a strange cry in the distance. What does Richard suggest it is?
(a) Joe.
(b) A dog.
(c) Tripes.
(d) Joe's ghost.

9. After waking from his nightmare, what does Joe see?
(a) A way out.
(b) His breath against the snow roof.
(c) Sunlight reflecting off of his crampons.
(d) Stars.

10. To what does Joe compare the figures in the ice?
(a) Answers #1, #2, and #3.
(b) Carvings inside a Hindu Temple.
(c) Paintings by Titian of grossly fat nudes.
(d) A Renaissance painting in the Sistine Chapel.

11. What does Joe not want to lose sight of on the glacier?
(a) The North Star.
(b) The lake.
(c) Base camp.
(d) Simon's tracks.

12. After his first night in a snow cave since exiting the crevasse, Joe awakens, screaming from a nightmare about the crevasse, in which he was reciting what?
(a) A Shakespeare soliloquy.
(b) A pop song.
(c) His vow of revenge.
(d) The climber's oath.

13. When he finds a way out, what does Joe say he has that he didn't have before?
(a) An escape route.
(b) The will to live.
(c) Feeling in his fingers.
(d) A plan.

14. What does Joe see that makes him certain that he is going to get out of the crevasse?
(a) A note from Simon.
(b) Signs of life.
(c) A beam of sunlight.
(d) A breeze.

15. When sorting through Joe's possessions, what does Simon salvage?
(a) Joe's hat from Czechoslovakia.
(b) Miri Smidt's diary.
(c) Joe's clothes.
(d) A bag from Chamonix.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Joe finally reaches Bomb Alley, he immediately finds a trickle of water. How long has he gone without food or water?

2. When reaching the "floor" of the crevasse, Joe determines his depth to be...

3. What are the bas-relief figures doing?

4. When Joe pulls on the rope in the crevasse, what happens?

5. What method of movement does Joe first try when he is out of the crevasse?

(see the answer keys)

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