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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 is the 4-step pattern of movement that Joe perfects to get through the moraines?
(a) Push-hop-push-hop.
(b) Place-lift-brace-hop.
(c) Hop-fall-retch-curse.
(d) Check-sit-swing-step.

2. When Joe finally reaches Bomb Alley, he immediately finds a trickle of water. How long has he gone without food or water?
(a) Three days.
(b) "Forever."
(c) Eight days.
(d) One whole day.

3. While crawling through the crevasse section of the glacier, what does Joe hear in his head in addition to the voice?
(a) Pop song lyrics.
(b) Birdsong.
(c) Voices of dead people.
(d) Prayers.

4. While crawling through the crevasse section of the glacier, what does Joe frequently do?
(a) He bleats out obscenities.
(b) He stands up to check the progress of his route.
(c) He digs bucket seats.
(d) He vomits.

5. How does Joe get through the moraines?
(a) Crawling.
(b) Hopping and falling.
(c) Walking.
(d) Scooting on his left side.

Short Answer Questions

1. Joe reaches an open void while abseiling deep into the crevasse, and he struggles to continue. He compares the sensation to which experience?

2. What does Joe lack the courage to do?

3. What does Joe shout at the lake?

4. When Simon reaches base camp, what is the first thing he says to Richard?

5. 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?

Short Essay Questions

1. Joe tells of the most difficult thing he has ever done, and the best view he has ever seen. What are these?

2. What does Joe discover upon reaching the "bottom" of the crevasse?

3. When does the "voice" utter its first words of discouragement? What does it tell Joe?

4. How does Joe describe his night in the moraines under the stars?

5. While preparing for his escape attempt up the snow cone towards the light, how does Joe's view towards the crevasse briefly change?

6. When Joe finally clears the crevasses of the glacier and arrives at the moraines, what painful condition does he realize that he is stricken with, and how does he describe it?

7. When Simon sees the cliff over which Joe had been hanging, how does he feel?

8. While abseiling to the right of the wall over which Joe had tumbled, why does Simon suddenly stop his descent?

9. Why is Joe so worried about losing Simon's tracks?

10. Through the moraines, Joe's watch is a strong preoccupation. Besides pain, what is his obsession?

(see the answer keys)

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