View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Since his accident, what has Sacks been aware of?
(a) The wonder and horror which lie just behind life.
(b) The shallowness of everyday life.
(c) The wonder and horror which are an everyday part of life.
(d) The shallowness of human experience.

2. How long did Sacks think about his injury before he began writing about it?
(a) Eight years.
(b) Four years.
(c) Ten years.
(d) Six years.

3. When Sacks began to write to Luria, where did Luria live?
(a) Berlin.
(b) Madrid.
(c) Oslo.
(d) Moscow.

4. How did Sacks meet the bull?
(a) The bull walked out of a stand of trees.
(b) The bull looked like a boulder until he got close to it.
(c) He rounded a boulder and it was lying in the path.
(d) He came over a small rise and the bull was lying in the grass.

5. In what publication did Sacks's first article about his injury appear?
(a) New York Times Book Review.
(b) London Review of Books.
(c) New York Times.
(d) Atlantic Monthly.

6. Why did Sacks have strong legs?
(a) He swam regularly.
(b) He had worked out at the gym for many years.
(c) He was a veteran hiker.
(d) He ran marathons.

7. What was the main injury that Sacks was able to identify?
(a) An artery was torn.
(b) The quadriceps was paralyzed.
(c) The leg was becoming horribly discolored.
(d) His femur was broken.

8. What did Sacks think about as he moved down the mountain?
(a) What little time he had left to live.
(b) Happy memories and times.
(c) His father's vegetable garden.
(d) The most heart-wrenching moments of his life.

9. When did Sacks write the preface to the book?
(a) 1954.
(b) 1991.
(c) 1983.
(d) 1982.

10. To what poor instrument did Sacks compare his injured leg?
(a) The smashed violin he had as a child.
(b) The cracked cello in his living room.
(c) The dented clarinet he had as a child.
(d) The broken saxophone he had kept since childhood.

11. How did Sacks splint his leg?
(a) With a stick he found on the ground.
(b) With his walking stick.
(c) With his umbrella.
(d) With his right leg.

12. How is the material in the last chapter presented?
(a) Poetically.
(b) Randomly.
(c) Concisely.
(d) Systematically.

13. Who has written about the "occasions of poetry" (pg 9)?
(a) T. S. Eliot.
(b) Thomas Gunn.
(c) William Shakespeare.
(d) Admiral Nelson.

14. What did Sacks find astonishing about his wound?
(a) The pain he felt during his whole recovery.
(b) The complexity of effects he experienced during recovery.
(c) The inability of his doctors to understand him.
(d) The long recovery time.

15. Where did Sacks's accident occur?
(a) In the Swiss Alps.
(b) On a mountain in Norway.
(c) In the hills of Germany.
(d) On a mountain in Finland.

Short Answer Questions

1. Sacks climbed a particular stretch of ground in just over an hour. How long did it take him to descend this same stretch?

2. How long did it take Sacks to reach the final understanding of his various thoughts?

3. Who came up with the phrase "quickening art" which described Sacks's use of music to move down the mountain?

4. What was Luria's response to Sacks's story?

5. Why did Sacks write to A. R. Luria?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 569 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample