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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Shortly after the sun set, what extraordinary auditory experience did Sacks have?
(a) He could no longer hear himself.
(b) He could hear every living creature in the area.
(c) He could not hear anything outside himself.
(d) He could hear the movement of the plants around him.

2. The night after his surgery, what was the first of Sacks's nightmares?
(a) He was being trampled by a fish with hooves.
(b) He was running from the bull but could not move anywhere.
(c) His injured leg was made of marble and he could not lift it.
(d) He was again on the Mountain and his leg had lost all its nerves.

3. Why did Sacks write to A. R. Luria?
(a) He wanted reassurance about writing his book.
(b) He was not getting satisfactory answers from his own doctor.
(c) Luria was a close family friend.
(d) Luria was the leading neuropsychologist in the United States.

4. What analogy does Sacks refer to as he draws the relationship between science and art?
(a) Newton's apple.
(b) Galileo's earth.
(c) Einstein's theory of relativity.
(d) Archimedes' bathtub.

5. After he fell, what story did Sacks recall the villagers telling him?
(a) A Pole had been gored by the bull and bled to death.
(b) An Englishman had broken both legs on the mountain earlier, though he survived.
(c) An Englishman had died on the mountain two weeks earlier.
(d) A Scotsman had died on exposure on the mountain exactly one year previously.

6. What was the occasion for this book?
(a) The study of an unusual patient.
(b) Reading a book about an unusual patient.
(c) An accident with expected effects.
(d) An accident with peculiar effects.

7. How old was Sacks when he discovered the beauty of the world through the Pythagorean theorem?
(a) Twelve.
(b) Five.
(c) Eight.
(d) Twenty-one.

8. Sacks climbed a particular stretch of ground in just over an hour. How long did it take him to descend this same stretch?
(a) Three hours.
(b) Half an hour.
(c) Two hours.
(d) Nearly seven hours.

9. How did Sacks descend the mountain?
(a) By rolling and sliding.
(b) By "rowing" with his arms.
(c) By hobbling on his right leg.
(d) By crawling.

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

11. When Nurse Solveig returned to take out Sacks's thermometer, what emotion did she convey?
(a) Pity.
(b) Disinterest.
(c) Concern.
(d) Rage.

12. Essentially, why could Sacks not tense up the quadriceps?
(a) His brain could not communicate with either leg.
(b) The muscle was completely wasted away.
(c) He had forgotten how.
(d) His tendon had not been fully reconnected.

13. How long did Sacks wait before villagers carried him to the hospital?
(a) Less than four hours.
(b) Nearly six hours.
(c) Less than two hours.
(d) Half an hour.

14. What other word is connoted by the word "hell"?
(a) Help.
(b) Hellish.
(c) Hole.
(d) Helplessness.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What would happen if Sacks were not found by nightfall?

2. What emotion did Sacks see several times on the unguarded face of the physiotherapist?

3. What is the title of Chapter One?

4. Why did Sacks dedicate his book to Luria?

5. Since his accident, what has Sacks been aware of?

(see the answer keys)

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