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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Previous to this injury, when Sacks had had electrical currents applied to his injured neck muscles, what happened?
(a) He felt shooting pains in his back.
(b) His neck muscles had remained tense and nearly immobile.
(c) He had the undeniable impulse to shrug.
(d) His neck muscles immediately relaxed.

2. How many days did Sacks spend in his small hospital room?
(a) Thirty.
(b) Twenty.
(c) Twelve.
(d) Eight.

3. When Sacks gave thanks for his health and recovery, what was most important about that action?
(a) The deity to whom he addressed his thanks.
(b) The feeling of humility and gratefulness.
(c) The words he used to express his thoughts.
(d) The amount of thankfulness he actually felt.

4. As noted at the end of Chapter Three, what did Sacks begin to do?
(a) Look to other people for emotional and spiritual support.
(b) Address himself to the "Thou" of the Psalms.
(c) Turn away from hope to despair.
(d) Put his faith in mysticism.

5. Why is the phrase "uneventful recovery" misleading?
(a) Recovery is the greatest event of the patient's life.
(b) The phrase implies a peaceful recovery, which is never possible.
(c) Recovery is actually a series of events.
(d) Recovery has no relationship to events.

6. Previous to his accident, how did Sacks think things were accomplished in the world?
(a) By sheer willpower.
(b) By external impetus.
(c) By love and understanding.
(d) By reason and will.

7. Before Sacks's cast was taken off, what did he dream that it was filled with?
(a) Joy and concerto music.
(b) A lacerated leg.
(c) Someone else's leg.
(d) Air or rotting bones.

8. Why was it so difficult for Sacks to take the first step?
(a) He had forgotten how to walk.
(b) He could not get his sense of balance.
(c) His feet felt too heavy to lift.
(d) He felt that the physiotherapists were pressuring him.

9. What was Sacks's general opinion about the patients in the convalescent home?
(a) None of them had as compelling a story as he did.
(b) They were all smarter than the doctors.
(c) They were pretty knowledgeable about the world and their places in it.
(d) They were generally stupid and clueless.

10. The day that Sacks moved out of his first hospital room, how far did he walk?
(a) Half a mile.
(b) Three blocks.
(c) He could not walk at all.
(d) A mile.

11. What vital change in the world happened once Sacks moved out of his first hospital room?
(a) He became part of a community again.
(b) He reinforced his individuality.
(c) He felt distant from the other patients though he had expected to feel closer.
(d) He was intimidated by the vastness of the world.

12. What is the most important reason for the young painter's misery?
(a) He could not hide his wish for death.
(b) He could not hide his worsening illness.
(c) He was impatient for the moment of death.
(d) He knew he was dying and could not accept it.

13. What was the oddest thing that happened while Sacks's shoulder and arm were in a cast?
(a) He could no longer feel their presence.
(b) Their nerve endings no longer responded to stimuli.
(c) He forgot that he had ever had them.
(d) They gave him constant pain.

14. Before he took a step, what visual problem did Sacks have?
(a) He could not distinguish colors.
(b) The floor looked closer than it actually was.
(c) He could not see his feet.
(d) He could not judge objects or distances.

15. When did Sacks suffer his second fall?
(a) December 1982.
(b) January 1984.
(c) November 1984.
(d) March 1983.

Short Answer Questions

1. What escapade did Sacks try to pull during his last night in the hospital?

2. What problem did Sacks find with Leontev and Zaporozhet's book?

3. What advantage did the mystics and metaphysical poets offer?

4. In the quote about patient waiting, why must the person not think?

5. According to Head, when dealing with body alienation, what is of "fundamental importance" (Chapter Seven, pg 200)?

(see the answer keys)

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