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

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

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

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

5. What did Sacks feel as he was being admitted to the hospital?
(a) That he was reaching the purity of non-being.
(b) That he was approaching the gallows.
(c) That he was finally reaching a place of hope.
(d) That he was losing his humanity and individuality.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to the plane captain, what is the first lesson a patient must learn?

2. What was the date when Sacks climbed the mountain?

3. When was Studies in Neurology published?

4. Why did Sacks have strong legs?

5. When did Sacks begin writing to Luria?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the life voice which Sacks heard on the mountain? How was this voice stronger than his circumstances?

2. What did Sacks do when he finally wanted to escape the convalescent home? How did the woman he met treat him differently than the hospital nurses had?

3. As Sacks began to regain freedom and move around the hospital, he frequently mentioned natural elements: the birds, sun, and wind. Given what you know of his personality, why are these things important?

4. What timeline does Sacks establish for the development of neurology? What is still lacking from this branch of science?

5. What is anosognosis? What problem does this state present to medical researchers?

6. Chapter Two begins with the idea that Sacks's story was over. How might the readership have been different if he had actually ended the story here?

7. While Sacks was lying in his small hospital room, what happened to his eyes? How was this transformation similar to his leg's injury?

8. How does Sacks describe his arrival at the convalescent home? What particular words contribute to the picture he draws?

9. While in the hospital, Sacks felt morally and physically prostrate before the doctor. How do you think this happened?

10. Who visited Sacks the evening after his operation? Why does he not mention these people again?

(see the answer keys)

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