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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 NOT a quality of the hunting party's horses by noon on the first day of the expedition?
(a) They are irritable and are trying to bite one another.
(b) Their hides are shining with sweat.
(c) There are white flecks of foam covering their mouths.
(d) They continually shake their heads against the bits.

2. How many weeks of provisions does the hunting party bring on the trip?
(a) 6.
(b) 4.
(c) 8.
(d) 2.

3. What does Miller do to help the man traveling from Ohio to California?
(a) He gives the man a canteen of water.
(b) He tells the man where to turn off the trail for help.
(c) He shoots the man's horse and gives him a new one.
(d) He shoots the man's rabid dog.

4. What is Andrews's reply when Schneider asks him whether he wants to side with Miller or himself on the subject of finding water?
(a) Andrews says he has no right to speak because he does not know the country.
(b) Andrews says that whatever Miller says goes, since he is the expedition leader.
(c) Andrews says that he does not want to lose a week following Schneider's plan.
(d) Andrews says that he is mighty thirsty, so he thinks they should go with Schneider's plan.

5. Andrews is told that McDonald can be found in "a little shack just this side of" (15) what feature?
(a) The jail.
(b) The brining pits.
(c) The marsh.
(d) The only restaurant in town.

Short Answer Questions

1. On what day of the expedition does the hunting party find a pile of buffalo bones?

2. What is the name of the trail the hunting party takes to reach the Colorado territory?

3. How is the protagonist's facial complexion described?

4. Who serves as the leader of the hunting expedition?

5. When the hunting party comes upon a man traveling from Ohio to California, what problem is the man having?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is irony present within Miller's discussion of how every part of a buffalo can be used for some human purpose?

2. What query is made within the letter from Andrews's father to McDonald and how does McDonald respond?

3. What does Miller think is Schneider's real reason for wanting to deviate from the party's planned path to water?

4. What do Miller's comments about the dwindling number of buffalo show about his character?

5. What does the reader learn about the protagonist before even knowing his name?

6. How does the dream motif appear within the passages of Andrews's anticipation of the hunting expedition?

7. When Andrews is unable to explain to McDonald his esoteric reasons for coming west, what does he tell McDonald instead?

8. What is the author's reason for including McDonald's comment to Andrews that "Young folks…don't know what to do with themselves" (22)?

9. For what purpose does Andrews immediately seek McDonald when he reaches Butcher's Crossing?

10. What is shown about Andrews's character in the passage when he tries to summon the images of the Colorado territory he has seen in books and magazines?

(see the answer keys)

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