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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 does the author point out about his Socratic writings in Chapter 1?
(a) They are not his best work.
(b) They are meant to slander Socrates.
(c) They were written with the express purpose of defending Socrates.
(d) He plagiarized large portions of it.

2. What does the editor emphasize should not prevent you from using worldly goods?
(a) The amount of money you have.
(b) The virtue of self-discipline.
(c) The government.
(d) The thoughts of other people.

3. What did Socrates not encourage his students to do?
(a) Read other teachings besides his.
(b) Become tyrants.
(c) Pay taxes.
(d) Join the military.

4. How does Xenophon divide the Memoirs of Socrates?
(a) Into four books of largely the same length.
(b) Directly in half.
(c) He doesn't divide it all.
(d) Into eight books with four chapters each.

5. What is the main theme of the Memoirs?
(a) God does not exist.
(b) The ideal of the true good.
(c) Its not what you know; it's who you know.
(d) Socrates is always correct.

Short Answer Questions

1. What makes the Memoirs of Socrates hard to date?

2. What are the standards of virtue as seen by Socrates?

3. How does Plato compare to Xenophon as a philosopher?

4. Why does Socrates tell Aristodemus the gods deserve esteem?

5. What is the general point of Book 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why doesn't Socrates prepare for his defense before the trial?

2. How did Socrates act out of public piety to show his students how to live good lives?

3. How does Socrates open his defense, and how does he refer to the Oracle of Delphi as part of his argument?

4. How does Xenophon define the concept to the "true good" in Chapter 2, Book 1?

5. How does Socrates' conversation with Aristippus illustrate that he encouraged his friends to be self-disciplined with regard to their bodily desires?

6. What type of friends does Socrates tell Cristobulus that he should set to acquire?

7. According to the editor how does Xenophon's "Conversations of Socrates" compare to Plato's "Apology"?

8. How is the anecdote about Critias and Alebiades used to prove that Socrates did not have a negative effect on the youth?

9. How does Xenophon feel about the accusation that Socrates turned his students against their parents? How does he feel Athens should have felt about Socrates?

10. How does Socrates help Aristarchus sort through ignorance and deficiencies?

(see the answer keys)

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