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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 Gladwell get wrong about Affirmative Action?
(a) It is not just for African-American students.
(b) It is not for poor students.
(c) It is not still running.
(d) It is more effective than he gives credit for.

2. How much of a basketball court does Gladwell say most teams concede to their opponents?
(a) 80%.
(b) 25%.
(c) 70%.
(d) 50%.

3. Why does Gladwell say David Boies applied for law school?
(a) Because he did not need a B.A. to get in.
(b) Because he had a friend who encouraged him to apply.
(c) Because he loved research.
(d) Because he had always been disputatious.

4. Why does Gladwell say Goliath said that David was coming at him with multiple sticks?
(a) Because David was moving too quickly to be seen in detail.
(b) Because Goliath was dizzy from the altitude.
(c) Because he had double vision and saw two of David’s shepherd’s staff.
(d) Because David was carrying several staffs as weapons.

5. Where was Ranadivé’s team based?
(a) Chattanooga, TN.
(b) Portland, OR.
(c) Menlo Park, CA.
(d) Albany, NY.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many men does Gladwell say T. E. Lawrence’s force lost, in capturing those men?

2. Where does Gladwell say dyslexics’ neurons get “lost along the way” (99)?

3. What does Gladwell say Ranadivé’s players supplanted ability with?

4. What is the name of the valley in which David and Goliath faced off?

5. How many people had the courage to like a painting without Salon approval, according to Renoir?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the strategy Ranadivé used so effectively?

2. Where were the Philistines expanding into, when they encountered the armies of the Israelites?

3. What are the physiological flaws Gladwell identifies in Goliath’s body type?

4. Why does Gladwell say that Caroline Sacks should have gone to University of Maryland instead of Brown University?

5. What does Gladwell say caused the changing demographics of Shepaug Valley Middle School in Connecticut?

6. What are the three kinds of warriors whom Baruch Halpern says balance each other?

7. What is the lesson Gladwell wants us to take from his parable of David and Goliath?

8. What kind of lesson does Gladwell derive from the story of Jules Holtzapffel?

9. What are the challenges Gladwell’s powerful Hollywood friend experienced, in raising his children?

10. How does Gladwell say dyslexia helped prepare David Boies to be a trial lawyer?

(see the answer keys)

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