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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The sounds of the mourning doves suggests to Edward
(a) Their sadness over the isolation of the desert
(b) An attempt to restore a lost communion
(c) An attempt to communicate with him
(d) Their oneness with the other desert creatures

2. We learn that Abbey was raised
(a) In the Texas hill country
(b) In the mountains of New Mexico
(c) In the foothillls of the Rocky Mountains
(d) In the backwoods of the Allegheny Mountains

3. Abbey had no fear of drowning in the Havasupai Canyon floor's stream because
(a) It was only ankle deep
(b) It was salty and made him bouyant
(c) He intended to drink it all
(d) It was only a mirage

4. Edward Abbey filled his canteen in the Needles country
(a) One drop per second
(b) Quickly and greedily
(c) From a salty spring
(d) From the rushing Colorado

5. What kind of tool can detect the presence of uranium?
(a) A Vanadium sensor
(b) A mining meter
(c) A Geiger counter
(d) A radiation detector

6. Onion Spring, northeast of Moab, is
(a) Slightly salty but good
(b) Clear and drinkable
(c) Poison with arsenic
(d) Full of gold

7. Abbey suggests that former cowboys, like Indians, may be
(a) Waiting for recognition by the mainstream
(b) Hoping for redemption
(c) Committing slow suicide
(d) Assimilating into American middle class

8. The unexpected guests in Edward's new home include
(a) Insects
(b) Spiders
(c) Mice
(d) Bats

9. The irony of Roy Scobie's death was that
(a) His death was harder than he had feared
(b) He was carefree about life
(c) He fell off of a horse like he expected
(d) What he feared the most actually took place

10. The small cloud on Abbey's horizon is
(a) Unemployment
(b) Prostitutes
(c) Homebrew
(d) Progress

11. Edward describes the colors of dawn in terms of
(a) Lavender, gold and rosey
(b) Rainbow of pastels
(c) Primary colors of life's art
(d) Gray, brown and tinny

12. Visiting Moab on Wednesdays, Edward Abbey deduces that the men in the beer joints have been
(a) Active and working alone all day
(b) Working as park rangers all day
(c) Are poor miners
(d) In town for most of the day

13. Edward is overcome with a desire to
(a) Trap the mice and return them to the desert
(b) Climb the mountain peaks in the distance
(c) Know and possess the scene around him
(d) Eat breakfast and walk the desert

14. Abbey describes the voice of the desert
(a) Screaming through the cracks
(b) Rising to a demented howl
(c) Whirling and shrieking
(d) Moaning and crying

15. Abbey enjoys the playful antics of the
(a) Crows
(b) Bald eagles
(c) Mourning Doves
(d) Pinyon jays

Short Answer Questions

1. Edward Abbey is living in isolation,

2. Quicksand is simply

3. Lloyd Pierson is

4. The story of Husk, Graham and Billy-Joe is obviously

5. Eating inside the trailer makes Abbey remember

(see the answer keys)

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