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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. As a true patriot, Abbey encourages Waterman to
(a) Hide from the draft
(b) Fight in the war proudly
(c) Go back to his real life
(d) Find himself

2. When Abbey gets a call to help with a search, he assumes
(a) The missing man has died
(b) The missing man has hitched a ride out
(c) The man has drowned
(d) The group is over-reacting

3. Moon-Eye rejected humans when he was subjected to
(a) A violent beating
(b) Being ridden too long
(c) Human food
(d) Having to go all day without water

4. Abbey is convinced that horses are
(a) Meant to be subdued
(b) Meant to be broken
(c) Gregarious beings
(d) Pack animals

5. Major John Wesley Powell was the first to
(a) The military force behind Lake Powell
(b) Explore the Colorado River and its environment
(c) The government's advocate for the Hoover Dam
(d) A force in drowing Glen Canyon

Short Answer Questions

1. Abbey admits that he, too, is a member of

2. What reigns in the desert on this late-spring day is

3. All creatures in the desert at this time of year

4. The desert winds of May have

5. Abbey is wistful about leaving behind

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Abbey feel about leaving the desert and returning to the city?

2. What is the difference between Abbey's heat waves and a mirage?

3. If Abbey is somewhat indifferent to the death of a fellow human being, why would that be true?

4. The trip down the Colorado for Abbey and Newcomb is blissful and idyllic. What, if any, is the dark side of this story?

5. The poet to whom Abbey refers in this chapter when he says, "It was all foreseen a half century ago," is Robinson Jeffers, and his poem is entitled "Broken Balance." Why does Abbey not provide the reader with that information, when he has so adamantly laid out his reasoning and feelings for us in the previous paragraphs?

6. Abbey mentions thinking the unthinkable as he drives through the desert past the Arches headquarters. To what is he referring?

7. What are a few good words that would describe Abbey's impression of the desert at this time of year, and at noon? Is there any other place, time, state of mind or being, to which this same set of words also applies?

8. Try to explain Abbey's rambling about naming things.

9. Do you think Abbey intended to risk his life by spending the entire day trying to entice Moon-Eye to come to him.

10. What influences Abbey's final decision to abandon his quest for Moon-Eye?

(see the answer keys)

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