View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When did Jon Krakauer interview Walt McCandless?
(a) A year after Chris died.
(b) On what would have been Chris's birthday.
(c) Seven weeks after Chris's body was recovered.
(d) Never. He would not speak with Krakauer.

2. What was in the McCandless house that speaks to the feelings of Walt and Billie McCandless toward Chris?
(a) No photos of Chris in the house.
(b) Clippings of newspaper articles and magazine stories about Chris.
(c) All of Chris's track trophies lined up on the mantle.
(d) A photo memorial to Chris on the dining room table.

3. What did Walt leave in the bus?
(a) A flashlight and some batteries.
(b) A memorial plaque.
(c) An emergency radio operated by a hand crank.
(d) A book about edible plants in the area.

4. What is prominently displayed in Carine McCandless's home?
(a) Two photographs of her brother, Chris.
(b) All of Chris's track trophies.
(c) A painting she did of her brother, Chris.
(d) A scrapbook of news clippings about Chris.

5. What does Krakauer think actually killed Chris?
(a) The wild potato seeds he was eating.
(b) Choking on rabbit bones.
(c) Poisonous leaves he was reduced to eating.
(d) Tainted canned goods he found in the bus.

6. How was Westerberg able to help the police?
(a) He told them Chris graduated from Emory University.
(b) He had a photo of Chris's yellow Datsun with the license plate showing.
(c) He had Chris's fingerprints on file.
(d) He had Chris's Social Security number on file.

7. A year after Chris's death, what did Krakauer observe on the banks of the Teklanika River where Chris had been unable to cross?
(a) There are dangerous rocks just under the surface of the water.
(b) The river was overflowing its banks.
(c) The river is indeed a wide, churning flow of water.
(d) The ice was breaking up and the footing was dangerous.

8. What happened 10 months after Chris's death?
(a) Billie and Walt got a divorce.
(b) The company that owns the bus took it away.
(c) Carine had a dream about Chris.
(d) Ten months after McCandless's death, Krakauer, Billie and Walt took a helicopter to the bus site.

9. What ambitions did Jon Krakauer's father have for all of his children?
(a) That they would attend Ivy League schools.
(b) That they would leave home and be on their own after high school.
(c) That they would excell in sports.
(d) That they would all enter the family business.

10. What family outings did the McCandless family mention to Krakauer?
(a) A yearly trip to Texas.
(b) Camping trips with an Airstream Trailer.
(c) Going to the Grand Canyon every year.
(d) A beach house in Cape Cod.

11. What happened to Billie in July of 1992?
(a) She was diagnosed with cancer.
(b) She had a vivid dream of Chris calling her for help.
(c) She had a nervous breakdown.
(d) She had a dibilitating auto accident.

12. How does Roman Dial, who teaches at the University of Alaska, interpret Chris's actions?
(a) He agrees that Chris was borderline neurotic.
(b) Roman thinks no one should ever attempt what Chris did.
(c) He thinks the native Alaskans are right to condemn Chris.
(d) Roman admires McCandless's efforts but would not undertake them himself.

13. What did Billie leave in the bus?
(a) A set of steel plates and cups.
(b) A suitcase filled with emergency food supplies.
(c) Three heavy blankets.
(d) A down coat and some matches.

14. What trait did sports reveal in Chris?
(a) He wanted other people to win.
(b) He was lazy about training.
(c) He did not take defeat well.
(d) He was not interested in competition.

15. What did the bones outside the bus reveal?
(a) That Chris had been unable to kill edible animals.
(b) That the animal Chris killed had been eaten by vultures.
(c) What Chris thought was a moose was actually caribou.
(d) That the bus had been attacked by wolves.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Krakauer reached an impassable place on the mountain, what did he do?

2. What important work does Walt McCandless do?

3. Racing against a storm, Krakauer reaches the summit of the Thumb. How does he describe it?

4. Who gave Krakauer dinner and a place to sleep in Petersberg?

5. Why did the Candless family not follow the route Chris had taken to get to the bus as Billie wanted?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 802 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample