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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is so poignant about the final photograph Chris took of himself holding his good-bye note?
(a) His emaciated frame contrasts with the smile on his face.
(b) It is blurry because he was too weak to hold the camera steady.
(c) The end of his good-bye note says he will see everyone in a month.
(d) He doesn't realize that he is holding the note upside down.

2. What is significant about August 5?
(a) It was Chris's 100th day in the wilderness.
(b) It was the day the moose hunters found his body.
(c) It was Chris's birthday.
(d) It was the day he killed the caribou.

3. What evidence does Krakauer find that suggests Chris was ready to re-enter society?
(a) The graffiti Chris drew on the bus indicated he wanted to see people again.
(b) Chris's journal indicated that he was beginning to doubt Thoreau.
(c) Chris had written down the names and addresses of everyone who had helped him so he could visit them again.
(d) Doctor Zhivago, a book Chris was reading, includes that genuine happiness must be shared with one's fellow human beings and Chris had made a note beside that passage.

4. What important work does Walt McCandless do?
(a) Biochemist.
(b) Nuclear physicist.
(c) CIA undercover.
(d) Advanced radar technology.

5. 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) The river is indeed a wide, churning flow of water.
(b) The river was overflowing its banks.
(c) There are dangerous rocks just under the surface of the water.
(d) The ice was breaking up and the footing was dangerous.

6. What kind of business do Carine and her husband operate?
(a) An auto repair business.
(b) A publishing company.
(c) An electronics shop.
(d) A daycare for the elderly.

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

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

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

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

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

12. What daunting challenge did Krakauer set for himself as a young man?
(a) To prove that he is always right.
(b) To scale a mountain called the Devils Thumb alone.
(c) To find out how much terror he can stand.
(d) To ski down Mt. McKinley.

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

14. After Chris left home, why didnn't Carine get upset when he won't tell her where he was?
(a) She didn't want to know because she didn't care.
(b) She was glad he was gone so she could have his room.
(c) She thought their father would try to bring him home if he knew.
(d) She knew Chris was happy and thought he would come home some day.

15. What spurred Krakauer on after his failed attempt to climb Devil's Thumb?
(a) The prospect of defeat.
(b) The fact that he has enough food to try again.
(c) A spider that keeps working after its web breaks.
(d) His mood after he naps.

Short Answer Questions

1. What emotional experience disturbed Chris while he is staying in the bus?

2. How is Carine different from Chris?

3. When did Jon Krakauer interview Walt McCandless?

4. Why does Krakauer think Chris could not excrete poison from his body?

5. Why did Chris write in his journal that he had found the Magic Bus?

(see the answer keys)

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