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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. Still calling himself by another name, Chris met two drifters who befriend him. Who were they?
(a) Betty Burres and her father Edgar.
(b) Martha Burres and her son Tom.
(c) Jan Burres and her boyfriend Bob.
(d) Jane Burres and her nephew Fred.

2. Where did Chris live while he was in Carthage?
(a) In a cheap boarding house.
(b) At the YMCA.
(c) In the Westerberg home.
(d) In a tack room.

3. In what area do people who knew Chris agree that he was inexperienced?
(a) Having a relationship with a girl.
(b) Living off the land.
(c) Managing money.
(d) Cooking for himself.

4. What work did Chris (Alex) do while he stayed with Jan and Bob at The Slabs?
(a) Selling in their fleamarket books stall.
(b) Digging ditches.
(c) Making hamburgers that he learned how to do at McDonald's.
(d) Acting as a security gurad.

5. When Chris corresponded with his sister, what did he confide to her?
(a) That he would surprise them all and come home.
(b) That he planned to lull his parents into a false sense of security then cut them out of his life abruptly and decisively.
(c) That he was tired of being on the run all the time.
(d) That he would see her by Christmas time.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why did Chris adopt the name Alex Burres?

2. What is Krakauer's message by using the details of the moose hunter's trip to the bus?

3. What similar classic books are favorites of Ruess and Chris?

4. Why does Krakauer include a narrative about moose hunters driving off-road trucks to get to the site Chris eventually found?

5. What symbol is ironic on the leather belt?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss the inconsistency of Chris and his ideas about money.

2. Describe the first indication that Walt and Billie McCandless had of where Chris might be.

3. Explain why Krakauer traveled to Carthage, South Dakota.

4. Tell how Krakauer disliked the assertion from so many people that Chris had foolishly thrown away his life.

5. Discuss the difference between Chris's treatment of his parents and the way he treated strangers.

6. When hunters discovered Chris's body in September of 1992, what did they decide to do?

7. Describe Jim Gallien's difficulty contacting the Alaska state troopers.

8. How abrupt was Chris's separation from his family?

9. How does Krakauer rebut the idea that Chris was a reckless idiot, a wacko, a narcissist?

10. Explain the origins of the Stampede Trail.

(see the answer keys)

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