View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. The Japanese team was quoted as saying, "Above 8,000 meters is not a place where people can afford ________."

2. "One must have drive, but too much drive will get _____________"

3. Who said he just kept moving and didn't look back when he saw Namba couldn't stay upright in order to get back to camp?

4. Who finally goes on to attach the lines that are necessary to allow the climbers up the mountain?

5. Who gives the injured person in #137 his spare canister of oxygen?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Hutchison tell Krakauer which surprises him?

2. What does Krakauer notice about the air in Seattle?

3. What does Krakauer realize about the hiker he thought to be Harris?

4. What has happened to Weathers, according to Hutchison's discovery?

5. What is the eventual fate of Anatoli Bourkeev?

6. What does Fischer do with his oxygen tank when he begins to make his descent from the summit?

7. What does Gau do in violation of his promise?

8. What does Krakauer tell Hutchison to do?

9. What does David Brashears note about the team Beidleman has taken into Camp Three?

10. Which route did the Indian team take in order to reach the summit?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

John Krakauer is the author of this book and a skilled hiker, though not with higher elevations. This is actually the case with many of the members of his team.

Part 1: Describe Krakauer's feelings about the inexperience of his team at the beginning of the story.

Part 2: What does Krakauer think of the hikers as the climbing continues? Does he feel more confident or less confident?

Part 3: Does this seem like a team that should have been going up Mount Everest? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

The idea of competition among the teams seems to also affect the outcome of the climb to the summit. Some feel it's a race rather than an achievement for themselves.

Part 1: What teams seem to be in competition during this story?

Part 2: Does the idea of competition seem to help the hikers or hurt them? Why? In what ways?

Part 3: How might competition have been avoided among the teams? Could it have been avoided? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

The relationships between characters is something intriguing to the reader. At times, there is an open sense of competition, for others, there is a sense of camaraderie.

Part 1: What are some examples of positive relationships between hikers on the mountain?

Part 2: What are some examples of potentially negative relationships between hikers on the mountain?

Part 3: How might this difficult challenge of hiking to the summit affect those hikers on the mountain? What does such an impossible task do to those around the hikers? To their families?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 647 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample