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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who admits he perhaps did not always speak up to the other guides when he should have?

2. What does Hutchison ask Krakauer to check because it does not feel right?

3. Whose advice does Krakauer seek out as he deals with the horrors of the aftermath of the tragedy?

4. Whose directions does Krakauer decide to follow in his search for missing climbers?

5. In what month is Krakauer's article about the trip published in Outside?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Krakauer observe about Beidleman?

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

3. What are the physical effects of Weathers' miraculous rescue and recovery from Everest?

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

5. What do the Japanese climbers do when they find the bodies of the Indian climbers?

6. Why does Mike Groom give Krakauer his tank of oxygen?

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

8. What risks go up as the oxygen in Krakauer's tank begins to decrease?

9. What items was Krakauer going to take out of his pack when he got to the summit, although he decides not to once he is there?

10. What happens to Krakauer and other climbers from Hall's group when they fly back to Katmandu?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

When Hall says, "The trick is to get down alive," it seems to be foreshadowing for the rest of the tale. This knowledge that getting down is the hard part is something all of the hikers could have benefited from.

Part 1: In what ways is getting down the mountain harder than getting up the mountain?

Part 2: What are some of the ways Hall and the other teams attempted to make the climb down easier on the hikers?

Part 3: What other ways might the hikers have better approached the trek back down the mountain? Are there any ways you can think of that might have made this journey smoother?

Essay Topic 3

Anatoli Bourkeev is a person who might be considered a strong hiker, as he was also a guide on the trip to the summit. However, he does not always act in a way that seems to support his role.

Part 1: Describe the character of Anatoli Bourkeev.

Part 2: What kind of hiker and guide is Anatoli Bourkeev? How does this differ from other guides on the trip?

Part 3: In what ways does Anatoli Bourkeev help the hikers? In what ways does he harm the hikers?

(see the answer keys)

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