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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. How does Ishmael describe civilization’s progress in Chapter 7?
(a) As the free-fall of an aircraft that does not accord with the laws of aerodynamics
(b) As a corpse that has been kept alive artificially
(c) As a garden that has worn out the soil
(d) As a building built on water

2. What does the narrator talk to Art Owens about?
(a) Improving Ishmael’s conditions
(b) Buying Ishmael
(c) The weather
(d) Getting Ishmael a doctor

3. What does the narrator say is new about Ishmael’s expression at the beginning of Chapter 7?
(a) Twinkle-eyed playfulness
(b) Mocking raillery
(c) Gloominess
(d) A searching gaze

4. What is the second thing that the narrator says the Takers do, which is not done in nature?
(a) Turn killing into an abstract law
(b) Deny competitors access to food
(c) Steal other animals’ food
(d) Sell their produce

5. For whose benefit does Ishmael say the Leavers accumulate and preserve knowledge?
(a) Themselves
(b) The community of life
(c) The creatures they are responsible for
(d) Their food supply

Short Answer Questions

1. Where does Ishmael say, in Chapter 7, they should look for a set of laws about how to live?

2. What event does Ishmael put at 8,000 B.C. on his timeline?

3. What scenario does Ishmael describe in Chapter 7, which horrifies the narrator?

4. What does Ishmael say the Takers repudiated when they split from the Leavers?

5. How does Ishmael characterize the gods in his description of their debates?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Ishmael say the Takers explain their divergence from the peace-keeping law that has kept nature harmonious for three million years?

2. What does the narrator say is his chief objection to the Leavers’ lifestyle?

3. How does Ishmael characterize the experiment that is modern civilization?

4. Why does the narrator say that he is depressed when he does not see Ishmael for a few days?

5. What argument does the narrator offer for why the Takers’ culture is superior to the Leavers’?

6. What are the three tricks Ishmael says the gods played on the Takers?

7. What objection does Ishmael make to the narrator’s questions at the beginning of Chapter 11?

8. What are the gods wary of, in letting Adam have the knowledge of good and evil?

9. How does Ishmael characterize the work of competing for food in Taker culture?

10. How does Ishmael characterize the debate among the gods about an equitable way to take care of the animals?

(see the answer keys)

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