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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Starbuck contemplate when he finds Ahab asleep?
(a) waking the captain.
(b) murdering the captain.
(c) scaring the captain.
(d) locking up the captain.

2. How does Ishmael become the only survivor of the wreck of the Pequod?
(a) he manages to get back into the only boat not destroyed.
(b) he is carried on the back of Moby Dick to near The Rachel.
(c) the coffin turned life buoy saves his life.
(d) he manages to swim toward The Delight.

3. What does Ahab order the Pequod to do in violation of maritime tradition?
(a) play music and dance.
(b) ram the other ship.
(c) make obscene gestures at the other crew.
(d) sail away before the burial at sea.

4. Why does Ahab order a basket to take him to the top of one of the masts?
(a) he wants to be the first one to see the huge whale.
(b) he wants Moby Dick to spot him easily.
(c) he doubts if the crew would tell him if they spotted Moby Dick.
(d) he hopes Moby Dick can smell him and attack the ship.

5. What is the ship's carpenter assigned to do?
(a) repair all the boats to encounter Moby Dick.
(b) build a chair for Ahab on deck.
(c) erect a tent so Ahab can stay on deck.
(d) carve a new ivory peg leg for Ahab.

6. What is the second objection the Sag Harbor man has for the veracity of the story of Jonah?
(a) the whale would bite and not swallow whole.
(b) there is no oxygen inside a whale's stomach.
(c) the gastric juices of the whale would have killed Jonah.
(d) the throat of the whale could not swallow a man.

7. What does Moby Dick do as he spots Ahab?
(a) he blows and disappears again.
(b) he seems to smile at ahab.
(c) he tries to capsize Ahab's boat.
(d) he takes a bite out of the boat Ahab is on.

8. What does the dream predict can kill Ahab?
(a) an iron harpoon.
(b) oil.
(c) fire.
(d) hemp.

9. What does Stubb get from the dead whale?
(a) a substance known as Ambergis.
(b) the bones in the mouth.
(c) the skull and teeth.
(d) the tail fins.

10. Why does Starbuck send Stubb to report the storm damage to Captain Ahab?
(a) for fear of what he might do to the captain if he goes back.
(b) because Stubb knows how to talk to the captain.
(c) to give Stubb a feeling of importance.
(d) because he is too busy saving the ship.

11. When Pip is finally rescued after jumping the second time from the boat, what is his condition?
(a) he has lost the ability to speak.
(b) he has gone insane.
(c) his skin and hair has turned white.
(d) he has lost all his clothes.

12. What has happened to some of the crew of The Delight?
(a) Moby Dick killed five of them.
(b) they mutinied against the captain.
(c) they became afraid and turned the ship to run away.
(d) Moby Dick ate one of them.

13. What occurs on the Pequod that sends Starbuck to see the captain?
(a) Moby Dick is sighted off the starboard side.
(b) there is a leak in one of the casks of whale oil.
(c) the rum ration has run out.
(d) someone is stealing from the crew's lockers.

14. Besides the whales in the oceans, what else does Ishmael include in his discussion?
(a) the comparison of whales to elephants.
(b) fossil remains of whales from centuries ago.
(c) the comparison of whales to dolphins.
(d) the collected myths about whales.

15. Why does Ahab's boat stay in the ocean and not return after they catch four whales?
(a) the ship cannot handle more than three whales at a time.
(b) the whale is too large for one boat to haul.
(c) the whale near Ahab is too far to reach the ship by nightfall.
(d) Ahab is too tired to return that evening.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Ahab discover the next morning after the storm?

2. Why does Ishmael linger on the Biblical story of Jonah?

3. How does Stubb convince the French ship to leave?

4. What is the mood on the Pequod?

5. What makes Ahab return quickly to the Pequod from the Samuel Enderby?

(see the answer keys)

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