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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the marlin do as the sun rises on the third day?
(a) It begins circling the boat.
(b) It jumps every ten minutes.
(c) It picks up speed and swims on top of the water.
(d) It tries to chew the line.

2. What idea does Santiago have to help tire the marlin out?
(a) Catching more dolphin and making them pull against the marlin.
(b) Tying off the line and rowing in the opposite direction.
(c) Raising the sail when the wind blows in the opposite direction.
(d) Lashing the oars across the stern of the skiff to increase drag.

3. What last weapon does Santiago use against the sharks?
(a) The mast.
(b) The tiller.
(c) His fists.
(d) A broken bottle.

4. How does Santiago console himself after the first shark attack?
(a) That the worst was over.
(b) That he had killed the shark.
(c) That it was all a dream.
(d) That he was still alive.

5. Santiago's respect for nature and the marlin he has on his line is profound. What does he think about the people who will eat the great fish?
(a) They will be more dignified than the marlin.
(b) They will refuse to eat him.
(c) They are unworthy to eat him.
(d) They will receive some of the marlin's strength when they eat him.

6. What effect did his movement and the hot sun during the day have on Santiago?
(a) His backache went away.
(b) There was more bleeding from the cuts on his hands.
(c) He felt like a young man again.
(d) His hand uncramped.

7. Why does the old man scoop water from the sea after the marlin stops jumping?
(a) To medicate his left hand.
(b) To wash the dolphin flesh off his face.
(c) To get a small drink.
(d) To see the water temperature.

8. Why does Santiago decide to go farther out to sea than usual?
(a) He thinks the nearer waters have been fished out.
(b) He has never been far out before.
(c) He thinks big fish may be out where the schools of bonito and albacore stay.
(d) He wants to get away from other boats.

9. What evidence does the old man have of his long, hard fight with the marlin?
(a) The look in the marlin's eye.
(b) The long wet line he has now pulled into the skiff.
(c) The damage to his boat.
(d) His damaged hands and his painful back.

10. What kind of sharks came the second time?
(a) Yellow sharks.
(b) Shovel-nosed sharks.
(c) Great white sharks.
(d) Hammer head sharks.

11. During the time Santiago had the marlin on his line, what does he think the marlin does not know?
(a) That he has no chance to escape from the hook and line.
(b) That there is a man on the other end of the line and the man is old.
(c) That the boat is not just another big fish.
(d) That it is possible for him to work the hook out of his mouth.

12. What happens by midnight as Santiago returns to the land?
(a) The sharks leave as he gets near the city.
(b) The sharks come in a pack to get the rest of the marlin.
(c) He is able to fight off the sharks in the dark.
(d) His hands are well enough to use both of them with the club.

13. What is Santiago's secret for deep sea fishing?
(a) To use no more than one line at a time.
(b) To keep the lines straight down.
(c) To bring the lines up often so the fish will notice the movement.
(d) To let the boat drift and put the lines at an angle.

14. What brings Santiago awake suddenly in the night?
(a) It starts to rain.
(b) Another plane flies over at a low altitude.
(c) The smell of the leftover raw fish.
(d) The marlin is jumping again and again out of the sea.

15. What does the old man speculate he could use to buy good luck?
(a) Another 84 days of bad luck.
(b) The glow of the city lights on the shore.
(c) A lost harpoon, a broken knife, and two bad hands.
(d) The bones of the marlin.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why do the sharks finally go away?

2. Why does the old man's boat move faster as he nears the land?

3. What does Santiago look for as he sails toward the land?

4. How does Santiago imagine Joe DiMaggio would be able to do what he is doing with the marlin?

5. When do the sharks return after Santiago loses his makeshift harpoon?

(see the answer keys)

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