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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. Why does Mr. Davidson think people are not migrating south ahead of the radiation?

2. Why does Peter not hold out much hope for a naval assignment?

3. What does Dwight encourage Moira to do?

4. How does Dwight react to the country?

5. What does Dwight tell Moira he would like to do?

Short Essay Questions

1. How had Dwight been warned of the possibility of the war?

2. How is Moira Davidson dealing with the eminent threat of death by radiation?

3. Tell what is known about the global nuclear war.

4. What does it mean that the people had all died tidily?

5. What is of special interest about the radio signals coming from around Seattle?

6. How does Shute explain the proliferation of atomic weapons?

7. Describe what the USS Scorpion crew sees everywhere they go.

8. Explain why Peter, a navy lieutenant-commander, has not worked for the past seven months.

9. How has the boisterous revelry of the townspeople changed over the past year?

10. How do some people hold the hope that one day humans will again populate the Earth?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about optimism as the mirror image of denial. Express the difference between optimism and denial. Give examples from the novel that indicate an optimism that something might happen to prevent the approaching radiation cloud from reaching Melbourne.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about the responsibility people have to others when taking any action. In your essay show how governments did not take into consideration anything but their own greedy desires, never once thinking how their nuclear attacks might affect the entire world. Take it down to a less grand level and write about how even small personal actions my affect not just ourselves but others as well.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the value of creativity. Refer to the ways the people of Melbourne adjusted to not having fuel to operate cars and other things they no longer had access to. In your essay write about how creative people can find ways to facilitate life even in extreme situations.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 675 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample