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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who disagrees with the correspondent near the end of Part 1?
(a) The correspondent.
(b) The oiler.
(c) The cook.
(d) The captain.

2. What do the intruders finally do?
(a) Leave the men alone.
(b) Die.
(c) Knock the captain overboard.
(d) Join the four men on the boat.

3. Which man's life is not of the sea?
(a) The cook.
(b) The oiler.
(c) The correspondent.
(d) The captain.

4. What is being rocked as the novel opens?
(a) The baby.
(b) The carriage.
(c) The tiny boat.
(d) The large ship.

5. What do the men do to gain assistance from the wind in Part 3?
(a) Hide under the boat.
(b) Make a sail.
(c) Nothing.
(d) Row the oars.

6. What is the oiler doing at the beginning of the novel?
(a) Eating dinner.
(b) Taking a nap.
(c) Constructing a makeshift sail.
(d) Taking his turn with the oars.

7. What floats by to taunt the men?
(a) Seaweed.
(b) Seagulls.
(c) A message in a bottle.
(d) A jacket.

8. What is temporarily buoyed by the sight of the lighthouse?
(a) The wind.
(b) The boat.
(c) Nothing.
(d) The men's spirits.

9. What does the oiler say near the end of Part 1?
(a) That he would rather be dead than continue this struggle.
(b) That it is too early to worry about either a life-saving station or a house of refuge.
(c) That they will soon be rescued.
(d) That he cannot row any longer.

10. Who is the crew on the tiny boat?
(a) Three bitter enemies.
(b) Three close brothers.
(c) Three unlikely shipmates.
(d) Three lifelong friends.

11. What does the correspondent take turns doing with the oiler in Part 2?
(a) Complaining about their chance of being rescued.
(b) Rowing with both oars.
(c) Sleeping.
(d) Eating dinner.

12. What are the men facing in Part 2?
(a) Being rescued.
(b) Each other.
(c) Starvation.
(d) A wall of water rushing at them.

13. Who dampens the others' spirits in Part 3?
(a) The oiler.
(b) The correspondent.
(c) The captain.
(d) The cook.

14. What do the waves seem determined to do?
(a) Drown the dingy.
(b) The waves do not seem determined.
(c) Sweep the captain out of the boat and into the sea.
(d) Escort the men to safety on land.

15. How do the men feel about the results gained from constructing the sail?
(a) Angry.
(b) Disappointed.
(c) Indifferent.
(d) Pleased.

Short Answer Questions

1. What determines the gravity of a situation?

2. Who is injured?

3. Why do the men row?

4. What happens as the men get closer to land?

5. What makes the men feel the way they do about their current situation in Part 2?

(see the answer keys)

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