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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. Who is Dirk initially talking to in the bar at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel?

2. How is the boarding party killed according to the San Gabriel's report?

3. What strikes Dirk as odd about the galley and lounge area of the Starbuck on his initial recon mission with LT March?

4. How does Dirk suggest the captain's log from the Starbuck is forged?

5. What is Dirk wearing when he goes to see Admiral Hunter for the first time?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is a possible explanation for the food being gone after only five days? (Remember ADM Hunter makes it clear that they recently left port and should have enough for the entire crew for 90 days.)

2. What is a seamount?

3. Why is the Martha Ann disguised to look like a rust-bucket merchant ship?

4. What two things does the receptionist at ADM Hunter's office assume of Dirk Pitt when he arrives in his bathing suit?

5. Why is the Starbuck's last reported position Top Secret information?

6. What is the significance of there not being any paper in the crew's lounge area of the Starbuck?

7. How does Dirk determine that Hunter's crew has been searching the wrong area?

8. "Perhaps Pitt could do the impossible after all." These words go through Boland's mind after he hears that Pitt is radioing the Martha Ann from the Starbuck. There are several other references throughout the book so far that indicate Dirk has a reputation for being the sort of person who makes the wildly improbable succeed effortless. Who else has said this and where is that perception originating?

9. What is the significance of the Lillie Marlene?

10. Cussler gives a good description of rip tides after Dirk has swum out beyond the breakers at Kaena Point. Describe them, why they are dangerous and explain how best to swim through them if caught in one.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Everything in the submarine seems to indicate that someone is actively maintaining the vessel or at least "picked up afterwards." It seems an obvious inference that there might be someone still on the ship. Yet Dirk and LT March press ahead assuming it is a ghost ship. What might be some reasons for that? Psychological? Other evidence to the contrary? Stubbornness or at least reckless disregard for prudence?

Essay Topic 2

Quote from CDR Burdette Denver: "Piracy on the high seas went out with the manufacture of cutlasses." Is this actually a true statement? Is piracy a possible or probable explanation for the Pacific Vortex? Provide evidence both from the book and from independent research to support your claims.

Essay Topic 3

"Willing suspension of disbelief" is a necessary frame of mind for any reader or viewer of fiction material. However, in spite of accepting certain fantastic occurrences, readers will often begin to resist small strains on their credulity. Why does this kind of resistance begin to build in the mind of the reader? Analyze the concept of "willing suspension of disbelief" and why it is necessary to enjoy the book. Analyze your own responses to "unbelievable" parts of the book.

(see the answer keys)

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