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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When Dillard is looking at a stream, where does she look?
(a) on the north bank
(b) at the water going over the rocks
(c) she always looks upstream
(d) in the center of the water

2. What is the analogy she draws between the snake skin and the seasons?
(a) there is no analogy between snakes and seasons
(b) snakes move depending on the season
(c) snakes shed skins in accordance with the seasons
(d) seasons are a continuous loop, just as she thought the snakeskin was

3. In Chapter 7 who gravitates towards the circle on the bottom of Dillard's fishbowl?
(a) the biggest goldfish
(b) light-loving plankton
(c) baby tadpoles
(d) a scavenger fish

4. What does the author believe about acts of physical courage?
(a) men do them more than women
(b) they are energizing
(c) they are heroic
(d) they can tire you out

5. How does Dillard see time?
(a) as a maze of days
(b) as a continuous loop or an ascending spiral
(c) as an arrow through space
(d) as being too long when waiting

6. How are ladybugs shipped to gardeners?
(a) they are packed in soil and water
(b) the hibernating bugs are packed in boxes of pine cones
(c) captured in nets and sedated with alcohol
(d) they are shipped in the spring, the nests are shipped in one piece

7. Who does Dillard think gravitates towards the field of botany?
(a) those who don't like people
(b) truly ethical thinkers
(c) no one in particular
(d) people who were raised in rural areas

8. What is the translation of trompes-l' esprit ?
(a) tribulation preceeds victory
(b) trick of the mind
(c) triumph and agony
(d) till tomorrow

9. What is it about weather that Dillard believes is a phenomena worth writing about?
(a) talking about the weather is one of seven or eight phenomena worth discussing
(b) how often the modern weather predictions are right
(c) whether ancient people talked about the weather
(d) how often the modern weather predictions are wrong

10. In Chapter 4 what does Dillard use for controlling garden insects?
(a) frogs
(b) ladybugs
(c) praying mantises
(d) bats

11. When Dillard raps on the goldfish bowl, what does the fish do?
(a) dive to the bottom
(b) swim to the surface
(c) swims around the bowl three times
(d) stays perfectly still for ten seconds

12. Why did Dillard name this chapter "Seeing?"
(a) because she believes to see she has to understand
(b) because she has found out some blind people regain their sight
(c) she knows that to discover and understand she must be able to see
(d) because she discusses the loss of sight

13. Why did Xerxes stop the advance of his entire army?
(a) to get ready to attack the Greeks
(b) to watch a beautiful sunset
(c) to meditate on the beauty of a sycamore tree
(d) to cut a path through a dense forest

14. How were Starlings are introduced to America from Europe?
(a) by a man who wanted all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare to be present in America
(b) they came in on a boat from England
(c) they came over with a European circus
(d) they were sold as pets to a Virginian family

15. What sport does the author play come spring?
(a) tennis
(b) golf
(c) softball
(d) basketball

Short Answer Questions

1. In addition to form and texture, what does the author believe influences beauty?

2. How long does it take a tree to recreate ninety-nine percent of its living parts?

3. If you remove the answer in question #86 from chlorophyll, you create a molecule of what?

4. Why are starlings hated in the Tinker Creek area?

5. Dillard writes that she is an avid collector of what?

(see the answer keys)

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