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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How do humans insulate themselves from the present, according to the author?
(a) by wearing clothes appropriate to the weather
(b) by blocking out the past
(c) by lying to themselves and others
(d) by continuously reviewing images of the past and future in their minds

2. Dillard says that a particular object remains unseen until what happens?
(a) one's attention is focused on it
(b) it moves
(c) a light is turned on
(d) the name of the object is known

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

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

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

6. If you could watch the unfolding through time of every thing that ever existed on Earth, what does Dillard say you would see?
(a) an endless tempest of beauty
(b) joy
(c) destruction and fear
(d) upheaval and violence

7. How do blind people who suddenly gain sight usually see objects at first?
(a) as bigger than they really are
(b) as all gray
(c) as black and white
(d) as patches of colored light

8. What does the author say the future is?
(a) baby birds who have just hatched
(b) light on the water and a spirit
(c) a wind coming from the east
(d) a cricket's song on a sultry night

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

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

11. Dillard thought once that awesome artistry can be laced with savagery. To what did she refer?
(a) when her tomcat bit the head off a mouse
(b) when a thunderstorm blew down a tree
(c) when ants attacked a lady bug
(d) when she watched sharks tear into a school of fish

12. What does Dillard say can be as blinding as complete darkness?
(a) too much light
(b) a mind that is closed
(c) some camp lanterns
(d) a full moon at midnight

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

14. Dillard writes that she is an avid collector of what?
(a) feathers
(b) strange insects
(c) facts and ideas
(d) snake skins

15. When a scientist disrupted pine caterpillars' food trail, what happened?
(a) half of caterpillars made a new trail off to the right
(b) they stopped, and stayed still until they died
(c) they turned around and followed their trail back home
(d) the caterpillars could not restart a new trail

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Dillard opens this first chapter remembering this animal.

3. After she examines the snake skin closely, what does she figure out?

4. One branch of Jewish philosophy believes that part of the responsibility of humans is to do what?

5. How are Eskimos able to survive in such a harsh environment as theirs?

(see the answer keys)

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