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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The previous year, what did Hurricane Agnes do in the area?
(a) it missed the area, so it did nothing
(b) dumped enormous amounts of rain
(c) blew a tree down on top of Dillard's cabin
(d) wiped out all the flowers in the area

2. How large might a root system for winter rye grass plant grow?
(a) one root that grows straight down for 100 yards
(b) 65 miles of roots and 2,000 miles of root hairs
(c) a shallow system above ground spread for 15 acres
(d) 378 miles of roots and 6,000 miles of root hairs

3. When a mosquito bites a snake, what happens?
(a) nothing, mosquitoes feed on snakes
(b) the mosquito lays its eggs under the scales
(c) the mosquito dies from the snake blood
(d) mosquitoes carry snake blood to other animals

4. What does the author see as somewhat synonymous with the creator, or God?
(a) nature
(b) energy
(c) humans
(d) the sun

5. In Chapter 9 Dillard is uneasy and hears what seems to be gunshots. What did she actually hear?
(a) a motorcycle
(b) a garbage truck backfiring
(c) a cap gun
(d) firecrackers

6. What is the "Principle of Indeterminacy?"
(a) one can not know both the velocity and the position of a particle
(b) it is not possible to determine the sex of a baby muskrat
(c) the time of day cannot be determined from looking at the sky
(d) one cannot know how far a star is by looking at it

7. What does the author think the existence of parasites makes the world?
(a) a horrible place
(b) nothing, parasites don't affect the world
(c) unstable
(d) more real

8. What lures birds of all species out of their summer hiding places?
(a) a cloudy day
(b) a cold snap
(c) seeds sprinkled on the ground
(d) a wet rain

9. How does Dillard finally reconcile a kind, loving creator with the carnage she observes in the natural world?
(a) by reinterpreting the meaning of death
(b) by realizing there is no creator
(c) by putting it out of her mind
(d) by realizing she's not smart enough to understand

10. What does Dillard believe is destroyed in the flood?
(a) the bee hives in the field
(b) the creek bed
(c) the plankton
(d) a beaver's dam

11. In Chapter 13, Dillard spies a snake. What kind is it?
(a) a brown water snake
(b) a black snake
(c) a coral snake
(d) a copperhead

12. In Chapter 13, Dillard is still obsessed about nature. In what way?
(a) against the seeming cruelty of nature
(b) about the rain and the sound of water
(c) about the beauty of an oak leaf
(d) about humans destroying nature

13. How much impact on any of the creatures, mountains, or creek around her does the author think she has?
(a) as much as any other creature
(b) very little
(c) she has no impact at all
(d) too much

14. In this book the author is not only striving to understand the natural world, but to understand this acceptance:
(a) humankind's place in the world
(b) the creator behind that world
(c) the interplay of life and death
(d) the meaning of acceptance

15. When ancient Hebrews sacrificed an animal to their god, how did they use the horns?
(a) they didn't use them
(b) to cage the animal
(c) to strenthen the altar for a larger animal
(d) poured blood into the horns

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the other type of poisonous snake besides the answer in #139, that lives around the creek area?

2. Dillard says if nature is not monstrous, then why does it appear that way to humans?

3. What are the "horns of the altar?"

4. Dillard believes that if she waits patiently with no anticipation of what is to come, this will happen.

5. How does the author see the violence in the natural world?

(see the answer keys)

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