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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. By which decade was the marriage between sports and television virtually complete?

2. How many hours did Wood practice?

3. Who was the favorite to win the right to represent the United States in the single sculls for the 1984 Olympic games?

4. How much older was Wood than most of his competitors?

5. What sport did Carl Lewis participate in that reportedly allowed him to earn $1 million a year in appearance fees and endorsements?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why didn't Biglow's grandmother want him to row in the Olympic trials?

2. Why did a sculler have to find motivation within himself?

3. What was Wood like at prep school and at Harvard?

4. What disability did teachers discover that Biglow had when he was in the seventh grade?

5. How did Wood feel when he was rowing in the final?

6. Describe Pertti Karppinen.

7. How would Wood's coach Harry Parker accept it if Wood said that he no longer wanted to be a sculler?

8. What caused Madison Avenue to become more interested in the Olympics?

9. Why had Lewis's home life not been an easy one?

10. How did Lewis support himself?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Lewis created his own training devices and used some inventive methods to improve his rowing. Discuss why he created his own training devices and what some of these inventive methods and creative training devices were that he used to improve his rowing.

Essay Topic 2

Because of the competitive nature of rowing, there were many conflicts between rowers. Discuss events that caused conflict in the book, whether the conflict was resolved, and how the conflict affected various individuals.

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast how Wood and Bouscaren dealt with their disappointment when they did not make the Olympic rowing team.

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