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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. How many kilometers can a rover travel on a full charge?

2. What was the speed of sandstorm gusts that buffeted Mark’s mission?

3. What show does Mark decide to watch on Sol 41?

4. In Chapter 7, how far away is the Schiaparelli crater from Mark?

5. What type of music did Johanssen bring to listen to?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who spoke at Watney’s memorial service?

2. What are the pros and cons of having hydrazine available?

3. What are some of the dangers that can kill Mark as he is stranded on Mars?

4. What is Mark’s plan if he isn’t rescued and runs out of food?

5. Why doesn’t Sanders want to give Venkat satellite time?

6. Why does a portion of the MAV remain and why is it useful?

7. Why does Mindy believe that Watney is alive?

8. What is Mark’s first conversation with NASA on Sol 97?

9. How does Mark arrange everything so he can return to the Hab with the probe?

10. Why does Mark decide to use ASCII to communicate with NASA?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Ares 3 Crew is not told right away that Mark is alive. Who decides not to tell the crew right away? Why doesn’t that person want them to know? When is the crew told? Who tells them? Why are they told at that point? How do they take the news?

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter 7, Mark embarks on the Sirius missions. What are the Sirius missions? What is the purpose of the missions? What does Mark gain from the missions?

Essay Topic 3

In the novel, some characters are more thoroughly described than others. Who are some characters that are merely named in passing or have a minor role in the novel? What is the importance of these flat characters to the story line? In what way do these characters make the main characters more colorful or interesting? When there is conflict, what type of role do these flat characters play?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 768 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample