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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How did Mary Murphy feel after her ordeal?
(a) She felt as if she had nothing to live for.
(b) She was eager to move on.
(c) She was very grateful to survive.
(d) She felt like they deserved what they went through.

2. What happened to George Donner's hand?
(a) He had a cut that was becoming infected.
(b) It was chopped off.
(c) He developed frostbite.
(d) It was severely burned.

3. How did Patrick Dolan die?
(a) He ate poisoned meat.
(b) He was killed.
(c) He hallucinated and broke away from the fire then died of cold and starvation.
(d) He died from infection.

4. Why wasn't William Foster tried for the deaths of Luis and Salvador?
(a) They figured he had been through enough trauma.
(b) Killing Native Americans was not regarded as murder.
(c) He didn't really do it.
(d) There was no judge.

5. What happened to the teenager who ate a lot of food after surviving?
(a) They all laughed in happiness.
(b) He threw it all back up.
(c) He wrote about his amazing meal in his journal.
(d) He died in agony because his body could not digest it.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why did Virginia write such a long letter?

2. What happened when Margaret tried to cross the mountain?

3. When did Mary Murphy get married?

4. Who was the first snowshoer to die?

5. What happened to John Breen in California?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Virginia tell her cousin about the personal atrocities that happened on the trail?

2. What tragedy struck once the first group of survivors made it safely to Johnson's Ranch?

3. What troubles did they face as they waited out the winter?

4. What did they decide to do for food in order to survive?

5. How many people were stuck camping near the lake, and how many people went off to find help nine days before Christmas?

6. How did Virginia inadvertently help the world hear about what happened to the Donner Party?

7. Why didn't the Donner families camp with the others?

8. Why didn't the starving people hunt for food?

9. What did the group do when they realize that they couldn't reach a summit?

10. What was the Reed reunion like?

(see the answer keys)

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