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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When did a man from Sulphur Creek tell the protagonist about the dangers of being wet in the cold?
(a) Last fall
(b) Last summer
(c) That month
(d) Last spring

2. The man is described as speaking in what way to the dog in Part V, meaning leaving no opportunity for denial or refusal?
(a) Pleadingly
(b) Peremptorily
(c) Lovingly
(d) Angrily

3. Which of the following is a central theme in To Build a Fire?
(a) Corruption
(b) Obsession
(c) Death
(d) Unrequited love

4. What does the fire symbolize to the protagonist in Part V?
(a) Life
(b) Triumph
(c) God
(d) Comfort

5. Which word from Part V means skillful or artful management?
(a) Manipulation
(b) Peremptorily
(c) Conflagration
(d) Flounder

6. Mercury was the son of what god in Roman mythology?
(a) Mars
(b) Apollo
(c) Jupiter
(d) Neptune

7. The dog goes to find what in the end of the story?
(a) The companionship of other dogs
(b) Shelter in the forest
(c) Other food-providers and fire-providers
(d) A new owner in town

8. Which word from Part IV means to be grateful or thankful?
(a) Appreciate
(b) Manipulation
(c) Wistful
(d) Success

9. The protagonist’s socks are described as being like what “halfway to the knees” in Part IV?
(a) Sheaths of iron
(b) Quicksand
(c) Clenched fists
(d) A cast

10. The protagonist agitates the tree above him every time he does what in Part V?
(a) Pulls a twig
(b) Saws off a branch
(c) Yells at the dog
(d) Lays against the trunk

11. According to the narrator in Part IV, “The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after” what?
(a) Fifteen below
(b) 0 degrees
(c) Thirty below
(d) Fifty below

12. According to the narrator in Part VI, the protagonist’s plan of running until he reaches camp has one flaw in it. What is this flaw?
(a) He lacks the endurance
(b) The snow is too deep
(c) Darkness is setting in
(d) He has to cross a river

13. The protagonist’s mistake is having built his fire under what, in Part V?
(a) A waterfall
(b) A cliff
(c) A spruce tree
(d) An eagle nest

14. How does the protagonist become aware that his hand is on fire in Part V?
(a) The feeling
(b) The smell
(c) The sight
(d) The sound

15. What is the old-timer doing when the protagonist envisions him as he dies in Part VI?
(a) Reading a book
(b) Hunting moose
(c) Smoking a pipe
(d) Panning for gold

Short Answer Questions

1. According to the narrator in Part V, there had been no what for weeks?

2. Mercury was a messenger in Roman mythology who wore what?

3. When the protagonist falls a second time and the dog sits in front of him, how does the protagonist feel about the “warmth and security of the animal” in Part VI?

4. After falling through the ice, the protagonist believes this mishap will delay him for how long in reaching his destination?

5. Which word from Part V refers to a large mass of snow, detached from a mountain slope and sliding or falling suddenly downward?

(see the answer keys)

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