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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The protagonist recalls the tale of a man who was caught in a blizzard and killed what before climbing into the carcass in Part V?
(a) A steer
(b) A caribou
(c) A horse
(d) A musk ox

2. After falling through the ice, the protagonist believes this mishap will delay him for how long in reaching his destination?
(a) 45 minutes
(b) 2 hours
(c) 20 minutes
(d) 1 hour

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

4. The narrator states of the protagonist in Part VI, “This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man. He was losing in his battle with” what?
(a) The Yukon
(b) The frost
(c) Hyperthermia
(d) Nature

5. The narrator states in Part V that the dog looks to the protagonist as what?
(a) The navigator
(b) The fire-provider
(c) The belly-rubber
(d) The water-maker

6. According to the narrator in Part VI, “never in the dog's experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and” do what?
(a) Make no fire
(b) Not move
(c) Cry
(d) Be silent

7. 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?
(a) Angered
(b) Sickened
(c) Jealous
(d) Content

8. What other word does the narrator use for sulphur in Part V?
(a) Keystone
(b) Thermastone
(c) Sparkstone
(d) Brimstone

9. Which word from Part IV means a large destructive fire?
(a) Apprehension
(b) Wistful
(c) Recoil
(d) Conflagration

10. The story, although not directly stated, is suggested to take place during what time period?
(a) 1850s
(b) 1940s
(c) 1890s
(d) 1920s

11. The protagonist thinks to himself, “those old-timers were rather” what, in Part IV?
(a) Cautious
(b) Superstitious
(c) Womanish
(d) Brave

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

13. What does the protagonist do once the fire is a success and he remembers the advice of the old-timer in Part IV?
(a) He laughs
(b) He scowls
(c) He cries
(d) He smiles

14. Which word, used to describe the snow in Part V, means something that covers, envelops, or conceals?
(a) Perimeter
(b) Cirque
(c) Horizon
(d) Mantle

15. An earlier version of To Build a Firewas first printed in The Youth’s Companion in which year?
(a) 1893
(b) 1902
(c) 1928
(d) 1947

Short Answer Questions

1. What kind of socks does the protagonist wear in Part IV?

2. The following sentence is an example of which literary technique: “It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death”?

3. According to the narrator in Part IV, the “wires were pretty well down between him and his” what?

4. The protagonist thinks to himself in Part IV, “All a man had to do was” what “and he was all right”?

5. Which of the following stylistic elements is used throughout To Build a Fire?

(see the answer keys)

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