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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The human figures Joe sees in the broken ice of a cliff are in "bas-relief". What does this mean?
(a) Resting.
(b) Humming a bass-pitched tune.
(c) Reclining.
(d) Projecting slightly from the background.

2. When sorting through Joe's possessions, what does Simon salvage?
(a) Miri Smidt's diary.
(b) Joe's clothes.
(c) A bag from Chamonix.
(d) Joe's hat from Czechoslovakia.

3. When Simon reaches base camp, what is the first thing he says to Richard?
(a) 'He fell.'
(b) 'Joe's dead.'
(c) 'There was nothing I could do.'
(d) 'You look terrible!'

4. After coming to the conclusion that Joe is dead, Simon is determined to do what?
(a) To recover Joe's personal helmet-cam to see what happened.
(b) To get off the mountain alive.
(c) To come back with a helicopter.
(d) To find Joe's body.

5. After he falls into the crevasse, what does Joe see through the hole far above?
(a) Simon's body.
(b) Clouds.
(c) Stars.
(d) Sunlight.

6. Joe reaches an open void while abseiling deep into the crevasse, and he struggles to continue. He compares the sensation to which experience?
(a) Standing on a diving board and staring into the pool.
(b) Standing in the doorway of a plane, wearing a parachute.
(c) The moment before saying "yes" in a marriage ceremony.
(d) Riding a bike for the first time.

7. Who does Richard go to see about getting donkeys for transporting their gear?
(a) Norma.
(b) Gloria.
(c) Spinoza.
(d) Huayallapa.

8. Who narrates the chapter "Silent Witness"?
(a) Joe.
(b) Simon.
(c) The editor.
(d) Richard.

9. After seeing that the rope had been cut, Joe falls asleep. What wakes him?
(a) Someone shouting.
(b) The sounds of the glacier.
(c) A nightmare of falling.
(d) The cold.

10. While abseiling deeper into the crevasse, Joe is certain of two things. What are they?
(a) Simon is gone and will not return.
(b) Simon is dead and will never be found.
(c) There is a way out of the crevasse and he will find it.
(d) Simon is alive and will come back for him.

11. After his first night in a snow cave since exiting the crevasse, Joe awakens, screaming from a nightmare about the crevasse, in which he was reciting what?
(a) A pop song.
(b) A Shakespeare soliloquy.
(c) His vow of revenge.
(d) The climber's oath.

12. What becomes Joe's obsession in the moraines?
(a) Water.
(b) The smell of urine.
(c) Footprints.
(d) Rocks.

13. Why does Joe turn off his head torch?
(a) He can't stand the looks of his injury.
(b) So he can see out better.
(c) To save the batteries.
(d) So he can go to sleep.

14. Besides the commands of the voice, what does Joe rely on to keep him going?
(a) The heat.
(b) The glacier.
(c) His watch.
(d) Simon.

15. When Joe finally musters the courage to look down, what does he see in disbelief?
(a) The corpse of an ancient iceman.
(b) The Prussik knot he had dropped while hanging above the crevasse.
(c) Another dead climber.
(d) A snow-covered floor.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Simon get extremely angry at during his last full day at base camp?

2. Simon recalls that he wanted to see Bolivia before returning to London. What country does Joe want to see?

3. Simon feels as if the whole struggle up until he cuts the rope is the deliberate scheme of whom?

4. At seven o'clock on the eve of their departure from base camp, Simon and Richard hear a strange cry in the distance. What does Richard suggest it is?

5. How does Joe describe the shape of the crevasse chamber where he has been?

(see the answer keys)

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