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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What switch is taking place in Tom Black's life as he dreams of his mother's death?
(a) Tom is worrying about his dying on the rodeo circuit.
(b) Tom is concentrating increasingly about his future.
(c) Tom is becoming sad about his need to ride rodeo again.
(d) Tom is slipping back more into his past.

2. What form of signaling does Albert Left Hand exercise with his dogs that Tom Black attempts again?
(a) Whistling.
(b) Ute terminology.
(c) Smoke signaling with his pipe.
(d) Hand signaling.

3. Tom Black Bull seems to draw the broncos that do what?
(a) Reveal his nasty, yet accepting nature.
(b) Mirror his dark, vicious nature.
(c) Expose his light, content nature.
(d) Reflect his excited, yet satisfied nature.

4. What is Tom Black's painful trek back up the mountain, naked and completely vulnerable to nature, an act of?
(a) Fear.
(b) Newness.
(c) Death.
(d) Atonement.

5. Tom Black dreams about his mother dying, chanting her death song, which brings what to the foreground of his psyche?
(a) Life at the San Juan ranch.
(b) More of the 'old ways'.
(c) Life at the reservation school.
(d) Experiences in the arena.

6. When Tom Black initiates his physical therapy with Mary Redmond, he is getting around how?
(a) Held up by two aides.
(b) With crutches.
(c) Using a cane.
(d) In a wheelchair.

7. Living on the mountain is healing his soul and Tom Black is slowly recalling his former self when he lived how?
(a) The 'natural way'.
(b) The 'Ute way'.
(c) The 'old way'.
(d) The 'mountain way'.

8. Riding with the pain of his injuries, what does Tom turn to?
(a) Drugs.
(b) Meditation.
(c) Alcohol.
(d) 'Old ways'.

9. The author, Hal Borland, symbolically compares Tom Black's multiple injuries and hospitalizations with what?
(a) The image of his crippled and injured spirit.
(b) His burning down the San Juan ranch.
(c) The demise of the Mexican ex-bronco rider.
(d) The death of his father in the avalanche.

10. How does Tom Black Bull care for his instructor's body?
(a) Leaves it for the city pauper's cemetery.
(b) Offers to pay for the burial.
(c) Buries it at the San Juan ranch.
(d) Collects saloon donations to pay for the funeral.

11. How does Tom Black get back to Pagosa?
(a) By train.
(b) By hitchhiking.
(c) By plane.
(d) By bus.

12. A bear rushes into the meadow from the brush and kills what, as Tom Black muses over his rodeo plans one day?
(a) A horse.
(b) A herding dog.
(c) A lamb.
(d) A sheep.

13. Tom Black moves on to Thatcher's Market where he purchases what?
(a) More practical, casual clothing.
(b) A blue coat with brass buttons.
(c) Work clothes, to change his image.
(d) A new western hat.

14. Those who observe how Tom Black rides and lives between rides see that the ride is the only time he does what?
(a) Relaxes.
(b) Regresses.
(c) Swears.
(d) Comes alive.

15. One night, Tom Black dreams that Blue Elk is speaking to him as though he is still a boy, stating the 'old ways' are gone and Tom must learn to read, write, and what else?
(a) Raise cows.
(b) Rope steer.
(c) Raise sheep.
(d) Plow fields.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Tom Black Bull feel about his first ride in the big time?

2. What is Tom Black's initial reaction to Mary Redmond's suggestions regarding a rest home?

3. He will soon be out of the hospital and on his way to mend, so what does Tom Black do with his dreams and nightmares at this stage?

4. In Tom Black's first dream the bear represents his 'old ways' spirit, while the bronco represents what?

5. When Tom Black Bull tells his instructor that he will not ride the circuit with him anymore, he advises he will do what instead?

(see the answer keys)

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