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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. Why does Gary attend the pre-race banquet?
(a) It is mandatory.
(b) He isn't tired.
(c) He wants to meet other mushers.
(d) He has completed his last-minute preparations.

2. What is one mistake that Gary makes right before the race starts?
(a) He forgets to bring his hat.
(b) He gets in the wrong line order.
(c) He changes his lead dog.
(d) He forgets to tie up the dogs.

3. What does Gary write is the most important fact about skunks when running dogs?
(a) They may carry rabies.
(b) They scare dogs.
(c) They stink.
(d) They are nocturnal.

4. What time does the banquet end?
(a) Midnight.
(b) An hour before the start of the race.
(c) Three in the morning.
(d) Six in the morning.

5. What does Gary NOT do when he reaches the Finger Lake checkpoint?
(a) Check the dogs' toes.
(b) Rub the dogs' shoulders.
(c) Mend harnesses.
(d) Sleep.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happens during Gary's second night in the kennel?

2. How many other teams follow Gary onto the trapping trail?

3. Where does the trapping trail outside of Anchorage end?

4. What does Ruth say to Gary after his skunk encounter in "Major Wrecks"?

5. The Canadian dogs remind Ruth of what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when Gary asks the doctor, "Is there a time?"

2. Describe how Gary and his team finish the race.

3. Why does Gary think The Interior resembles another planet?

4. Why does the race start in downtown Anchorage?

5. How does Cookie warn Gary about thin ice in Norton Sound?

6. Describe the manner in which Gary and his team make it down Happy Canyon.

7. What terrifies Gary during his run in the first snow?

8. Gary writes in the Prologue, "Everything had been done wrong." What does he think he did wrong?

9. What is the challenge of running from Koyuk to Nome?

10. What paradox of the race does Gary write about in "Alaska"?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 950 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample