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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What effect did Dodge's escape fire have on the Mann Gulch fire, according to Maclean?
(a) The escape fire would have stopped the Mann Gulch fire.
(b) The escape fire made the Mann Gulch fire a blow up.
(c) The escape fire leaves the Mann Gulch fire a scientific impossibility.
(d) The escape fire leaves the Mann Gulch fire a mystery.

2. When was the only time Smokejumpers were allowed to be alone while fighting a fire?
(a) As they dug trenches and holes.
(b) As they made escape fires.
(c) As they ate a meal.
(d) As they fell to earth from the plane.

3. What does Maclean consider a natural reaction near the end of a fire story?
(a) To become personally involved in finding a cause for the fire.
(b) To want to learn more about firefighting.
(c) To want the Forest Service to take responsibilty.
(d) To become a distant and detached spectator.

4. Who was C.A. Gustafson?
(a) The Speaker of the House.
(b) The pilot of the plane that dropped the Smokejumpers.
(c) The Forest Service's Chief of Fire Control.
(d) The father of one of the dead Smokejumpers.

5. To what does a woodsman look for both the questions and their answers?
(a) The trees.
(b) The sky.
(c) The grasses.
(d) The ground.

6. Where did Bob Moore and Maclean discover they had both worked in their youths?
(a) Lochsa where the Fish Creek fire took place.
(b) Lochsa where Moore was born.
(c) Lochsa where Lewis and Clark nearly starved to death.
(d) Lochsa where the Missouri River enters the Gates of the Mountain.

7. According to Sallee and Rumsey, toward the end of their run, how many times did the smoke part in order for them to see the top of the ridge?
(a) Many times.
(b) Two or three times.
(c) Once.
(d) Four or five times.

8. Where did Maclean and his brother-in-law first go to view Mann Gulch?
(a) Through the mountain range.
(b) Down the Missouri River.
(c) Up through the Gates of the Mountain.
(d) Over the ridge climbed by Sallee and Rumsey.

9. Who was Elmer Bloom?
(a) The movie producer.
(b) The announcer.
(c) The movie director.
(d) The Forest Service photographer.

10. What year is generally seen as the beginning of modern scientific study of fire behavior?
(a) 1922.
(b) 1946.
(c) 1946.
(d) 1918.

11. What does the sculpture at the University of Chicago commemorating the Atomic Age look like?
(a) Both a mushroom and a skull.
(b) Both a womb and a mushroom.
(c) Both a mushroom and a planet.
(d) Both a skull and a womb.

12. Of what material are the Mann Gulch crosses made?
(a) Plastic.
(b) Marble.
(c) Wood.
(d) Concrete.

13. What does "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani" mean?
(a) "My God, My God, forgive me my sins."
(b) "My God, My God, please save me from death."
(c) "My God, My God, why is this happening to me?"
(d) "My God, My God, why hast thou foresaken me?"

14. Who did Maclean meet who finally makes the connection for him to Robert Sallee?
(a) A policeman.
(b) A registrar.
(c) A French-Canadian nurse.
(d) A personnel director.

15. What did Maclean believe the Smokejumpers had accomplished spiritually at the time of their deaths?
(a) Praying to their gods.
(b) Asking for understanding.
(c) Unite with lost ones.
(d) Unite with earth, fire, and the sky.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where did Maclean finally find Robert Sallee?

2. Why did Laird Robinson stop smokejumping?

3. What did Maclean say was evidence of the strength of the fire when it hit the Smokejumpers on the ridge?

4. What did the blowup and its fire rising out of Mann Gulch look like?

5. How did Maclean see the change in our point of view when studying the Mann Gulch fires, now that we know more about the fire?

(see the answer keys)

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