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

2. What well-known magazine had a lead article entitled "Smokejumpers Suffer Ordeal by Fire?"
(a) National Geographic.
(b) Life.
(c) Look.
(d) Time.

3. 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?
(a) We should be very careful not to put too much value in the trees growing now.
(b) We should be careful while trying to summarize that fire and its effects on the gulch.
(c) We should stay close to the ground and have compassion for the young men who died.
(d) We should stay attuned to the possibily of fire in lightning storms.

4. What did Maclean and the others decide was one key point on the hillside they needed to locate?
(a) The exact spot at which the Smokejumpers landed with their gear.
(b) The opening in the reef through which Rumsey and Sallee escaped the fire.
(c) The true location of Hellman's marker.
(d) The exact spot at which Sylvia was found alive.

5. What is a gofer match?
(a) A small torch made by lighting rolled paper.
(b) A cigarette lighter.
(c) A stick match pulled from a matchbox.
(d) A paper match pulled from a matchbook.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Maclean believe the atomic mushroom to be a symbol of in the 20th century?

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

3. Why did Laird Robinson stop smokejumping?

4. Who did Maclean watch play billiards nearly every day when he was a young teacher?

5. Why did Maclean write what he called his "fire report?"

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened to the men when they left the foreman, Dodge, at the site of the escape fire? What name did the author give to the point at which the men left? From what perspective did the author tell the story of their assent?

2. What did Maclean mean when he said, "viewing total conflagration is literally blinding, as sight becomes sound."

3. Who is the firsthand source of information Maclean and his investigative partner Laird Robinson set out to find before they did anything else? Why? Who were they looking for?

4. How did Maclean explain the picture of a big fire? What was it made up of in his opinion?

5. What did the land in Mann Gulch look like in the aftermath of the fire?

6. What did the author mean when he spoke of bi-visual and tri-visual?

7. What was it like when the fire reached its height and totally covered the landscape? To what did Maclean compare the fire at this point?

8. Who was Henry Thol, Sr.? What was his role in the Mann Gulch fire?

9. What does Maclean believe has become the symbol of fear in the late twentieth century? What artist does he site as support for this claim?

10. To what did the author compare the cloud of smoke atop the Mann Gulch fire when the blowup rose out of the gulch?

(see the answer keys)

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