"The Country of the Blind" Version One

According to the introductory paragraphs of “The Country of the Blind,” how did the mysterious mountain valley first become cut off from the rest of civilization?

• A landslide blocked it in.

• Disease kept people away.

• Avalanches built a snow barrier.

• The inhabitants walled themselves off.

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In “The Country of the Blind,” how does Nunez manage to end up in the Country of the Blind?

• He is searching for the fabled land with a group of

  mountaineers.

• He meets a purblind mountaineer from the lost valley.

• He accidentally falls down a mountain into a ravine.

• He loses his way during a journey to Quito.

The Dutch philosopher Erasmus collected proverbs, including the one that is repeated in “The Country of the Blind”: “In the Country of the Blind the One-eyed Man is King.” How does author H. G. Wells use this old proverb in the story?

• to reveal to Nunez the glories of the valley vistas

• to explain to Nunez what the valley residents believe

• to remind Nunez that there is a world outside the valley

• to suggest to Nunez his superiority to the valley-dwellers

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What are two failed attempts that Nunez makes to prove that he can see in “The Country of the Blind”? Choose two options.

• He tells the people what colors their doors are painted.

• He tries to predict when Pedro will come down the path.

• He carefully describes the cavernous roof of the universe.

• He offers to explain what is happening among the houses.

• He reads aloud the book that he brought with him in his pack.

Why does Nunez agree to the eye operation in “The Country of the Blind”?

• He wants to be more like his fellow villagers.

• He has learned to rely on his other senses.

• He wishes to marry Medina-saroté.

• He hopes to regain his sanity.

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In “The Country of the Blind,” what is the main reason that the people of the valley do not believe Nunez when he tries to explain the world of sighted humans?

• It is clear to them that Nunez is trying to trick them into giving him what he needs.

• Nunez has an unconvincing way of presenting his ideas about the world to them.

• Their leaders have provided them with a different interpretation of the world.

• They refuse to think that anything in the outside world can help them.

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Which excerpt from “The Country of the Blind” best supports the reasons why the blind people didn't listen to or believe Nunez?

• They guided the sightless youngsters hither and thither until they knew the whole Valley marvelously, and when at last sight died out among them the race lived on.

• All the old stories of the lost valley and the Country of the Blind had come back to his mind, and through his thoughts ran this old proverb, as if it were a refrain—

  “In the Country of the Blind the One-eyed Man is King.”

• Blind men of genius had arisen among them and questioned the shreds of belief and tradition they had brought with them from their seeing days, and had dismissed all these things as idle fancies, and replaced them with new and saner explanations.

• He said Nunez must have been specially created to learn and serve the wisdom they had acquired, and that for all his mental incoherency and stumbling behavior he must have courage, and do his best to learn, and at that all the people in the doorway murmured encouragingly.

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Read this excerpt from “The Country of the Blind.”

At that he stood up smiling. He would show these people once and for all what sight would do for a man. They would seek him, but not find him.

“You move not, Bogota,” said the voice.

He laughed noiselessly, and made two stealthy steps aside from the path.

“Trample not on the grass, Bogota; that is not allowed.”

Nunez had scarcely heard the sound he made himself. He stopped amazed.

Why is Nunez (Bogota) so amazed?

• The villagers will not leave him alone.

• The villagers learn quickly about sight.

• The villagers possess remarkable hearing.

• The villagers have strict rules about everything.

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“The Country of the Blind,” why does the doctor believe that removing Nunez’s eyes is a good idea?

• He wants Nunez to look like everyone else in the valley.

• He is convinced that Nunez’s eyes are causing mental problems.

• He knows that Nunez can see and is therefore has an advantage.

• He believes that eyes are sinful and stand in the way of being human.

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Which excerpt from “The Country of the Blind” best supports the doctor's opinion that Nunez's condition is of harm to himself?

• “You see, my dear, he’s an idiot. He has delusions; he can’t do anything right.”

• He was the great doctor among these people, their medicine-man, and he had a very philosophical and inventive mind, and the idea of curing Nunez of his peculiarities appealed to him.

• “They are greatly distended, he has eyelashes, and his eyelids move, and consequently his brain is in a state of constant irritation and distraction.”

• “They will hurt you but little,” she said; “and you are going through this pain—you are going through it, dear lover, for me . .

  .”

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