Studysync: The Call of the Wild

Which of the following inferences best explains the cause of Francois’ “great trouble and vexation” in Paragraph 1?

They made Sixty Mile, which is a fifty-mile run, on the first day; and the second day saw them booming up the Yukon well on their way to Pelly. But such splendid running was achieved not without great trouble and vexation on the part of Francois. The insidious revolt led by Buck had destroyed the solidarity of the team. It no longer was as one dog leaping in the traces. The encouragement Buck gave the rebels led them into all kinds of petty misdemeanors.

• A. He is unprepared for the harsh weather conditions.

• B. He has lost control of the dogs after Buck stands up to Spitz.

• 
  C. His dogs aren’t able to complete the Sixty Mile trail in time.

• 
  D. He is forced to whip the dogs more often.

What is most likely the meaning of red-handed as it is used in the following passage from Paragraph 2?

His lash was always singing among the dogs, but it was of small avail. Directly his back was turned they were at it again. He backed up Spitz with his whip, while Buck backed up the remainder of the team. Francois knew he was behind all the trouble, and Buck knew he knew; but Buck was too clever ever again to be caught red-handed.

• A. in the act
  

• B. fighting
  

• C. with blood on his hands
  

• D. easily
  

What does the following passage from Paragraph 1 reveal about Spitz?

Buck never came near Spitz without snarling and bristling menacingly. In fact, his conduct approached that of a bully, and he was given to swaggering up and down before Spitz's very nose.

• A. Spitz is the largest dog in the group.
  

• B. Spitz has no rivals in the group.
  

• C. Spitz doesn’t pay any attention to Francois’ orders.
  

• D. Spitz and Buck are rivals.
  

In the context of this excerpt, the “call of the wild” most likely refers to .

• A. the sound a pack of dogs make
  

• B. man’s fear of the wilderness
  

• C. the Klondike Gold Rush
  

• D. untamed natural instincts
  

What does the reader learn about Buck in Paragraphs 4 and 5?

All that stirring of old instincts which at stated periods drives men out from the sounding cities to forest and plain to kill things by chemically propelled leaden pellets, the blood lust, the joy to kill—all this was Buck's, only it was infinitely more intimate. He was ranging at the head of the pack, running the wild thing down, the living meat, to kill with his own teeth and wash his muzzle to the eyes in warm blood.

There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive. This ecstasy, this forgetfulness of living, comes to the artist, caught up and out of himself in a sheet of flame; it comes to the soldier, war-mad on a stricken field and refusing quarter; and it came to Buck, leading the pack, sounding the old wolf-cry, straining after the food that was alive and that fled swiftly before him through the moonlight. He was sounding the deeps of his nature, and of the parts of his nature that were deeper than he, going back into the womb of Time. He was mastered by the sheer surging of life, the tidal wave of being, the perfect joy of each separate muscle, joint, and sinew in that it was everything that was not death, that it was aglow and rampant, expressing itself in movement, flying exultantly under the stars and over the face of dead matter that did not move.

• A. Buck will need to eat more often to survive in the wild.
  

• B. Buck possesses a natural instinct to hunt and kill.
  

• C. Buck is worried he’ll get lost.
  

• D. Buck wants to prove his bravery to his master, Francois.
  

Which sentence from the text most strongly supports the correct answer to Question 5?

• A. “... straining after the food that was alive and that fled swiftly before him through the moonlight. He was sounding the deeps of his nature, and of the parts of his nature that were deeper than he, going back into the womb of Time.”
  

• B. “This ecstasy, this forgetfulness of living, comes to the artist, caught up and out of himself in a sheet of flame”
  

• C. “He worked faithfully in the harness, for the toil had become a delight to him; yet it was a greater delight slyly to precipitate a fight amongst his mates and tangle the traces.”
  

• D. “And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive.”
  

Which of the following is a main theme of the text?

• Which of the following is a main theme of the text?

  
  

• B. Human beings are too irresponsible to own pets.
  

• C. Both men and animals possess natural instincts for survival.
  

• D. Buck and Spitz overcame their differences to become friends.
  

Which passage from the text best supports the correct answer to Question 7?

• A. “Buck never came near Spitz without snarling and bristling menacingly. In fact, his conduct approached that of a bully, and he was given to swaggering up and down before Spitz’s very nose..”
  

• B. “Buck led the pack, sixty strong, around bend after bend, but he could not gain.”
  

• C. “... It comes to the soldier, war-mad on a stricken field and refusing quarter; and it came to Buck, leading the pack, sounding the old wolf-cry, straining after the food that was alive and that fled swiftly before him through the moonlight.”
  

• D. “The breaking down of discipline likewise affected the dogs in their relations with one another. They quarrelled and bickered more than ever among themselves, till at times the camp was a howling bedlam..”
  

What is the synonym of solidarity ?

• unity

• pushed forward

• please

• come before

What is the synonym of propelled?

• pushed forward

• unity

• come before

• a seemingly absurd or contradictory statement