Practice Questions for Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel

Practice Questions for Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel

Chapter 1

1.       What is the name of the Captain of the Flotsam? Tritus (pg. 1)

2.       Whose temper did Tritus have? Rumpelstiltskin’s (pg. 1)

3.       What was the name of the typhoon that the Flotsam was flying into? The Devil’s Fist (pg. 2)

4.       What was the airship’s course starting to look like? The path of a drunken sailor (pg. 2)

5.       What was all around the airship during the storm? Unfriendly clouds – grey, black, fuming (pg. 4)

6.       What would a captain order only in such a disaster? Jettison all tanks (pg. 6)

7.       What could happen if the airship reached eight thousand feet? The hydrium would swell dangerously and the cells might rupture (pg. 7-8)

8.       What is hypoxia? Altitude sickness (pg. 8)

9.       What is spotted at the crow’s nest in the ship? Another vessel in the sky (pg. 9)

10.   What ship do they think it is, so high up? The Hyperion (pg. 11)

11.   Who wants to risk everything to get to the Hyperion? Captain Tritus (pg. 12-13)

12.   What does the Hyperion look like to Matt? A Spanish galleon shorn of her masts and sails (pg. 15)

13.   Who goes unconscious from hypoxia? Mr. Domville (pg. 17)

Chapter 2

1.       What restaurant did Kate DeVries choose to meet Matt in? The Jewels Verne (pg. 19)

2.       Why does Matt wish he’d bought a brand new academy uniform? He feels underdressed in this fancy restaurant (pg. 19)

3.       Why did Matt’s heart sink when he was brought to his table? Kate wasn’t there yet (pg. 20)

4.       What does Matt say he’ll order on the menu, even though Kate still isn’t there? An Acqua Sprizzo (pg. 22)

5.       Who “saves” Matt from being hauled out of the restaurant? Chef Vlad (pg. 24)

6.       Who does Vlad say Kate is? Matt’s lady (pg. 26)

7.       What does Matt see out of his window? An ornithopter with a crazy pilot (pg. 28)

8.       What does Kate prefer to be called as opposed to a pilot? An aviatrix (pg. 29)

9.       Who has been teaching Kate how to fly? Philippe (pg. 30)

10.   What was the news that Kate wanted to tell Matt about? An article about that the Hyperion was sighted (pg. 32)

11.   What do they say is aboard the Hyperion? Gold and frosty corpses (pg. 34)

12.   What is the only type of airship that could get them to the Hyperion again? A skybreaker (pg. 36)

13.   What does Kate want Matt to invite her to? The Autumn Ball at the Airship Academy (pg. 37)

14.   What accuses does Matt make, that he can’t go to the ball? Not fitting in, the cost, the approval of Kate’s chaperone, not knowing how to dance, busy on that day (pg. 38)

15.   Who just got married in Sydney, Australia? Matt’s friend Baz (pg. 40)

Chapter 3

1.       Who calls for Matt when he gets back to the academy? The Dean, Mr. Ruprecht Pruss (pg. 42)

2.       What caused Mr. Pruss to be in a wheelchair? A motorcar accident (pg. 42)

3.       What does Mr. Pruss ask who Matt is? A hero or a mutineer (pg. 43)

4.       What happened to Mr. Domville? He died of respiratory failure (pg. 44)

5.       Who wants to meet with Matt about the coordinates of the Hyperion? Matthias Grunel (pg. 45-46)

6.       What does the Dean say is not enough? Instinctive ability (pg. 48)

7.       Who does Matt stop for when heading to Mr. Grunel? A gypsy girl (pg. 49)

8.       Who does Matt meet in the Ritz who couldn’t have been more than ten? The elevator boy (pg. 51)

9.       What gives it away that Matt knows that the man isn’t Matthias Grunel? His sleeves on his shirt were too short (pg. 53-54)

10.   What does Matt do to try and get away? He says he can’t remember the coordinates (pg. 55)

11.   Who is the man really? John Rath, a leader of a group of pirates (pg. 56)

12.   What does the gypsy girl and Matt do to get away from the pirates? Jump (pg. 58)

13.   What does Matt say he’s not afraid of? Heights (pg. 59)

Chapter 4

1.       What is the gypsy girl’s name? Nadira (pg. 61)

2.       What does Nadira smell of? Her leather overcoat and a spicy smell of cumin (pg. 62)

3.       How did Nadira get the key that opens all the cargo holds of the Hyperion? She got it as a gift (pg. 64)

4.       Where can Matt find Nadira if he ever needs to meet with her again? Rue Zeppelin (pg. 66)

5.       What does Matt want to do when he gets back to the academy? Sleep (pg. 66)

6.       Where does Matt go when he knows he isn’t safe at the academy? Kate’s house (pg. 67)

7.       Which one of Kate’s maids opens the door for Matt? Deirdre (pg. 67-68)

8.       What does Matt say is a vexing language? French (pg. 68)

9.       Where does Matt know Kate will be at this time of night? In the library (pg. 69)

10.   Who does Matt also find in the library with Kate? Mr. Slater (pg. 69-70)

11.   What did Matt think Mr. Slater was about to do when Miss Simpkins came in? Kiss Kate (pg. 71)

12.   After meeting Kate, what did Matt start to think about more? Money (pg. 72-73)

Chapter 5

1.       What does Matt do after he makes his decision? Goes to the bank and withdraws everything in his savings account (pg. 74)

2.       Who does Matt think is the only one he can talk to about his decision? Nadira (pg. 74-75)

3.       What is used to hold the hydrium in airships? Goldbeater’s skin, which are cows’ intestines (pg. 76)

4.       Where is Matt to meet Nadira? The harbourmaster’s (pg. 76)

5.       What does Nadira first say to Matt when they meet again? “I’ve got an interesting lead” (pg. 77)

6.       What does Sagarmatha mean? Everest in Nepalese (pg. 78)

7.       What has just been officially named the largest man-made structure on earth? The new heliodrome (pg. 79)

8.       What did Mr. Slater just build that could help their expedition? A Skybreaker (pg. 81)

9.       With what Matt is wearing, what does he think he looks like? A proper beggar (pg. 83)

10.   If the Aurora is like a blue whale, what is the Sagarmatha like? A tiger shark (pg. 84)

11.   What of Nadira’s and Kate’s clashes? Kate’s pale skin and elegant purple suit and Nadira’s dusky skin and exotic fiery sari (pg. 86)

12.   What’s a gadjo? An outsider, someone who isn’t Roma (pg. 87)

13.   Why is Kate deemed not as important for the expedition? She has nothing to offer that is vital for the trip (pg. 88)

14.   When does Matt agree to tell Mr. Slater the coordinates of the Hyperion? When they’re airborne (pg. 90)

Chapter 6

1.       Who is “too talkative to be mysterious”? Kate (pg. 92)

2.       How did Matt get inside the Academy when he went to pack? Kitchen door at back (pg. 92)

3.       To whom does Matt send his letter “in case something happens”? Baz (pg. 94)

4.       Why does Miss Simpkins come along? As a chaperone (pg. 96)

5.       Who is 1^st mate? Dorje (pg. 97)

6.       Who are most of Hal’s crew? Sherpas [Mt. Everest] (pg. 97)

7.       Who is the cook? Mrs. Ram (pg. 99)

8.       Why do they leave the heliodrome so suddenly? John Rath’s men shooting at Nadira (pg. 101)

9.       How does Nadira create “chaos between her and the pirates” Water hose (pg. 102)

Chapter 7

1.       Who calculates where the Hyperion must be by now? Dorje (pg. 107)

2.       How is Mrs. Ram related to Dorje? His aunt (pg. 109)

3.       What would Marjorie rather eat than curried lamb? Boiled ham (pg. 109)

4.       What had Hal’s previous ship been called? Trident (pg. 111)

5.       When had Trident become damaged? Hurricane Kate (pg. 112)

6.       How did Spirzglas get knocked off the airship? Flock of cloud cats (pg. 114)

7.       What does Matt dislike about riding the Sagarmatha? Just a passenger (pg. 115)

8.       Who reads Miss Simpkin’s palm? Nadira (pg. 117)

9.       What had Nadira’s family on her mother’s side done for work? Metal workers building skyscrapers in Europa (pg. 117)

10.   Where do they need to go to find the Hyperion? Over Antarctia (pg. 118)

Chapter 8

1.       What does hydrium fuel smell like? Mangoes (pg. 119)

2.       What does Dorje light at a ceremony? Incense and Juniper (pg. 120)

3.       What was used to christen Hal’s ship? Champagne bottle

4.       What does Miss Simpkins do in the sitting room? Needlework (pg. 123)

5.       How will they climb to the height of the Hyperion? Gradually (pg. 124)

6.       What does Matt read about in Paris newspaper? New reserve of Aruba fuel found in South Seas (pg. 126)

7.       What does Nadira recognize about old fellow in newspaper photo? Bushy eyebrows (pg. 126)

8.       What is Kate’s theory about the sky? Undiscovered species at high altitudes (pg. 127)

9.       Why does Nadira’s people not consider her a true Roma? Father was not a Roma (pg. 129)

10.   What’s wrong with the man Nadira’s supposed to marry? Old enough to be her grandfather and bad teeth (pg. 130)

11.   What does Matt say he’ll do with his share of the loot? Buy a new school uniform (pg. 130)

Chapter 9

1.       What was Matt studying in the lounge? Physics

2.       What did Kate rig up outside the ship? A net

3.       What was caught in the net? Spiders

4.       What was unusual about the spiders? They had wings

5.       Why is Miss Simpkins shocked? Kate wanted to dissect the spiders

6.       What is ethylene glycol? Anti-freeze

7.       What was Miss Simpkins book about? Romance

8.       What did Hal Slater say was taught at the academy that was useless? Morse Code

9.       What did Hal call Matt that he hated? My boy

10.   Who danced with Hal first? Miss Simpkins

11.   What kind of dance step did Kate teach Matt? The box step

Chapter 10

1.       Why was Matt accepted on to the crew? Because Telke died

2.       What does Mrs. Ram do when she gets up? She hums

3.       What does Nadira do on her wedding day? Kisses Matt

4.       Who has a habit of sleeping in? Kate DeVries

5.       What does Kat name the 1^st creature they discover? Aerozoans

6.       What was poison to Matt? Every kind word Kate gave Hal

7.       Who helps Matt with his math homework? Nadira

8.       How is Miss Simpkins doing? “I’m flaking away!” “My skin is terribly chapped from this dryness!”

9.       Who surprises Matt by accepting a cigar? Nadira, possibly also Kate

10.   What happened to Kate when she tried the cigar? She turned a minty shade of green

11.   What did Hal and Matt sing? The Sky Shanty

Chapter 11

1.       In whose bag was the transmitter? Matt’s (pg. 166)

2.       Who opened the casing on the transmitter? Jangbu Sherpa (pg. 168)

3.       Who wants Matt’s share of his loot, if Nadira kills him? Hal (pg. 169)

4.       What was the cause of Nadira’s liberation? Kate’s stirring speech (pg. 170)

5.       What does Kate tell Miss Simpkins to do, so that she’ll be out of earshot? Go to bed and sleep (pg. 171)

6.       Why wouldn’t Kate lie? She was too terrifyingly straightforward (pg. 172)

7.       What was an exaggeration that Hal made about his airship? That it was the only ship that could work so high (pg. 174)

8.       What does Matt call out unexpectedly from the crow’s nest? Collision Course (pg. 176)

Chapter 12

1.       What was the Hyperion riding the wind like? A great airborne whale (pg. 178)

2.       Where is Dorje stationed when they find the Hyperion? The Sagarmatha’s stern (pg. 179)

3.       What is the highest priority to find in the Hyperion? Money. Gold, banknotes and jewels (pg. 180)

4.       What does Dorje give to Matt to help him when they go on the Hyperion? A sky suit (pg. 182)

5.       How did the sky suit fit Matt? Like a second skin (pg. 183)

6.       Who went first into the Hyperion? Dorje (pg. 185)

7.       What does Matt first see when he tries to pry open the Crow’s Nest hatch? An eye (pg. 187)

8.       Why did the sailor’s body have to be moved? It blocked the ladder (pg. 188)

9.       What did Matt worry when he was carrying the frozen body? That he would drop it and he shatter into a hundred pieces (pg. 188)

10.   What did all the frozen bodies remind Matt of? Bodies found in Pompeii after Vesuvius erupted (pg. 190)

11.   What is the nicest theory they came up with of what happened to the Hyperion? An updraft (pg. 192)

12.   What does they hear that frightens then that they think is a voice? The wind making voices (pg. 192-193)

Chapter 13

1.       Why wouldn’t the key first go in? Ice in the keyhole (pg. 195)

2.       What taxidermy looks like a small zebra gone wrong? A quagga (pg. 196)

3.       Where does Matt think Grunel got a dodo from? Mauritius (pg. 197)

4.       What piece of taxidermy does Hal claim surely is a fake? A yeti (pg. 199)

5.       What is Matt’s desire to have, similarly to Hal? Gold, not bones (pg. 200)

Chapter 14

1.       What has more tools than the airship yards in Lionsgate City? Grunel’s workshop (pg. 202)

2.       What is this mysterious “coffin” in Grunel’s workshop? An Apparatus for Signaling from the grave (pg. 203-204)

3.       What did Grunel have a fear of? Being buried alive (pg. 204)

4.       What does Hal say Grunel’s machine in only good for? Scrap metal (pg. 206)

5.       What do they find in the vivarium? Aerozoans (pg. 207)

6.       What does Matt give to Kate just in case the aerozoan still had a bit of life left? A pole (pg. 209)

Chapter 15

1.       What did Hal do to open the door? Fired his pistol against the keyhole (pg. 211)

2.       What was Grunel wearing when he froze to death? Red silk pajamas, a burgundy dressing gown and slippers (pg. 212)

3.       What did Grunel have clenched in his hand? A gold pocket watch (pg. 214)

4.       What is it that makes a weird noise, that Hal takes out his pistol? A message capsule (pg. 215)

5.       What is one of Hal’s many other talents? Lock picking (pg. 216)

6.       What turns out to be in the safe? A key and a journal (pg. 219)

Chapter 16

1.       What was Matt not sure what he was more afraid of? Hal marrying Kate or him marrying Kate (pg. 221)

2.       What thing is Kate most interested in from the Hyperion? The aerozoan (pg. 222)

3.       What was the Hyperion made to be for Grunel? His home (pg. 224)

4.       Who does Grunel say will never be able to find him? B (pg. 226)

5.       Who is Grunel’s manservant? Hendrickson (pg. 226)

6.       What and whom does Grunel assume is following him? B on his pirate vessel (pg. 228)

7.       What are the beautiful sketches of in the back of Grunel’s journal? A fabulous airborne city from every possible angle and distance (pg. 229-230)

8.       What does Dorje say that Matt has, that makes him not worried about him? A Himalayan heart (pg. 231)

9.       What is in Matt’s dream when he is worrying? He’s walking through doorways that don’t seem to end and he fears that something is there (pg. 233)

Chapter 17

1.       What did Baz say that Kate and Matt have as much in common as? A fish and a kangaroo (pg. 234)

2.       What are is in the room full of wooden crates? Crates full of food (pg. 235)

3.       What did Grunel’s ornithopters look like? Bats (pg. 235)

4.       What did the crew of the Aurora joke about Matt? That he was lighter than air (pg. 236)

5.       What did Grunel have also on the Hyperion to keep him from going hungry? A barn with a variety of animals, a garden and an orchard (237-238)

6.       What does Matt and Nadira think Grunel’s flaw is to be self-sufficient in the air is? He needs Aruba fuel (pg. 239)

7.       What does Nadira say Matt is like? The Statue of Liberty (pg. 240)

8.       What does Nadira say that her and Matt can do if they can’t change the world? They’ll make a dent in it (pg. 241)

9.       Who was sent back first on to the Sagarmatha, when the Hyperion started to shake? Kate (pg. 242)

Chapter 18

1.       When they get marooned on the Hyperion, what did Mrs. Ram pack for them that they can eat? Sugared almonds and dried fruit (pg. 244)

2.       Where do they decide to stay until they can get back to the Sagarmatha? Grunel’s engineerium (pg. 245)

3.       What does Matt think up to make to stay warm? A fire (pg. 247)

4.       What is in the room that they get into with Nadira’s key? An electric heater that gives off heat and light (pg. 248-249)

5.       What is the first instruction about the phrenology machine? Stay very still (pg. 250)

6.       What is on the piece of paper that the machine gives Nadira? Her personality assessment (pg. 252)

7.       Why doesn’t Kate trust Matt very much anymore? She saw him kissing Nadira (pg. 254)

8.       What is the theory of why the sprinklers tuned off? They were run by a clockwork mechanism and all the clocks stopped (pg. 256)

9.       What is home for Matt? Kate (pg. 257)

10.   Where is the hydrium smell coming from? Grunel’s machine (pg. 258)

11.   When Matt wakes up from his nightmare what does he sense about the ship? That it’s rising (pg. 259)

12.   What does Grunel’s machine do? Makes an eternal supply of electricity and makes heat, hydrium and more water (pg. 261)

13.   What is moving in the vivarium? The aerozoans (pg. 261)

14.   How big is the hole in the glass that the aerozoans might be able to escape through? A billiard ball (pg. 263)

15.   When Hal tries to shoot the aerozoans, what does he hit instead? The innards of the ship (pg. 265)

16.   Where did Hal send the blueprints? The engineerium (pg. 266)

Chapter 19

1.       What ship has just come out of the sky? Rath’s ship (pg. 268)

2.       Who does Hal accuse of Rath knowing where they were? Nadira (pg. 270)

3.       Who is the only one who knows Morse code and where did that person learn it? Matt, at the academy (pg. 271)

4.       What did the distance to the engineerium feel like? A trek across Antarctica (pg. 273)

5.       What happened to the blueprints? They got lost in the maze of pneumatics (pg. 275)

6.       Where do Matt and Kate hide from the aerozoans? In the coffin (pg. 277)

7.       What type of lens is the periscope? A fish-eye lens (pg. 278)

8.       What does the horn in the coffin also act as? A listening trumpet (pg. 279)

9.       Who is George Barton? The man who was speaking to Rath at the heliodrome who is from the Aruba Consortium (pg. 281)

10.   What is Grunel’s amazing machine called? The Prometheus Engine (pg. 283)

11.   Who is the “B” in Grunel’s journals? George Barton (pg. 283)

12.   Why is Barton planning to destroy the Prometheus engine? So people will have to buy Aruba fuel from the Consortium, and they won’t run out of business (pg. 284)

13.   What causes Rath’s men and the rest of them to be drawn to the coffin? Kate accidentally hit the horn (pg. 286)

14.   What does the little switch do that Kate touched? Opens the coffin’s bottom as a trapdoor (pg. 287-288)

Chapter 20

1.       What’s so creepy about the frozen Grunel? His sheet was off him and wherever you were in the room it felt like he was staring at you (pg. 289)

2.       What were the worst things that could happen to you from hypoxia? Drowning or having your brain swell fatally (pg. 290-291)

3.       What does Matt propose to fly down lower? Grunel’s two ornithopters (pg. 292)

4.       What happened after Matt sends a second distress signal? Dorje responds back and says he’ll come in three hours (pg. 293)

5.        What was Matt’s temptation now? Preserving Grunel’s Prometheus Engine (pg. 294-295)

6.       What decision is Kate angry about? The rest of them are for finding the blueprints and keeping them from being destroyed (pg. 295)

7.       What would Kate call the two ornithopters that look like bats? Chirothopters (pg. 297)

8.       Where does one of Rath’s men say he’s seen a yeti before? Mount McKinley, Alaska (pg. 298)

9.       What is noticed about the display case that Matt and Kate are hiding in? The door is ajar (pg. 299)

10.   Who is Matt worrying about when he hears gunshots? Kate (pg. 301)

11.   What comes out the message tube after the blueprints? An aerozoan (pg. 302)

Chapter 21

1.       What does the voice tell Matt, Hal and Nadira to do? Bring the blueprints to the engineerium, otherwise Kate will die (pg. 304)

2.       What does Hal give to Matt before he leaves to rescue Kate? A pirate’s gun (pg. 306)

3.       Who is the “the man in the window” Matt (pg. 307)

4.       What did Rath take away from Kate to keep her weak? Her oxygen tank (pg. 308)

5.       What does Matt’s bullets that he shot hit? The glass on the vivarium wall (pg. 310)

6.       What does Barton say he needs before he leaves the Hyperion? The blueprints (pg. 312)

7.       Where does Barton stumble over to? The seat of the phrenology machine (pg. 314)

8.       What was “the terrible sound of great trees toppling in a forest”? The thunder (pg. 316)

9.       What is their only hope of reaching the Sagarmatha? The ornithopters (pg. 317)

10.   Who do they find in one of the ornithopters? Hendrickson, Grunel’s manservant (pg. 318)

11.   What is the problem with the doors on the ornithoper? Frozen solid (pg. 320)

12.   What happened to Matt when he couldn’t get into the ornithopter? He got stuck on the Hyperion and fell (pg. 322-323)

Chapter 22

1.       What does Matt say will defeat him unless he gets to the ornithopter? The sky (pg. 324)

2.       When Matt gets into the ornithopter, what is their plan? To find the Sagarmatha (pg. 326)

3.       What is one of the trickiest maneuvers on an ornithopter? An aerial hook-on landing (pg. 327)

4.       How did Marjorie, Kate’s chaperone help when the Saga was hit? Patching the gas cells (pg. 329)

5.       What did Matt feel when he woke up from his long sleep? Ravenously hungry and very thirsty (pg. 330)

6.       What does Matt intend to do when he gets back, regarding his education? Graduate from the Airship Academy (pg. 332)

7.       Where did Hal’s rucksack and the blueprints end up? With the Hyperion at the bottom of the Antarctic Sea (pg. 333

8.       What does Hal start drinking when he knows that the blueprints are lost forever? Whisky (pg. 333)

9.       Who does Hal blame in his drunkenness for this mess? Matt (pg. 335)

10.   What does Nadira think she could get a job doing when she gets back? Dancing at the Moulin Rouge (pg. 336)

11.   What does Kate want to do with the ornithopter? Buy it from Hal and see if someone might want to buy it from her (pg. 338)

12.   What does Matt and Kate find in the cargo hold of the ornithopter? Pillow cases filled with bar of gold (pg. 339)