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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 1: "Part One: Toxins in the Permafrost and Heat Rising All Around" .

Multiple Choice Questions

1. On page 16, Wilkerson says that people adjust to the "idiosyncrasies" of an old house. What is she saying that they adjust to?
(a) Its positive qualities.
(b) Its peculiar or unique features.
(c) Its negative qualities.
(d) Its layout and design.

2. According to Wilkerson, who is at the top of the "ladder of humanity" created by colonists in North America?
(a) Northern Europeans.
(b) White men.
(c) English Protestants.
(d) Christians.

3. On page 12, Wilkerson says that some contagions can only be managed with "vigilance." How is she proposing they should be managed?
(a) With careful thoroughness.
(b) With brute force.
(c) With great speed.
(d) With constant watchfulness.

4. In the opening analogy of the book, what is the melting permafrost being compared to?
(a) The 2016 election.
(b) Denial of climate change.
(c) Racism.
(d) A "silent" earthquake.

5. According to Wilkerson, what constituency does the Republican Party represent?
(a) Progressives and nativists.
(b) Humanitarians and the marginalized.
(c) Those who want to protect an older social order that benefits whites.
(d) People whose first concern is the sovereignty of the United States.

Short Answer Questions

1. As Wilkerson explains on page 9, under what circumstances can mental health professionals make a diagnosis public?

2. In "An American Untouchable," how does the high school principal in India refer to Martin Luther King'?

3. What social trend does Wilkerson link to the 2016 election?

4. On page 6, Wilkerson calls a financial crisis "cataclysmic." What kind of crisis was it?

5. In Wilkerson's anecdote about the house inspector, how does he "see past the plaster" (17)?

(see the answer key)

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