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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the title of the speech Malcolm is giving regarding extinction and complexity theory?

2. According to the Introduction, extinction is considered as unremarkable as what?

3. Where is Ian Malcolm giving his speech regarding extinction and complexity theory?

4. Dodgson tells the head of Biosyn that there could be a lucrative market in selling dinosaurs. To whom does Dodgson suggest selling them?

5. At the time of his speech in August, how old is Malcolm?

Short Essay Questions

1. Identify and describe the theory supported by the high levels of iridium at the K-T boundary.

2. Describe Ian Malcolm's feelings regarding the theory that the dinosaurs were wiped out by a meteor strike.

3. According to the Biosyn spy, why is Levine teaching a class at Woodside Junior High?

4. Why does Guitierrez lament the changing ethics of scientists?

5. Why does Levine hire Kelly and Arby to run errands for him?

6. What is reductionism? Is it useful in complexity theory or not?

7. What two events occur in the 1970s that cause scientists to focus their attention on extinction?

8. Why can complex systems only flourish at the "Edge of Chaos"?

9. A statue of a raptor is outside the biology department at the university where Malcolm works. Why does Malcolm think the statue of the velociraptor is insulting to the raptor?

10. As no map of the Costa Rican island exists, how is Levine conducting his reconnaissance on the island?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

There are many people who travel to Isla Sorna who do not leave Isla Sorna. Identify at least three people killed on the island. Compare and contrast each of these deaths being sure to indicate which character died, how the character died, and what impact on the overall plot the character's death had. What could have - or should have - been learned from each of these deaths by the island's survivors?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Richard Levine at the beginning of the book - the man whose overriding goal is to discover the lost world. What is his motivation? What drives him? Then, discuss the frightened and timid Levine in the middle of the book - the man who wants to lock doors and hide from the dinosaurs. What is his motivation? What drives him? How do the events that happen between these two personalities change Levine from the dreamer to the realist? Who is Levine at the end of the book? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast Richard Levine with Lewis Dodgson.

a. How are the two characters similar in terms of their professional lives? How are they different?

b. How are the two characters similar in their personality characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses? How are they different?

c. Only one of these characters ultimately survives the ordeal on the Costa Rican island. Is Dodgson's death a result of his own doing or a result of dumb luck? Is Levine's survival a result of his own doing or a result of dumb luck? Support your reasoning for both.

d. Looking forward, how might this ordeal have affected each of these men as they moved forward with their lives? Would they be similarly affected or not? Explain your answers and your reasoning.

(see the answer keys)

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