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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 word did Green and his friends use to connote artificiality during his teenage years?

2. What did Todd once tell Green about his thoughts on rivers when they sat near one once as teenagers in the review on Academic Decathlon?

3. What does Green say a good sunset always does to him in the review of Sunsets?

4. Who discovered penicillin?

5. Whose life and death coincided roughly with appearances of Halley's Comet?

Short Essay Questions

1. What habit did Green eventually replace smoking with that he feels is much less harmful?

2. In the Introduction, what does Green say this book started life as?

3. How does air-conditioning highlight matters of wealth and climate inequality?

4. What does Green say really happened in the incident with Teddy Roosevelt and the bear that he and his group were hunting?

5. What misconceptions does Green say most people have about velociraptors?

6. What does Green think of the Hall of Presidents at Disney World?

7. What did F. Scott Fitzgerald think of the reviews of his book The Great Gatsby?

8. What connection does the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" have to Green's favorite sports team in Part I?

9. What does Green say would have happened to him before about 1940 if he had gotten the same Staph infection he got some years ago?

10. What does Green think of Canada geese today?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What specific entities related to nature and the natural world does Green review in this collection, and which emotional or bigger-picture topics does he use nature and the natural world to explore? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 2

How does Green explain his choice to choose F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby as a starting point to discuss the human capacity for wonder? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

Green explains in some detail how his struggles with mental illnesses have affected his life at different stages. Who does Green credit with helping him through these difficult times, and how did these individuals support him? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

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