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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. Who discovered penicillin?

2. What does Green say his friend Stan Muller tells him in Green's review of the internet?

3. The lyrics from which song are etched in wrought iron at the gates of Anfield?

4. What were the last words Maurice Sendak ever said in an interview?

5. What movie's opening sequence does Green improbably say is one of the best film moments of all time?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Green like Halley's Comet?

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

3. 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?

4. How did Jerzy Dudek achieve his legendary goal-saving in a 2005 soccer match, according to Green?

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

6. What is one of the big mysteries around Halley's Comet, according to Green?

7. What genre does Green say he thinks his reviews share a lot in common with?

8. What does Green's brother Hank tell him about the coronavirus pandemic that unnerves Green?

9. What is the paradox of air-conditioning, according to Green?

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

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

Green often writes about his relationship with his brother Hank in this collection. How does Green describe this relationship, and what aspects of Hank's personality and character does Green use to explain aspects of his own personality and character? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

Which topics does Green explore in which he details some of the most common and/or significant wide-scale misconceptions that persist in society today about the topics? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions .

(see the answer keys)

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