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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to the book, some counter strategies to these toxins include all of the following except ______.
(a) Heightened memory.
(b) Feeding strategies that minimize ingestion.
(c) Digestive processes that detoxify.
(d) Drying plants in the sun.

2. ________, Pollan believes, is brutally reductive, simplifying nature's incomprehensible complexity to something humanly manageable.
(a) Agriculture.
(b) Sociology.
(c) Science.
(d) Chemistry.

3. _________ is one example of a chemical which was tested before it was used, only to find that later on it affected other ecosystems.
(a) Marigolds.
(b) Bt.
(c) DDT.
(d) Neem oil.

4. What kind of storm took place in December of 1999, causing the gardens of Versailles to be ruined?
(a) Tornado.
(b) Flood.
(c) Snow storm.
(d) Windstorm.

5. According to the book, drugs that alter the user's perception of time and space are taboo because they disrupt the _______.
(a) Political order.
(b) Verbal order.
(c) Social order.
(d) Religious order.

Short Answer Questions

1. What sort of potato was developed by the Incan people and just one of the many potatoes which used to grow?

2. ______ present in species such as the wild parsnip cause the animals that eat it to burn in the sun.

3. The new potato called "NewLeaf" has been genetically engineered in order to produce its own ______________.

4. The French romantics were said to have experimented with ________ after Napoleon's troops brought it back with them from Egypt.

5. _______ are substances studied by ethnobotanists and refer to "the god within."

Short Essay Questions

1. Why are cats so drawn to catnip, according to the research that Pollan does after seeing how his cat response to using this herb?

2. Describe the experience Pollan had when the police almost found his large marijuana plants in his backyard?

3. What are some of the possible genetically modified food advances people might see in the future, according to Pollan?

4. What did Heath have to say about Pollan's question about pest resistance to the chemicals the potatoes are designed to produce?

5. What are some of the intoxicants and ingredients for intoxicants which Pollan admits to growing in his garden now?

6. After a few days of drenching rain, what did the NewLeaf potato plants look like in Pollan's garden?

7. What happens to the animal in the wild who decides to eat hallucinogens and thus takes in the toxins of these plants?

8. What are some of the reasons why potatoes were not very popular in Europe around the late 1500s?

9. As the various lands in Europe began to rely on the potato, what were the positive benefits of this situation?

10. What has been the recurrent theme about plants which are forbidden by others? What are they supposed to provide?

(see the answer keys)

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