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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. Darwin in his original book about the origin of species was adamant that man does not introduce or produce _____________.
(a) Genetically modified plants.
(b) Variability.
(c) Fertilizer.
(d) The same breed.

2. The book states that the effect of making pot illegal was that the counterculture engaged in _______the plant.
(a) Weakening.
(b) Genetically modifying.
(c) Destroying.
(d) Killing.

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

4. Certain drugs, Pollan states, will cause objects around us to change until they appear as the _________ versions of themselves.
(a) Opposite.
(b) Enjoyable.
(c) Ideal.
(d) Glowing.

5. Psychoactive drugs serve as bridges between the worlds of matter and spirit, or in modern language _______and consciousness.
(a) Astronomy.
(b) Geometry.
(c) Chemistry.
(d) Geology.

Short Answer Questions

1. What kind of storm took place in December of 1999, causing the gardens of Versailles to be ruined?

2. ________, Pollan believes, is brutally reductive, simplifying nature's incomprehensible complexity to something humanly manageable.

3. Dependence on the potato had made the ________ vulnerable to the perils of the economy as well as to those of nature.

4. What is Pollan not allowed to do with the NewLeaf potatoes at the end of the year, according to the law?

5. _________ is one example of a chemical which was tested before it was used, only to find that later on it affected other ecosystems.

Short Essay Questions

1. What was going on at the time of Pollan's visit to Amsterdam for research for this book?

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

3. Compare and contrast the tastes of plants which are supposed to be eaten with those which are not supposed to be eaten.

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

5. What parts of the marijuana plant are supposed to be smoked?

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

7. Describe the NewLeaf potatoes that Pollan took in order to grow at his garden.

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

9. What are the various ingredients which might be used in witches' spells?

10. How does one begin to grow potatoes, according to Pollan in the book?

(see the answer keys)

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