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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 illness do the symptoms of the monkeys remind Jerry of?

2. Who is Nancy's buddy in the Level 4 lab?

3. What is located behind the monkey house?

4. What happens to Rhonda Williams in Part 2, Chapter 4?

5. What is the name of the rapid Ebola test developed by the Army?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the virus in the monkeys like the Andromeda Strain?

2. Why does Peters select Jerry Jaax to lead the mission into the monkey house?

3. Describe the close calls that Gene Johnson has had with Level 4 hot agents.

4. Why can't a security card be brought into the higher levels of a biosafety lab?

5. When euthanizing a monkey, why is it better to puncture the heart?

6. Why is there no known video footage of the Reston mission?

7. Why do Nancy and C.J. not ask for respirators when they go to visit the monkey house?

8. What does Preston carry in his backpack that no one else knows about?

9. What did the first radio reports say that frightened lab workers in the monkey house?

10. Why is Joe McCormick critical of the way USAMRIID had handled Ebola research in the past?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The central conflict in the book can be seen as "humans vs. nature" and Ebola and Marburg virus can be considered main characters/antagonists in the book, and Preston explains that viruses could be seen as either dead or alive.

a. Using examples from the text, explain how Preston personifies viruses.

b. Preston suggests that viruses are more like predators than parasites. Explain this distinction, then describe whether you agree with it or not.

c. Explain how viruses can be both dead and alive. How would you define life? Would you consider a virus to be alive? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Explain what Louis Pasteur's quote on page 151 means ("Chance favors the prepared mind"). Then relate the quote to the following:

a. The role of doubt in scientific research.

b. The Ebola Reston biocontainment mission.

Essay Topic 3

A quote from the book reads: "a virus can be useful to a species by thinning it out." Students will research the historic outbreaks of plague in the 14th century and the flu outbreak of 1918. How did this concept of "herd immunity" allow the outbreaks to finally end? Do students agree that a virus can be considered "useful"? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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