View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Jerry tell Nancy about his day?

2. How do Nancy Jaax, Peters, and Gene Johnson travel to meet Dan Dalgard?

3. Where does Dalgard agree to deliver monkey samples to the team from USAMRIID?

4. What does the monkey's spleen look like?

5. What do Jerry Jaax and Mark Haines wear for their work in the monkey house?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is ironic about the position that C.J. Peters leaves USAMRIID for?

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

3. What is the compromise that the CDC and USAMRIID come up with?

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

5. How does Nancy Jaax explain her belief that Ebola is airborne?

6. What are three reasons that Jerry chooses Captain Mark Haines to enter the building first with him?

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

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

9. Why does Gene Johnson supply the team with short-wave radios?

10. Describe the evolution of the "AIDS Highway".

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The omnipresent fear of death that all humans feel is illustrated throughout the book, especially as they express "awe" (a mixture of respect and fear) in the face of deadly viruses. Find details in the book that represent this awe and fear, and explain how Preston's narrative style and tone are able to capture this fear. How do doctors, scientists, and health professionals react to disease in the book? Select five characters and describe how they react to death or the fear of death.

Essay Topic 2

Many emerging viruses come from Africa, and have affected Africans for centuries. Still, they were not officially identified until Americans or Europeans were affected by them.

a. Why do you think this is?

b. Explain at least two examples of this from the book.

c. Do you think this will help or hinder the search for the natural host of Ebola?

Essay Topic 3

Read the quote from Killer Angels, Michael Shaara's novel about the Civil War, on pages 237-238 of the Hot Zone:

"To be a good soldier you must love the army. But to be a good officer you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love. This is...a very hard thing to do. No other profession requires it. That is one reason why there are so few very good officers. Although there are many good men."

a. What does the quote say about the difference between soldiers and officers?

b. Why is this quote so significant to Jerry Jaax?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 888 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample