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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through So Huge A Bignes.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Quammen say islands are sometimes formed?
(a) Rise in sea level.
(b) Volcanic activity.
(c) Seismic upthrust.
(d) Earthquakes.

2. How does Quammen find fault with other scientists studying extinctions?
(a) By saying that their fundamental premises were ungrounded.
(b) By saying that their vocabulary is insufficient to the problems.
(c) By saying that their nostalgia clouds their findings.
(d) By saying that they have only been talking to each other.

3. What does Quammen say about the overall pattern on this hypothetical rug?
(a) It is theoretical, now.
(b) It can still be reassembled.
(c) It is ruined.
(d) It only exists in nostalgia.

4. What tragedy struck Wallace on his return to England?
(a) He lost his specimens and notes in a shipwreck.
(b)
(c) Someone else arrived in England a few weeks before him with similar specimens.
(d) He became sick and nearly died.

5. How would you describe Quammen's vocabulary?
(a) Off-hand.
(b) Familiar.
(c) Technical and precise.
(d) Sophisticated.

Short Answer Questions

1. How would you describe Quammen's style?

2. What does Quammen say makes animals smaller on islands?

3. What advice did Darwin receive from his friends, with regard to Wallace's work?

4. What is the genre of The Song of the Dodo?

5. What surprising dispersal ability does Quammen say elephants have?

(see the answer key)

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