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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Rarity Unto Death.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How would you describe Quammen's narrative of the dodo's decline and extinction?
(a) Speculation.
(b) Detailed narrative.
(c) Detailed hypothesis.
(d) Ungrounded fiction.

2. What is Quammen really describing as he imagines the hacked up rug?
(a) Fragmented ecosystems.
(b) Loss of communication from one region to the next.
(c) Loss of environment to development.
(d) The spread of pathogens.

3. What literary term describes Quammen's use of the image of the Persian rug?
(a) Metaphor.
(b) Symbolism.
(c) Personification.
(d) Simile.

4. What was Tasmania's environmental history, according to Quammen?
(a) It experienced a catastrophic eruption that killed off everything on the island, before life returned slowly.
(b) It was separated from Australia by water.
(c) It was isolated by a growing mountain range in India.
(d) It was formed by a volcano in the sea.

5. How many pieces does Quammen ask the reader to imagine the rug being cut into?
(a) 12.
(b) 6.
(c) 36.
(d) 144.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did Wallace put Darwin in a tough spot, according to Quammen?

2. What important book did Robert McArthur and Edward Wilson publish in 1967?

3. Where is Krakatau?

4. What is the first example Quammen cites of a species that has gone extinct?

5. What is the Guam rail?

(see the answer key)

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