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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What question does Quammen say was debated for years after Darwin's theories were published?
(a) Whether he stole his work from Wallace.
(b) Whether he developed the theory of evolution on his own.
(c) Whether he acted honorably toward Wallace.
(d) Whether he owed Wallace for the material he borrowed.

2. What does Quammen says Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace had in common?
(a) They both studied birds.
(b) They both collected insects and primates.
(c) They both found hostile responses to their work.
(d) They both studied island ecosystems.

3. What does Quammen say makes his field important?
(a) Because it is holistic and global in scope.
(b) Because it accounts for events other fields cannot account for.
(c) Because it has predicted recent phenomena.
(d) Because island ecosystems are a good metaphor for ecosystems as a whole.

4. What does Quammen say makes animals smaller on islands?
(a) Smaller territories.
(b) Larger predators.
(c) Smaller food supply.
(d) Larger food supply.

5. What was the first species to arrive in Krakatau after the eruption?
(a) A crocodile.
(b) A spider.
(c) A snake.
(d) A bird.

6. What assumption does Quammen make at the end of his introductory chapter?
(a) That people don't know anything about his field.
(b) That people are outraged about the disappearance of species.
(c) That people are hungry for economic growth, even at the expense of ecosystems.
(d) That people are willing to change their habits in order to save ecosystems.

7. Where is Krakatau?
(a) Italy.
(b) Japan.
(c) Tunisia.
(d) Malay Archipelago.

8. What advice did Darwin receive from his friends, with regard to Wallace's work?
(a) To buy Wallace's notes from him, and pledge him to silence.
(b) To work with Wallace and publish a joint theory.
(c) Publish an outline quickly.
(d) Credit Wallace and share the glory with him.

9. Who is Owen Griffiths?
(a) A monkey researcher in Mauritius.
(b) A bird researcher in Australia.
(c) An insect researcher in Madagascar.
(d) A sailor from the 18th century.

10. How does Quammen say lizards probably arrived at Krakatau?
(a) Came with humans.
(b) Swam.
(c) They developed independently from amphibians there.
(d) Flew.

11. What does a species have if it has high dispersal ability?
(a) The ability to withstand great environmental changes.
(b) The ability to move from place to place.
(c) The ability to adapt to new environmental conditions.
(d) The ability to change their environment to suit their own traits.

12. 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 formed by a volcano in the sea.
(c) It was separated from Australia by water.
(d) It was isolated by a growing mountain range in India.

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

14. What does Quammen say an island is?
(a) A replica of other ecosystems.
(b) An isolate.
(c) A sample.
(d) A fundamentally unique environment.

15. How did Wallace put Darwin in a tough spot, according to Quammen?
(a) By publishing his theory first.
(b) By telling him about his work.
(c) By having looked at Darwin's theories before he published his own.
(d) By having used some of Darwin's observations in his own work.

Short Answer Questions

1. What kinds of animals did Philip Darlington look at?

2. What is the relationship Quammen develops between the imaginary rug and ecosystems?

3. How many species of the animal Philip Darlington studied did an island of four square miles possess?

4. What did Philip Darlington propose?

5. What does Quammen say Wallace developed in South America?

(see the answer keys)

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