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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does David Quammen invoke as he describes cutting the rug?
(a) The outrage of the rug weavers.
(b) The despair of the threads.
(c) The joy of the scissors.
(d) The dissolution of the design.

2. 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.

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

4. Who does Quammen say typically collected insects?
(a) The most devoted scientists.
(b) Wealthy Brits.
(c) Ambitious young Americans.
(d) Hunters in the Amazon.

5. Where does Quammen say isolates can occur?
(a) On islands and on land.
(b) In the bottoms of lakes.
(c) Only on islands.
(d) Only in areas separated by steep mountains or deserts.

Short Answer Questions

1. What literary term describes Quammen's use of the image of the Persian rug?

2. What rule governs the relationship between the size of an island and the number of species it can support?

3. Why is Krakatau scientifically important?

4. What is Lovejoy's term for the ecological crisis?

5. Who did Robert Bates work with?

Short Essay Questions

1. What examples does Quammen use of dispersal ability?

2. What findings of Michael Soule's does Quammen cite at the end of Chapter 4, "Rarity Unto Death"?

3. What is dispersal ability and why is it important?

4. What is the difference between an isolate and a sample, according to Quammen?

5. List the attributes that govern the survivability of individual species in island ecosystems.

6. What does Quammen use the island of Tasmania as an example of?

7. What was the understanding about the variety of life forms before the theory of evolution came along?

8. What concept did Wallace develop in the Malay Archipelago?

9. What examples does Quammen cite of species changing size on islands?

10. What is the governing metaphor in the opening chapter?

(see the answer keys)

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