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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the name Kolbert gives for the ability for humans to now watch other species go extinct?
(a) A timeline to doomsday.
(b) A species travesty.
(c) An observable phenomena.
(d) A ticking time bomb to the world's end.

2. When Manly and the others arrived at the edge of Death Valley, what did they think the fish were that they saw swimming in the cavern pool?
(a) Pupfish.
(b) Goldfish.
(c) Minnows.
(d) Carp.

3. When the United States won a case against the developer, Cappaert Enterprises, who took over the land?
(a) The Fish and Wildlife Service.
(b) The Fish and Game Service.
(c) The National Parks Department.
(d) The Sierra Club.

4. In the beginning of Chapter 2, why does Kolbert fly in a small airplane?
(a) To get a bird’s eye view of the Plaquemines.
(b) To get from Baton Rouge to New Orleans.
(c) To see the Chicago River from the sky.
(d) To fly from Chicago to New Orleans.

5. Darwin’s ideas regarding evolution were first known as what?
(a) Transgender.
(b) Transfiguration.
(c) Transmutation.
(d) Transliteration.

6. What are the main causes of the shrinkage of Isle de Jean Charles?
(a) Multiple hurricanes.
(b) The shore is lacking natural vegetation to keep soil in place.
(c) Flood control measures and oil industry digging.
(d) It is slowly sinking due to rising sea levels.

7. After a week with Gates, how does Kolbert feel?
(a) Inspired.
(b) Nervous.
(c) Angry.
(d) Sad.

8. What act led to the introduction of Asian carp?
(a) Save the Fish Act.
(b) Return to Nature Act.
(c) Clean Water Act.
(d) Nature Preservation Act.

9. What animal does Darwin use to support his beliefs about evolution?
(a) Gerbals.
(b) Lab rats.
(c) Sheep.
(d) Fancy-pigeons.

10. With whom does Kolbert ride in a boat far down along the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal?
(a) Rachel Carson.
(b) The Friends of the Chicago River.
(c) The Clean Water Act Organization.
(d) The United States Army Corps of Engineers.

11. To what is the land in the southern region of Louisiana compared?
(a) Slime.
(b) Warm Jell-O.
(c) A river of mud.
(d) Play-doh.

12. How far do coral reefs stretch north and south of the equator?
(a) 20 degrees.
(b) 50 miles.
(c) 30 degrees.
(d) 30 miles.

13. What does Kevin Irons, the assistant chief of fisheries at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, feel is the best way to control the carp population?
(a) Overfishing.
(b) Poison.
(c) Electrocution.
(d) Bubbles and loud noises.

14. What happens if coral is unable to acquire new symbionts after a heatwave?
(a) They starve to death.
(b) They turn white.
(c) They grow lonely.
(d) They begin to shrink.

15. When do Kolbert and Van Oppen meet?
(a) At a conference for marine biologists.
(b) Almost a year after Gates’ death.
(c) After a year of bleached coral.
(d) When Kolbert first met Gates.

Short Answer Questions

1. When did William Lewis Manly take a difficult journey west?

2. What event does Kolbert attend that is to bring awareness and interest in eating carp?

3. What book does Kolbert say led to the introduction of Asian carp in U.S. rivers?

4. What problem does Joe Harvey mention to Kolbert?

5. To what does Kolbert compare the bringing back of a species from the brink of extinction?

(see the answer keys)

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