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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What problem does Joe Harvey mention to Kolbert?
(a) The flood problem.
(b) The sinking problem.
(c) The sewage problem.
(d) The carp problem.

2. How far away is a fake Devil’s Hole from the real one?
(a) About 50 miles.
(b) About 5 miles.
(c) About 10 miles.
(d) About 1 mile.

3. Each day at the Old River Control Auxiliary Structure, the gates are raised or lowered, depending on what?
(a) The weather report.
(b) The water level and activity on that particular day.
(c) The direction of the wind on any particular day.
(d) The amount of rain the region as received.

4. What are CSOs?
(a) College of South Orleans.
(b) Combined Sewer Overflows.
(c) Collection Systems Overflows.
(d) Centers for Sewage Output.

5. Why was electric shock chosen to deter the fish?
(a) It was the least expensive and seemed the most ethical.
(b) It was the fastest way to lower the number of fish.
(c) It was the only suggestion given for keeping the fish out.
(d) It was the most environmentally-friendly option.

6. What two drainage basins were linked with the reversal of the Chicago River and the creation of the Sanitary and Ship Canal?
(a) The Mississippi River and Great Lakes.
(b) The Great Plains and the Great Lakes.
(c) The Chicago River and Great Lakes.
(d) The Mississippi River and Chicago River.

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

8. 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) Minnows.
(b) Pupfish.
(c) Goldfish.
(d) Carp.

9. What is Kolbert expecting to see in the SeaSim in Townsville, Australia?
(a) Small fish that live among the coral.
(b) Coral being put under strain.
(c) Coral spawning.
(d) The changing of colors of coral.

10. Why was Manly’s trip west end up so arduous?
(a) Manly and the argonauts refused to use maps and ended up taking a more difficult path.
(b) Manly and the argonauts got lost during a sand storm.
(c) Manly and the argonauts arrived too late in the season to take the simplest and most direct route.
(d) Manly and the argonauts arrived too early in the season to take the simplest and most direct route.

11. When did William Lewis Manly take a difficult journey west?
(a) 1849.
(b) 1819.
(c) 1889.
(d) 1749.

12. What are Van Oppen and her students’ plans for coral?
(a) Keep the reefs from dying and shrinking any further.
(b) Create new reefs and ecosystems.
(c) Revitalize the reefs that have been lost.
(d) Buy time until the world takes climate change more seriously.

13. When are the eggs harvested and brought back to Devils Hole Jr.?
(a) At the beginning of mating season.
(b) At the end of mating season.
(c) At the peak of season.
(d) In the off-season.

14. What is NOT a reason for why Devil’s Hole is a geological oddity?
(a) The fish were washed here when the whole area had more water and have never been able to leave.
(b) The pupfish have evolved to survive in the harsh conditions of Devils Hole.
(c) It holds water left over from the Pleistocene age.
(d) The cavern is narrow in some areas and very deep in others, much like a swimming pool.

15. Kolbert moves onto a visit to the Old River Control Auxiliary Structure located how many miles upriver of Baton Rouge?
(a) 800 miles.
(b) 18 miles.
(c) 80 miles.
(d) 8 miles.

Short Answer Questions

1. To what island does Kolbert compare desert ecosystems?

2. After a disastrous flood in what year, did the Army Corps of Engineers extend the levees?

3. Prior to the digging of the canal, Chicago’s waste ran into the Chicago River and into Lake Michigan, which led to what regular outbreaks?

4. What is Kolker’s prediction for New Orleans?

5. After a week with Gates, how does Kolbert feel?

(see the answer keys)

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