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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What problem is the Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong, Australia trying to correct?
(a) Deforestation.
(b) Non-native and invasive species of coral.
(c) Severe drought and wildfires.
(d) The overpopulation of a non-native species of toad.

2. How does Tizard hope to teach other animals to avoid the cane toads?
(a) Use the non-lethal toads to teach other animals that cane toads make you sick, so you should not eat them.
(b) Use small, foul-tasting toads to teach other species that these toads do not taste good.
(c) Use glowing toads to scare away other species.
(d) To show other species how scared and hard to find these toads are.

3. What is done to make the geothermal plant cleaner that Kolbert visits?
(a) The carbon dioxide is dissolved in water and then injected it into the ground.
(b) The hydrogen sulfide is dissolved in water and then injected it into the ground.
(c) The hydrogen dioxide is dissolved in water and then injected it into the ground.
(d) The carbon monoxide is dissolved in water and then injected it into the ground.

4. Fifteen million tons of carbon dioxide were released by humans in 1776, while today that number is closer to what?
(a) 40,000 tons yearly.
(b) 40 million tons yearly.
(c) 40 billion tons yearly.
(d) 40 trillion tons yearly.

5. Kolbert describes a carbon scrubbing machine invented by Lackner. To what does she compare it?
(a) A coffee table.
(b) A living room couch.
(c) A semi-trailer.
(d) A floor lamp.

6. What did the cannibal snails cause in Hawaii?
(a) An extinction spree.
(b) An extinction avalanche.
(c) A tropical avalanche.
(d) Mudslides.

7. For how long might you be blind if cane toad poison gets in your eyes?
(a) A few week.
(b) A few days.
(c) A few hours.
(d) Permanently.

8. How are rodents often currently killed?
(a) Traps.
(b) Poison.
(c) Through hunting.
(d) Euthanasia.

9. How long would it take to turn carbon dioxide to stone?
(a) Several months.
(b) Several years.
(c) Hundreds of thousands of years.
(d) Hundreds of years.

10. What is unfortunate about carbon, even if emissions are reduced or stopped?
(a) It is always poisonous.
(b) It does not turn to stone easily.
(c) It takes several years to dissolve.
(d) Once in the air, it stays there.

11. What is the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere called?
(a) Negative emissions.
(b) De-dioxification.
(c) Carbon dioxide releasing.
(d) Emissions removal.

12. Kolbert talks about a trip she took to Zurich, Switzerland, where she visited a Climeworks facility; what was done with the carbon dioxide?
(a) It was used to feed a greenhouse full of vegetables.
(b) It was used to fuel cars.
(c) It was used to make stone fr building.
(d) It was used to burn trash.

13. What does Kolbert use to make yeast glow?
(a) Fluorescent light.
(b) A lava lamp.
(c) A jellyfish gene.
(d) Glow in the dark gel.

14. What does Mark Tizard want the general population to know about genetic modification?
(a) It is an exciting branch of bioengineering that needs to be further explored.
(b) It has been taking place forever, as we live in a genetically modified environment.
(c) It is a new and possibly dangerous science.
(d) It is scary but necessary.

15. What happened to an engineer in China who used CRISPR on a set of twins?
(a) He was exiled.
(b) He was put under house arrest.
(c) He received the Nobel Peace prize.
(d) He was given funding for more studies.

Short Answer Questions

1. What would Lackner and Wendt’s invention do?

2. Where did the house mouse originate?

3. Where is the geothermal plant located that Kolbert visits in Up in the Air: Chapter 1?

4. What could be used if a gene drive goes rogue?

5. What is it called when the rock from underground is brought up to meet the carbon dioxide, rather than the other way around?

(see the answer keys)

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