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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What combination does Kolbert mention that could make cane toads non-lethal and coral heat-resistant?
(a) CRISPR used in conjunction with the power of outliar genes.
(b) CRISPR used in conjunction with the power of rogue genes.
(c) CRISPR used in conjunction with the power of dominant genes.
(d) CRISPR used in conjunction with the power of outlaw genes.

2. Kolbert mentions that effects of the first few months of the coronavirus pandemic and how emissions dropped how much?
(a) 7%.
(b) 97%.
(c) 17%.
(d) 70%.

3. What is NOT one of the problems mentioned regarding cane toads?
(a) They eat almost anything.
(b) Their mating call is very annoying and loud.
(c) They multiple very quickly.
(d) They are toxic.

4. What is NOT a reason given for why taking carbon dioxide out of a gas stream is difficult?
(a) Disposal of large amounts of carbon dioxide underground would be tricky.
(b) It is expensive.
(c) It is a challenging and dangerous technique.
(d) It must be done on a massive scale.

5. What invention launched the Industrial Revolution?
(a) Karl Benz’s automobile.
(b) Da Vinci’s flying machine.
(c) Eli Whitney’s cotton gin.
(d) James Watt’s new steam engine.

6. Are gene drives always beneficial for the species?
(a) Half and half.
(b) No, not necessarily.
(c) Yes, always.
(d) No, never.

7. One activist that Kolbert mentions says that sometimes doing nothing is better than what?
(a) Making mistakes.
(b) Saying nothing.
(c) Doing something.
(d) Looking like a fool.

8. What is Brodifacoum?
(a) A trap used to catch cane toads.
(b) An antibiotic used to heal sick animals.
(c) An anticoagulant used to kill mice.
(d) A powerful cleaning and disinfecting product.

9. To keep the temperature increase at a minimum, the world would have to end all emissions by when?
(a) The next few years.
(b) The next five decades.
(c) The next century.
(d) The next decade.

10. What mammals were first experimented on with CRISPR and the gene drive?
(a) Birds.
(b) Toads.
(c) Rats.
(d) Mice.

11. Who is Edda Aradóttir?
(a) The managing director of the geothermal plant.
(b) A solar geoengineer hired by Bill Gates.
(c) One of the thermal engineers in Poland.
(d) A friend of Kolbert’s.

12. According to Kolbert, who knows for certain how much hotter the world will get before out-and-out disaster becomes inevitable?
(a) No one.
(b) God.
(c) Those countries involved in the Paris accord.
(d) Several top scientists.

13. Where is the geothermal plant located that Kolbert visits in Up in the Air: Chapter 1?
(a) Poland.
(b) Iceland.
(c) China.
(d) Switzerland.

14. Kolbert says that, without help, most of the carbon dioxide humans emit would turn to stone eventually, called what?
(a) Chemical aging.
(b) Natural stoning.
(c) Chemical solidification.
(d) Chemical weathering.

15. In Up in the Air: Chapter 1, Kolbert decides to support what type of service?
(a) One that sends SAILs into the stratosphere.
(b) One that sends diamonds into the stratosphere.
(c) One that scrubs carbon emissions from the air.
(d) One that runs greenhouses on carbon dioxide emissions.

Short Answer Questions

1. How are rodents often currently killed?

2. In Into the Wild: Chapter 3, why does Kolbert begin with an explanation of the Norse god, Odin?

3. What did the cannibal snails cause in Hawaii?

4. What was Klaus Lackner hired to study in the 1970s, which was supposed to be the answer to the emissions problem?

5. Why were cane toads first introduced outside of their natural environments?

(see the answer keys)

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