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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 is wrong with the Wood Screw Pumps in the twenty-four pumping stations that pump water out of the city?
(a) They are difficult to replace.
(b) They are speeding up the sinking of the city.
(c) They are not effective at keeping out water.
(d) Many are broken and need to be fixed.

2. When Kolbert visits the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ location in Chicago soon after her cruise down the sewage canal, she meets with whom?
(a) The engineer in charge of the levees.
(b) The engineer in charge of cleaning the sewage canal.
(c) The engineer in charge of the electric fish barriers.
(d) The engineer in charge or rerouting the river.

3. Darwin realized correctly that at the center of every atoll was what?
(a) A fault line.
(b) A continental Slope.
(c) An extinct volcano.
(d) A deep cavern.

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

5. What does bleaching do to coral?
(a) It kills the coral.
(b) It breaks down the relationship between coral and their symbionts.
(c) It detaches the symbionts from the coral.
(d) It causes it to become brittle.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is NOT something that Kolbert says human domination over nature has caused?

2. What had those living in the Plaquemenes done to protect their homes after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita?

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

4. How far do coral reefs stretch north and south of the equator?

5. What two events sped up the drop in pupfish numbers?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is William Lewis Manly's role in the discovery of Devils Hole?

2. What problems has human domination over nature caused, according to Kolbert?

3. What is the crime that was committed at Devils Hole?

4. How is an atoll formed?

5. How does Kolbert compare her stay at the Paris in Las Vegas to life for the pupfish in Devils Hole Jr.?

6. How is Kolbert inspired by Gates?

7. How is extinction now an observable phenomenon?

8. What is the solution chosen for dealing with the Asian carp problem in and around Chicago?

9. Why were Asian carp brought over to the U.S.?

10. What is amazing about coral reefs?

(see the answer keys)

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