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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why are Kolbert and Gates’ plans to meet cancelled?

2. What is Kolbert expecting to see in the SeaSim in Townsville, Australia?

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

4. To what island does Kolbert compare desert ecosystems?

5. What happens if coral is unable to acquire new symbionts after a heatwave?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the problem with Wood Screw Pumps?

2. In what ways are those in the Chicago area trying to manage the carp problem?

3. What is Van Oppen's relationship with her students?

4. What has happened to Isle de Jean Charles?

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

6. What do most of the Australians Kolbert spoke to think about the future of the Great Barrier Reef?

7. What are crevasses, and why do a group of engineers want to create man-made ones?

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

9. When do the majority of scientists believe the Anthropocene Age began?

10. What led to the introduction of non-native species to control pests?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Under a White Sky was in the process of being finished and published during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. How does Kolbert relate the pandemic to her book? What connections does she make between climate change and a pandemic? How has the world changed because of the pandemic? How does this help you relate to the changes scientists in this book predict about our world?

Essay Topic 2

Kolbert compares a night in the Las Vegas Paris to Devils Hole Jr. What is the comparison that is made? Why does she make this comparison? What does this reveal about her opinion regarding manmade habitats?

Essay Topic 3

How important are the people Kolbert introduces? What do they all have in common, based on what Kolbert provides in Under a White Sky? What does Kolbert seem to think of them? Would other experts agree with her? Why or why not? How could the information she provides about them possibly sway readers' opinions regarding what is being done to care for the environment?

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