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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was the weather like at the beginning of "Sex, Death, Mushrooms"?
(a) Raining.
(b) Snowing.
(c) Windy.
(d) Partly cloudy.

2. When did Samuel Tyalor Coleridge write of a murmuration?
(a) 1793.
(b) 1787.
(c) 1785.
(d) 1799.

3. How long might a queen of a common black ant live?
(a) 20 years.
(b) 30 years.
(c) 10 years.
(d) 5 years.

4. How long did George Waterston sit with his colleagues by the first Scottish osprey nest and keep it under observation through the telescopic sights of rifles?
(a) 30 years.
(b) 5 years.
(c) 50 years.
(d) 20 years.

5. How many times will the queen of a common black ant mate?
(a) Once.
(b) 3 times.
(c) 4 times.
(d) Twice.

6. In "Human Flock," where was the author?
(a) Hungary.
(b) Poland.
(c) Austria.
(d) Czech Republic.

7. Where does the author mention that a robin reared chicks?
(a) An old teapot.
(b) Traffic light.
(c) Old kettle.
(d) Light pole.

8. When did the author view with her father the first total eclipse to cross the UK in over 70 years?
(a) 2001.
(b) 2003.
(c) 1997.
(d) 1999.

9. In "Eclipse," how old was the author when she first planned to see a total solar eclipse?
(a) Late 30s.
(b) Early 20s.
(c) Early 30s.
(d) Late 20s.

10. In "Nests," what might kites use to decorate their tree platforms?
(a) Cigarette butts.
(b) Underwear stolen from washing lines.
(c) Lengths of wire.
(d) Twine.

11. What did the author see flying in the air in "Ants"?
(a) Hawks.
(b) Swallows.
(c) Flying ants.
(d) Sparrows.

12. According to research scientist Jason Chapman, how many insects could pass over a square mile of English farmland in one month?
(a) 6 billion.
(b) About 8 billion.
(c) 9 1/4 billion.
(d) Over 7 1/2 billion.

13. At what UV level did the World Health Organization warn against being outside?
(a) Around 12.
(b) Over 11.
(c) 15.
(d) 14.

14. Where did Macdonald join Cabrol and a team for an expedition to high-altitude desert to test methods of detecting life on Mars?
(a) Argentina.
(b) Peru.
(c) Colombia.
(d) Chile.

15. When did the World Health Organization create a definition of healthy that referred to no one?
(a) 1953.
(b) 1941.
(c) 1948.
(d) 1956.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Ants," where was the author driving from?

2. What was a chaffinch nest made from that the author collected in "Nests"?

3. How many farm-reared boars were secretly and illegally dumped in the Forest of Dean in 2004?

4. How old was the author when she saw that the meadow at Tekels Park was destroyed?

5. When was the eclipse in India that forced an observer to retreat to his room and plunge his head into water?

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