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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. How long was the journey to catch all the swans on the upper reaches of the River Thames?

2. What did the wavelength of transmitted radar waves shorten to when they started getting radar reflections of birds?

3. How big does the author say that swans can be in "The Observatory"?

4. How many eggs will a female glow-worm lay before dying?

5. How did a British officer survive prison camps in Germany?

Short Essay Questions

1. How were elephant seals involved in a project studying climate change in West Antarctica?

2. How does Macdonald compare waiting for a storm and waiting for other things in "Storm"?

3. When was the British Trust for Ornithology established, and what was its purpose?

4. What did the author see on display in a university museum in Rostock, Germany?

5. What encounter did Macdonald have with a swan at the Jesus Lock?

6. What did upping swans used to include?

7. How does the author describe vesper flights?

8. How did the author's father tell her that she could figure out how far away a storm was?

9. Why does Macdonald state that deer are dangerous animals?

10. What did the author and her mother see and hear in "Berries" while running errands?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Genre is a means of classifying literature. What is the genre of the Vesper Flights? Why is it not biography?

Essay Topic 2

Nature reserves are established to preserve habitats and wildlife. What did Macdonald write about visiting nature reserves? Why did she call them living museums? What benefits and disadvantages were there in establishing and maintaining nature reserves?

Essay Topic 3

Macdonald discusses the sixth extinction. What is the sixth extinction? Why and how does the author believe science and literature need to communicate what is being lost in the sixth extinction?

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This section contains 852 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample