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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. In "The Falcon and the Tower," where was the author?

2. Where did the author like to see swans in the winter?

3. In "The Falcon and the Tower," how many breeding pairs of peregrines were in New York City?

4. When did Norfolk farmers learn that the skylarks in their fields were migrants from the Continent?

5. In "The Observatory," what did a swan do when it approached Macdonald?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did David Lack discover when working during the war on the early-warning chain of coast-watching radar stations?

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

3. What were the nestboxes like that Macdonald ordered for house martins?

4. What does Macdonald say about allergies?

5. What did upping swans used to include?

6. Why do swans flock to the Welney Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve in the winter?

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

8. In "Storm," what could the author see as she drove on the M25?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Why did the author become obsessed with a painting called Swan Upping at Cookham? What did the author communicate about the past and Brexit through the tradition of swan upping?

Essay Topic 3

A murmuration is formed when a group of starlings flock together. Why do murmurations happen? How are the murmurations of birds similar to the movements of human refugees?

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This section contains 861 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample