Seveneves Quiz

Take our free Seveneves quiz below, with 25 multiple choice questions that help you test your knowledge. Determine which chapters, themes and styles you already know and what you need to study for your upcoming essay, midterm, or final exam. Take the free quiz now!

Why does Alaskan miner Rufus MacQuarie use an antique telegraph key and Morse code to communicate with his space-based daughter? (from Section 1, Chapters 1—3)

The antique system is a sentimental gift from Rufus' deceased wife.

No one alive remembers how to read Morse code except Rufus' daughter.

This system is impervious to Internet spying and excessive bandwidth traffic.

Rufus is a Luddite and despises high technology.

Why do exasperated ground-based engineers demand Dinah send out her robots to capture images of the International Space Station? (from Section 2, Chapters 4—6)

To check the exterior for micrometeorite damage.

For proof-of-concept verification of robot prototypes.

To collect material for bragging rights.

Their CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software can't keep up with the pace of construction and modification.

Why do later generations not simply employ digital DNA data from Eve Moira's thumb-drive? (from Section 5, Chapter 13—Epilogue)

This would result in horrible mutations.

The technological skills have been lost to time.

Political policy forbids this.

Reverting to the “rootstock” human race is considered as a kind of autogenocide.

When Hard Rain (destruction of Earth's surface) begins, why does new Cloud Ark commander Markus Leuker declare PSAPS, the space equivalent of martial law? (from Section 3, Chapters 7—9)

There is an onboard faction ready to seize control of the Cloud Ark.

He's following vital Earth protocol.

He's paranoid and wants control during the chaos.

Dissolving old national alliances will bring together the Cloud Arkers, and prepare them for an extremely hazardous future.

Parts of the International Space Station ("Izzy") are being retrofitted with spinning torus (doughnut-shaped) modules to provide simulated gravity. Why is this important? (from Section 1, Chapters 1—3)

So crew members can eat solid food without choking.

Zero-gravity negatively affects bone density, muscle mass, eyeball shape (hence vision), and other systems.

To improve computing efficiency.

Clear thinking in zero-gee is nearly impossible.