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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 1: "Part One: Toxins in the Permafrost and Heat Rising All Around" .

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Wilkerson's explanation on page 9, why did Democrats hesitate to impeach Trump?
(a) The evidence was unclear.
(b) Fear of retribution from Trump himself.
(c) Many had investments in Trump businesses.
(d) Fear of backlash from his base.

2. In "The Vitals of History," what does Wilkerson compare an honest and rigorous study of history to?
(a) An archaeologist uncovering artifacts.
(b) A mechanic using a diagnostic computer.
(c) A child learning a new language.
(d) A doctor taking a patient history.

3. On page 6, Wilkerson calls a financial crisis "cataclysmic." What kind of crisis was it?
(a) Violent and overwhelming.
(b) Creating the necessary conditions for a later event; a precondition.
(c) Overblown, lacking in substance.
(d) Protracted; drawn-out.

4. To what part of history does Wilkerson explicitly link the Electoral College?
(a) The Jim Crow South.
(b) Slavery.
(c) Reconstruction.
(d) Colonization.

5. In "An American Untouchable," how does the high school principal in India refer to Martin Luther King'?
(a) As an "American Gandhi."
(b) As an "untouchable."
(c) As a "Negro."
(d) As a great leader.

Short Answer Questions

1. On page 15, Wilkerson says of the old house that "whatever is lurking will fester." What is especially apt about her choice of the word "fester"?

2. According to Wilkerson, what constituency does the Republican Party represent?

3. What technique does Wilkerson use for the first time in the beginning of "An Old House and an Infrared Light"?

4. Which leading Black intellectual corresponded with Bhimrao Ambedkar about race in America?

5. In the opening anecdote of the book, what escapes from the melting permafrost?

(see the answer key)

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