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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. An industrial farmer needs to buy an expensive amount of __________, like chemical fertilizers, machinery, fuel, and pesticides.

2. Some Christians believed that potato was the _________ matter, while bread was antimatter and even spirit in nature.

3. John Chapman had the imagination to identify with the _________ in the ecology of the world.

4. The book suggests that gardens used to be planted as a kind of living _____ that cared little for aesthetics.

5. _________ is one example of a chemical which was tested before it was used, only to find that later on it affected other ecosystems.

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to the animal in the wild who decides to eat hallucinogens and thus takes in the toxins of these plants?

2. Where was marijuana primarily grown up until the early 1980s when the war on drugs began?

3. What is the most important thing to an animal's survival, according to the discussion of plants?

4. What parts of the marijuana plant are supposed to be smoked?

5. As the various lands in Europe began to rely on the potato, what were the positive benefits of this situation?

6. How does Heath avoid the purchases of many inputs on his farm so that he can save money?

7. Why are cats so drawn to catnip, according to the research that Pollan does after seeing how his cat response to using this herb?

8. What are some of the possible genetically modified food advances people might see in the future, according to Pollan?

9. What was going on at the time of Pollan's visit to Amsterdam for research for this book?

10. What has been the recurrent theme about plants which are forbidden by others? What are they supposed to provide?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The idea of tulipomania is one which seems to be silly and yet completely true at the same time.

Part 1: Why do you think so many people gravitated to the tulip?

Part 2: What are your impressions of the tulip? Do you find it beautiful?

Part 3: How do you think a flower can become a part of a craze in the world? Does this seem like a necessary situation?

Essay Topic 2

When the reader sees that marijuana is one of the plants in the book, they can have a variety of reactions.

Part 1: Why do you think Pollan decided to include marijuana in this book?

Part 2: Do you agree that marijuana should be included in a book about how plants change humans as much as humans change plants?

Part 3: How do you think marijuana has affected humans, in your experience?

Essay Topic 3

Pollan's main idea is that plants have shaped human evolution just as much as humans have shaped plant evolution.

Part 1: In what ways do you think plants have helped to shape human evolution?

Part 2: In what ways do you think humans have helped to shape plant evolution?

Part 3: Do you think humans or plants are responsible for more change for the other species? Why?

(see the answer keys)

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