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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Quammen say about the overall pattern on this hypothetical rug?
(a) It is ruined.
(b) It is theoretical, now.
(c) It only exists in nostalgia.
(d) It can still be reassembled.

2. What does David Quammen invoke as he describes cutting the rug?
(a) The dissolution of the design.
(b) The joy of the scissors.
(c) The outrage of the rug weavers.
(d) The despair of the threads.

3. Which scientist compared animals on islands with their counterparts on larger landmasses?
(a) Quammen.
(b) Wallace.
(c) Darwin.
(d) Foster.

4. Who is Philip Darlington?
(a) A sailor.
(b) A biologist.
(c) A writer.
(d) A mathematician.

5. How does Quammen say lizards probably arrived at Krakatau?
(a) They developed independently from amphibians there.
(b) Came with humans.
(c) Swam.
(d) Flew.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Quammen say makes animals smaller on islands?

2. How would you describe Quammen's vocabulary?

3. Where is Krakatau?

4. How would you describe Quammen's style?

5. What was Carl Jones trying to rescue in Mauritius?

Short Essay Questions

1. What factors have effectively broken the Persian rug of nature into pieces, according to Quammen?

2. Describe the process by which scientists generate policies for managing ecosystems.

3. Who is Frank Preston, and what was his contribution to the discussion of island size and species count?

4. How did David Wallace make his start as a biologist, in Quammen's narrative?

5. Describe how Quammen's narrative progresses from one idea to the next.

6. What is archipelago speciation?

7. Why are islands important in ecosystem studies, in Quammen's opinion?

8. Describe Quammen's tone in the first chapter.

9. What examples does Quammen cite of species changing size on islands?

10. What findings of Michael Soule's does Quammen cite at the end of Chapter 4, "Rarity Unto Death"?

(see the answer keys)

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