Exercise 1: The Four Boot Steps, and What Skipping the Bootloader Would Break — Possible Solution
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The four steps, in order:

1. Firmware (BIOS or UEFI) runs first and initializes hardware.
2. Firmware locates and hands control to a bootloader.
3. The bootloader loads the kernel (and usually an initramfs) into memory.
4. The kernel takes over, mounts the real root filesystem, and starts the init system.

-- What would go wrong if the bootloader step were skipped --
--
-- Firmware, per the chapter's own description, has no concept of an
-- operating system at all -- a BIOS just executes whatever raw code
-- sits in the first disk sector, and UEFI just runs whatever .efi
-- file it's pointed at, with neither one having any built-in ability
-- to locate a kernel, decide which kernel to boot if multiple exist,
-- or pass it the right parameters. Without a bootloader sitting in
-- between, firmware would have no mechanism at all to find and load
-- the kernel into memory in the first place -- the boot process would
-- simply stop after hardware initialization, with the machine never
-- reaching a running kernel, let alone a usable operating system.

WHY THIS WORKS AS AN ANSWER
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This lists the four steps in the chapter's own stated order, then
explains the bootloader's specific missing function (locating and
loading the kernel) rather than just asserting "it wouldn't boot"
without saying why.