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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does the author define intelligent life?
(a) As life that asks where it came from.
(b) As life that tries to define itself.
(c) As life that distinguishes itself from other life.
(d) As life that creates lasting communications.

2. What happens in inversion?
(a) A gene is inserted backwards on a strand of DNA.
(b) Chromosomes are inserted backwards in a cell nucleus.
(c) DNA is inserted backwards in a chromosome.
(d) A nucleotide is inserted backwards in DNA.

3. In the science fiction story Dawkins cites, is the machine created by the instructions beneficial or dangerous?
(a) It is neither dangerous nor beneficial.
(b) It is dangerous.
(c) It is both beneficial and dangerous, at different times.
(d) It is beneficial.

4. What is the smallest unit that is reproduced and carried on through natural selection?
(a) A cell.
(b) A DNA strand.
(c) A gene.
(d) A chromosome.

5. In the science fiction story Dawkins cites, what do the instructions make?
(a) A time travel machine.
(b) A space ship.
(c) An energy generator.
(d) A computer.

6. What apparently selfish act of gulls does the author describe?
(a) Eating others' baby chicks.
(b) Fighting for fish.
(c) "Ditching" the rest of the flock when a predator is spotted.
(d) Stealing another gull's nest.

7. In Dawkins' description, how does a bully behave?
(a) A bully acts aggressively and always fights.
(b) A bully acts aggressively but only follows through with weak opponents.
(c) A bully acts aggressively but never confronts an opponent.
(d) A bully acts aggressively but then always backs down.

8. In the set of bees Dawkins mentions that deal with this disease, what does one gene the bees have do?
(a) Cause the bees to open cells where sick baby bees are.
(b) Cause the bees to overfeed sick baby bees.
(c) Cause the bees to sting sick baby bees.
(d) Cause the bees to withhold honey from sick baby bees.

9. What does Dawkins point out about antelopes' herd behavior?
(a) The herd behavior sacrifices an individual for the species survival.
(b) The herd behavior is not an adaptation.
(c) The herd behavior gives indidivuals a better chance of survival.
(d) The herd behavior is fot the good of the species.

10. How many nucleotide chains are in DNA?
(a) Three.
(b) Two.
(c) Four.
(d) Five.

11. What apparently unselfish act of a bee does the author describe?
(a) Losing its life to sting an intruder.
(b) Bringing back pollen to help feed the whole colony.
(c) Evacuating immature bees from an endangered hive.
(d) Fighting off predators who are near the queen.

12. In Dawkins' examine of ESS simulations, what two kinds of creatures are there?
(a) Ones that always run away, and ones that attack in stealth.
(b) Ones that always win, and ones that always lose.
(c) Ones that always fight, and ones that always back down.
(d) Ones that always cooperate, and ones that always fight.

13. What does Dawkins postulate maintains sexual reproduction as a feature?
(a) The impossibility of asexual reproduction.
(b) The need for genetic variation.
(c) The desireability of genetic mutations.
(d) The sexual reproduction gene trying to copy itself.

14. In Dawkins' description, how does a retaliator behave?
(a) A retaliator mimics the behavior of the creature it encounters.
(b) A retaliator appears to be a dove but acts like a hawk.
(c) A retaliator appears to be a hawk but acts like a dove.
(d) A retaliator waits to see what will happen and then reacts through a code of rules.

15. Why does Dawkins say individuals within a species interact more with each other than with other species?
(a) Because they compete for the same resources using the same tools.
(b) Because they inhabit the same habitat.
(c) Because they are more easily recognizable to each other since they are similar.
(d) Because they need each other to survive.

Short Answer Questions

1. What two opposites does Dawkins say he is examining the biology of?

2. What does Dawkins call the molecule that he imagines as the first molecule to make copies of itself?

3. Does the author believe that genetically inherited traits cannot be changed?

4. What shape does the author say water molecules in space make?

5. If two genes normally cooperate, what happens when one gene is missing?

(see the answer keys)

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