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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Dawkins point out about different species' attitude toward offspring?
(a) Different species care for offspring similarly, but there is great variety between individuals within species.
(b) Different species treat offspring differently.
(c) Different species all care for offspring equally, if environment is accounted for.
(d) Different species fall into two categories of caring for offspring.

2. What does Dawkins say that Honeyguide chicks do?
(a) Scream less loud to not attract too much attention to themselves as intruders.
(b) Blackmail parents into getting more food by screaming loud enough to attract predators.
(c) Steal food from other chicks in the nest.
(d) Kill other chicks in the nest.

3. What does an animal do when it fails to claim a territory?
(a) It carves out a niche from a rival territory.
(b) It travels to another area.
(c) It does not breed at that time.
(d) It shares a territory with other animals who failed to claim their own territory.

4. According to the relatedness calculations in the book, how much more closely related is a child to a sibling than a half-sibling?
(a) The child is three times as closely related to the sibling.
(b) The child is four times as closely related to the sibling.
(c) The child is twice as closely related to the sibling.
(d) The child is one an a half times as closely related to the sibling.

5. Why might mates favor offspring over their mate, according to Dawkins?
(a) Offspring need more resources for survival than a mate does.
(b) Mates share no DNA with each other, but they do share DNA with offspring.
(c) Offspring have more of a lifespan ahead of them than mates.
(d) Mates in the animal world are not permanent and therefore inconsequential.

6. In the natural world, which gender does Dawkins identify as more likely to select the other for breeding?
(a) Females tend to select males for breeding.
(b) Males tend to select females for breeding.
(c) Species tend to have both selective females and selective males, which are individuals that select another for breeding.
(d) Species are split about halfway on which gender selects the other for breeding.

7. In the example that Dawkins gives, what do pigs sometimes do to the runt of the litter?
(a) Eat it.
(b) Kick it away.
(c) Allow the other piglets to attack it.
(d) Refuse to feed it.

8. What happens to baby birds if the parent does not find enough food for the group?
(a) The babies will survive but be sickly and have later problems.
(b) The parent will feed only a few babies, and the others will die.
(c) All the babies die.
(d) The parent will give up its life to feed the baby birds.

9. How does Dawkins postulate that animals judge relatedness?
(a) By resemblance.
(b) By scent.
(c) By instinctual knowledge.
(d) By statistics.

10. How does a mother protecting a child promote the selfish gene theory?
(a) The mother is repurposing selfish genes to protect the child.
(b) The child carries many of the same genes as the mother.
(c) The mother is extending selfish behavior to new situations.
(d) The child will later protect the mother in turn.

11. In sexual reproduction, what does the larger egg cell have that the smaller sperm cell does not?
(a) The ability to move around to more beneficial environments.
(b) A complete set of DNA.
(c) More food reserves for the future embryo.
(d) The ability to protect itself from other cells.

12. In the example Dawkins gives, why do some ants grow a plant?
(a) The plant protects the anthill against erosion.
(b) The plant acts as camouflage for the anthill.
(c) The ants eat the plant.
(d) The plant feeds a fungus the ants eat.

13. In the ant colonies studied by Trivers and Hare, what do the ants do with eggs stolen from other colonies?
(a) Eat the eggs.
(b) Use the ants as slaves.
(c) Use the ants as mates.
(d) Destroy the eggs.

14. What does Wynne-Edwards suggest that animals do to communicate overpopulation?
(a) Eat a communal meal in an area of limited food.
(b) Gather together in a clear area where they are easily seen.
(c) Gather together and make a lot of noise.
(d) Leave measurable tracks in a common area.

15. In Dawkins' discussion, why do baby birds scream?
(a) To warn away aggressors.
(b) To scold sibling birds.
(c) To show how hungry they are.
(d) To attract love from the parent.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Dawkins, is there a genetic reason to favor one child over others?

2. What does Wynne-Edwards teach?

3. According to Dawkins' description, what do insect colonies usually consist of?

4. To what does Wynne-Edwards attribute changes to female mice as the population rises?

5. Who does Dawkins' idea of AI expand the idea of PI to include?

(see the answer keys)

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