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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 Dawkins believe about the tension between survival of different generations?
(a) The parents are the primary benefactor because they control resources, and children only get the minimum of what they need.
(b) A compromise evolves where different generations get reasonable amounts of resources.
(c) The children are always benefited, even at costs to older generations.
(d) Children begin at a disadvantage, at the mercy of parents, and later begin to control the resources.

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

3. What response does Dawkins give to the idea that birth control is wrong because it's unnatural?
(a) That birth regulation is an evolutionary adaptation.
(b) That feeding the poor is also unnatural.
(c) That human lifestyle is completely unnatural.
(d) That birth regulation is a survival instinct.

4. What is difficult to explain about honeybees, according to Dawkins' theory?
(a) The large number of extra female bees.
(b) The large number of queens produced in each generation.
(c) The large number of eggs laid by the queen.
(d) The large number of extra male bees.

5. What does Wynne-Edwards believe about birth rates?
(a) Species might regulate birth rates for individuals.
(b) Individuals might purposefully reduce birth rates for the good of the species.
(c) Birth rates will always increase unless environmental factors intervene.
(d) Birth rates are controlled by a combination of species and individual needs.

Short Answer Questions

1. What bee eggs get fertilized?

2. What does Dawkins speculate that cuckoo chicks might do?

3. What shape is the location where guillemots lay their eggs?

4. What ant behavior does Dawkins give as an example of seemingly altruistic behavior?

5. In the natural world, which gender does Dawkins identify as more likely to select the other for breeding?

Short Essay Questions

1. What examples does Dawkins give of male animals resisting raising offspring that's not their own?

2. How does Dawkins describe female cells versus male cells?

3. What theory about parental suffering for children's success does Dawkins describe?

4. What two possible explanations for the behavior of the baby swallow observed by the Spanish researchers does Dawkins present?

5. What does Dawkins substitute for survival of a species?

6. According to Dawkins, what selfish behavior might birds that have fewer eggs because of overpopulation exhibit?

7. What factors does Dawkins mention that weigh into caring for older versus younger offspring?

8. Why, from the standpoint of the selfish gene, is it more beneficial to save five siblings than five cousins?

9. According to Dawkins, in what ways does weaning benefit an older child?

10. Explain Dawkins' interpretation of the affects of overpopulation on female mice.

(see the answer keys)

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