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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what year was the Charles Darwin Research Station founded?

2. What Galapagos island is mentioned in the first sentence of Chapter 1?

3. How many species of Ground finch are there in the Galapagos?

4. Whose appearance is described at the beginning of Chapter 8?

5. In what year did the Grants first go to the Galapagos?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Trevor Price wait so impatiently for rain, and how did he respond when it continued not to come?

2. Explain Darwin's "eureka" from Chapter 10.

3. Describe the appearance of Daphne Major after it stopped raining in Chapter 7.

4. Describe some of the unusual finch behaviors during the drought.

5. Describe the typical method of arrival on Daphne Major.

6. Compare and contrast evolution as seen through the fossil record and as observed in real time.

7. How did the finches respond to the rain after the intense drought?

8. Explain El Niño and how it affects the Galapagos Islands.

9. What was Darwin's seed experiment that is discussed in Chapter 9, and how did he carry it out?

10. Explain the occurrence of natural selection that Dolph Schluter found in the sparrows.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe Weiner's use of metaphor in explicating the information he presents, citing the finches' resemblance to Sisyphus as an example.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the significance of the watch and the watchmaker in Darwin's mental development and in the development of evolutionary thought.

Essay Topic 3

Defend or confront the presence of anthropomorphism in the book. Is it appropriate in a scientific work? Why or why not?

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