View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Whose "Thinking Path" is described in Chapter 9?

3. As Rosemary relates, what sometimes causes a bamboo pole to become unexpectedly heavy as one carries it?

4. Which type of animal in the Galapagos has one alpha male that mates with many females?

5. The Grants' research is compared to which novel?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the metaphor of the watch and the watchmaker.

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

3. Summarize the arguments of some of the biologists' early opposition to the theory of evolution.

4. Describe a typical workday for the Grants on Daphne Major.

5. Describe what Peter Boag and Laurene Ratcliffe did on Daphne Major while waiting for rain.

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

7. Describe some of the differences between the finch species in the Galapagos.

8. Of what significance is Darwin's Sandwalk to science?

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

10. Discuss the likelihood that two species will hybridize and the probable outcomes of such a hybridization.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the difference between the fossil record and real-time observations as concerns tracing the path of evolution.

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast two episodes of anthropomorphism in the book.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss how the experiment with the Crossbill finches has affected the study of evolution.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 732 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample