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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. What does the Latin word "reticulum" mean?

2. Where did Darwin pick up the second volume of Principles of Geology?

3. When did the ancestors of humans start to walk?

4. Who wrote the article on global warming that is discussed in Chapter 18?

5. What type of bird is the Crossbill?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Lewontin and Birch discover about the Dacus tryoni?

2. What effect do the finches have on cactus flowers?

3. Describe the act of "speciation" in the haw flies.

4. Explain how ocean currents affect the Galapagos Islands.

5. Why do plants hybridize rather readily?

6. Choose one example from the text regarding how humans affect other species, and explain it.

7. Describe how Biston betularia changed color and why it is changing back.

8. Summarize Weiner's hypothesis on the physical aspect of human consciousness.

9. What is the significance of Darwin's spelling errors for modern science?

10. Summarize Gayle Davies' experience with the finches.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Weiner's use of description in the scene of the freezer that contains the finches' blood samples.

Essay Topic 2

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

Essay Topic 3

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

(see the answer keys)

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