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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Chapter 4, what story of tragedy does the author tell?
(a) The story of the gazelle.
(b) The story of the salesman.
(c) The story of the fisherman.
(d) The kangeroo story.

2. How does evolution work?
(a) Change is continuous.
(b) Without competition between organisms.
(c) Different adaptations of an individual which give a reproductive edge.
(d) Very slowly, over thousands of years.

3. From a biologist's point of view, sexual reproduction is more _________ than asexual reproduction.
(a) Unnecessary
(b) Annoying.
(c) Expensive.
(d) Risky.

4. What did Zahavi, a scientist, theorize about reproduction mating?
(a) Male attractiveness signals the male's ability to survive.
(b) Male attractiveness hurts a male's ability to survive.
(c) Female attractiveness signals the male's ability to survive.
(d) Female attractiveness hurts a male's ability to survive.

5. What do scientists want to discover about genetic mixing?
(a) Why cloning is more successful than genetic mixing.
(b) How to make genetic mixing more reliable.
(c) How to make genetic mixing affordable.
(d) Why genetic mixing is better than cloning oneself.

6. In which cultures are male babies especially prized?
(a) Chinese.
(b) American.
(c) Indian.
(d) Chinese and Indian.

7. What is sexual selection?
(a) Selection based on the strength of a mate.
(b) Random mating between humans.
(c) Irrational mating between humans.
(d) Selection based on the appeal of a potential mate.

8. Why does this organism present a mystery to the question of reproduction?
(a) The organism decided to self replicate.
(b) It kills other organisms that participate in it.
(c) It is extinct and cannot be studied.
(d) The organism gave up sexual reproduction.

9. What is the only way to understand why evolution is the way it is?
(a) To ignore its history.
(b) To negate human nature.
(c) Study the twists and turns of the evolutionary story.
(d) Study creationists theories.

10. Why is the Vicar of Bray theory flawed?
(a) It was made up by someone who is not a scientist.
(b) It sees evolution as the goal of an organisim.
(c) It does not take sexual reproduction into account.
(d) It has been proven wrong over the centuries.

11. What happens if a virus attacks a population of clones?
(a) The clone population will be wiped out.
(b) The clones attack one another in order to survive.
(c) The virus will kill only the weakest clones.
(d) The clone population will effectively kill the virus.

12. Why is this book called The Red Queen?
(a) The author has always enjoyed the character from Alice in Wonderland.
(b) The landscape around the Queen moves as she moves. Evolutionary progress is relative to ones surroundings.
(c) It is symbolic of higher level genetics.
(d) The author thinks that the title is ironic.

13. What is the male to female ratio?
(a) 2:1.
(b) 1:3.
(c) 1:1.
(d) 1:2.

14. In Chapter 5, the animals are unsure of _____________.
(a) Being able to find a suitable mate.
(b) The male knowing if the egg is his.
(c) What their mate thinks of them.
(d) Passing desirable genes to offspring.

15. What is the "sexy-sons" theory?
(a) Sons are always sexier than daughters.
(b) Females will always choose the most attractive man.
(c) Males will always choose the most attractive woman.
(d) Sons will be the most attractive if the two parents are very attractive.

Short Answer Questions

1. In humans, what does evolution rely on?

2. What do organisms that reproduce end up with for offspring?

3. What do the females of this same group prefer?

4. What can a psychiatrist expect to find in all people?

5. According to the author and other research, who should have a better evolutionary outcome?

(see the answer keys)

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