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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 2.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What would competition between early self-copying molecules be over?
(a) Gaseous molecules.
(b) Space.
(c) Water.
(d) Building-block molecules.

2. How does the author say that human beings think of their own species?
(a) As a goal that evolution has achieved.
(b) As more imporant than other species.
(c) As exempt from the laws of natural selection.
(d) As able to rise above animal drives.

3. What would molecules that grouped and built protective walls around themselves become?
(a) Animals.
(b) Plants.
(c) Inorganic materials.
(d) Single-celled organisms.

4. How does Dawkins characterize the natural world in his discussion of selfishness?
(a) As dangerous and competitive.
(b) As alternately friendly and unfriendly.
(c) As biased toward selecting particular behaviors.
(d) As well-balanced and selective.

5. What apparently unselfish act of a bee does the author describe?
(a) Fighting off predators who are near the queen.
(b) Evacuating immature bees from an endangered hive.
(c) Losing its life to sting an intruder.
(d) Bringing back pollen to help feed the whole colony.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Dawkins describe life forms as?

2. What apparently selfish act of gulls does the author describe?

3. What almost always happens when copies of things are made, according to Dawkins?

4. What does Dawkins call the molecule that he imagines as the first molecule to make copies of itself?

5. What does longevity provide to an early molecule, according to Dawkins?

(see the answer key)

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