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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What apparently selfish act of the praying mantis does the author describe?
(a) A female eating her mate.
(b) Fighting over an aphid colony.
(c) Leading another mantis into a spider's web.
(d) Injuring another mantis that enters a claimed territory.

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

3. What would give longevity to early self-duplicating molecules, according to Dawkins?
(a) Greater stability.
(b) Larger numbers of components.
(c) Greater flexibility.
(d) Smaller numbers of elements.

4. What almost always happens when copies of things are made, according to Dawkins?
(a) Conflict between the copies.
(b) Confusion between copies and originals.
(c) An overabundance of copies.
(d) Mistakes in the copies.

5. What apparently selfish act of gulls does the author describe?
(a) Stealing another gull's nest.
(b) Eating others' baby chicks.
(c) Fighting for fish.
(d) "Ditching" the rest of the flock when a predator is spotted.

Short Answer Questions

1. Does the author believe that all people should act selfishly?

2. What would competition between early self-copying molecules be over?

3. What does Dawkins say that evolution is about?

4. Does the author believe that genetically inherited traits cannot be changed?

5. How does the author say that human beings think of their own species?

(see the answer key)

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