View a FREE sample

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 4.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. In early reproducing molecules, what is the measure of "success"?
(a) That there are fewer ways for the molecule to be destroyed.
(b) That there are more copies of the molecule, whether they are accurate or not.
(c) That there are more chemical reactions that can use the molecule.
(d) That there are more molecules around that are like the molecule.

3. What does the Watt Governor machine appear to do?
(a) Scream.
(b) Think.
(c) Cry.
(d) Talk.

4. How many nucleotide chains are in DNA?
(a) Five.
(b) Three.
(c) Four.
(d) Two.

5. What would happen to an early molecule that made many more copies of itself than other molecules made of themselves?
(a) There would be a lower chance of copies of it surviving.
(b) There would be fewer copies that were similar to the original.
(c) There would be too many copies identical to the original, and they would mutually destruct.
(d) There would be a greater chance of copies of it surviving.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the name of the bee disease that Dawkins mentions in his example?

2. How does Dawkins define communication?

3. In Dawkins' metaphor about DNA, what represents a gene?

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

5. In the science fiction story Dawkins cites, who sends instructions through time?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 328 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample