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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 9.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What shape is the location where guillemots lay their eggs?
(a) Hilly.
(b) Jagged.
(c) Rough and grassy.
(d) Flat.

2. What does Wynne-Edwards say happens when other animals communicate to the species that there is overpopulation?
(a) The animals have fewer young.
(b) The animals claim larger territories.
(c) The animals store extra food.
(d) The animals attack others' young.

3. In Dawkins' metaphor about DNA, what represents a gene?
(a) A page in a book.
(b) A chapter in a book.
(c) A line on a page in a book.
(d) A word in a book.

4. What attribute of male birds of paradise does Zahavi say is a kind of boast that even with a dangerous physical characteristic, the bird is strong enough to survive?
(a) A brightly colored, easily seen headdress.
(b) A long, dragging tail.
(c) A bright, attractive pattern on its wings.
(d) A beautifully feathered but uselessly structured foot.

5. How does the author define intelligent life?
(a) As life that asks where it came from.
(b) As life that creates lasting communications.
(c) As life that distinguishes itself from other life.
(d) As life that tries to define itself.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Dawkins point out about antelopes' herd behavior?

2. What would give longevity to early self-duplicating molecules, according to Dawkins?

3. In the natural world, which gender does Dawkins identify as more likely to select the other for breeding?

4. When a cell creates a sperm cell or egg cell with reduced DNA, what is the process called?

5. According to Dawkins, are the self-copying molecules that Dawkins discusses "life" or not?

(see the answer key)

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