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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Dawkins point out about antelopes' herd behavior?
(a) The herd behavior is not an adaptation.
(b) The herd behavior gives indidivuals a better chance of survival.
(c) The herd behavior is fot the good of the species.
(d) The herd behavior sacrifices an individual for the species survival.

2. What does the author compare nerves to?
(a) An engine.
(b) A computer.
(c) Electrical wires.
(d) An abacus.

3. What does Dawkins describe life forms as?
(a) Multiplications of self-copying molecules.
(b) Simple enlargements of self-copying molecules.
(c) Projections of self-copying molecules into a new dimension.
(d) Machines to protect competing self-copying molecules.

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

5. What type of animal brains does Dawkins say are most successful?
(a) Animal brains that can learn.
(b) Animal brians that can creat instinctive action.
(c) Animal brains that can communicate quickly.
(d) Animal brians that can analyze input.

6. In the science fiction story Dawkins cites, who sends instructions through time?
(a) Intelligent animals.
(b) Aliens.
(c) Robots.
(d) Future humans.

7. What is the smallest unit that is reproduced and carried on through natural selection?
(a) A DNA strand.
(b) A gene.
(c) A chromosome.
(d) A cell.

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

9. According to Dawkins, how might a gene that normally does something selfish end in doing something unselfish?
(a) The gene might change its role because of negative response to the selfish behavior.
(b) The selfish behavior might be modified by external influences.
(c) The selfish behavior gene cannot end in doing something unselfish.
(d) The selfish behavior, combined with other genes' behaviors, might create an unselfish-seeming behavior.

10. Can a gene change it's strategy for survival?
(a) No, genes can only create the protein they are formed to generate.
(b) No, genes only predict a likely strategy and are stuck with it.
(c) Yes, genes modify their strategy by chaning the proteins they form.
(d) Yes, genes modify themselves to try new strategies.

11. What does the author suggest might be better wording than "survival of the fittest"?
(a) Survival of the stable.
(b) Survival of the most reliable.
(c) Survival of the best.
(d) Survival of the most adaptable.

12. What two opposites does Dawkins say he is examining the biology of?
(a) Self-centeredness and other-centeredness.
(b) Rationality and emotionalism.
(c) Individuality and community.
(d) Selfishness and altruism.

13. What would molecules that started to manufacture energy using the sun eventually become?
(a) Single-celled organisms.
(b) Plants.
(c) Animals.
(d) Inorganic materials.

14. In Dawkins' metaphor about DNA, how many books are on the bookshelf?
(a) Fifty-four.
(b) Twenty-three.
(c) Thirty-two.
(d) Forty-six.

15. What does Dawkins say points to the idea that all living things come from the same types of early molecules?
(a) All life forms are based on carbon.
(b) All life forms have basic cell structures.
(c) All life forms are made from DNA molecules.
(d) All life forms have similar pH balances.

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. What hazard does the author identify in killing a rival?

4. In Dawkins' metaphor about DNA, how does he describe the creation of new DNA by sexual reproduction?

5. What happens in inversion?

(see the answer keys)

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