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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Trivers look at breeding as?
(a) A careful calculation based on resources.
(b) A goal of existence.
(c) A race with time.
(d) A war between the sexes.

2. In the behavior called stotting, where do Thompson gazelles jump?
(a) In front of a rival.
(b) In front of a predator.
(c) Over a natural obstacle.
(d) Into the center of the pack.

3. In Dawkins' game theory analysis of a colony of birds and ticks, what were grudger birds?
(a) Birds that refuse to take ticks off other birds.
(b) Birds that refuse to take ticks off birds that won't help others.
(c) Birds that can survive in symbiosis with ticks.
(d) Birds that refuse to have ticks taken off of their heads.

4. What does Dawkins mean by a "selfish gene?"
(a) A portion of DNA, copied in mutliple organisms, that modifies behaviors in the organisms that would tend otherwise to be altruistic.
(b) A portion of DNA, copied in multiple organisms, "trying" to survive in ways that will continue to copy and propigate the gene.
(c) A portion of DNA, copied in mutliple organisms, that programs behavior in the individual for self-survival.
(d) A portion of DNA, copied in mutliple organisms, that "tries" to become the dominant gene by preventing other genes from replicating.

5. To what does Dawkins attribute changes to female mice as the population rises?
(a) Group selection.
(b) Natural selection of individuals.
(c) Random variation within groups.
(d) Random variation in individuals.

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

7. In Dawkins' example, why might an older child give up food for a younger sibling?
(a) The parents are more concerned about the older child and ignoring the younger one.
(b) The child is not concerned about its own survival.
(c) The child is more concerned about sibling survival than about its own survival.
(d) The child does not need the food as much as the younger sibling.

8. What does Dawkins say that Honeyguide chicks do?
(a) Steal food from other chicks in the nest.
(b) Kill other chicks in the nest.
(c) Scream less loud to not attract too much attention to themselves as intruders.
(d) Blackmail parents into getting more food by screaming loud enough to attract predators.

9. According to Dawkins, for whom does a bird regulate the number of eggs it lays?
(a) For the good of its genetic offspring.
(b) For the good of itself and its mate.
(c) For the good of the species.
(d) For the good of itself.

10. To what does Dawkins attribute a male backing down from a powerful rival over territory?
(a) The desire to preserve the species.
(b) The abundance of other territories that might be claimed.
(c) The desire not to over-compete with a rival's young.
(d) Self-preservation to more likely breed in the future.

11. According to the relatedness calculations in the book, how closely related is an individual to a cousin?
(a) One-quarter.
(b) One.
(c) One-eighth.
(d) One-sixth.

12. How common are genes that cause altruistic behaviors in nature?
(a) They are extremely rare.
(b) They are pretty common.
(c) They are vast majority of genes.
(d) They are nonexistent.

13. What is difficult to explain about honeybees, according to Dawkins' theory?
(a) The large number of queens produced in each generation.
(b) The large number of extra female bees.
(c) The large number of eggs laid by the queen.
(d) The large number of extra male bees.

14. What does PI stand for?
(a) Parental Involvement.
(b) Parental Investment.
(c) Parental Intelligence.
(d) Parental Integrity.

15. How does the author suggest that bird calls might help a bird that is trying to fly up into the trees?
(a) The call might frighten away other birds in the tree the bird is flying to.
(b) The call might be hard to pinpoint and therefore distract predators.
(c) The call might cause other birds to call and hide the noise of the bird's wings.
(d) The call might cause other birds to fly and confuse any predators.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why might mates favor offspring over their mate, according to Dawkins?

2. What chance does a parent have of giving a particular gene to a child?

3. What response does Dawkins give to the idea that birth control is wrong because it's unnatural?

4. From a gene's point of view, what does Dawkins say an organism is equally related to?

5. How does Dawkins characterize the runt of a litter?

(see the answer keys)

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