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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In the example that Dawkins gives, what do pigs sometimes do to the runt of the litter?
(a) Eat it.
(b) Allow the other piglets to attack it.
(c) Refuse to feed it.
(d) Kick it away.

2. What does Dawkins say removes humanity from the cruel and harsh laws of nature?
(a) Nothing.
(b) Humans teach children ways to behave and learn better behaviors as adults.
(c) Humans have developed genes for communication, which allows cooperation.
(d) Humans create environments that protect them from natural laws.

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

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

5. In the example Dawkins gives, why do some ants grow a plant?
(a) The plant feeds a fungus the ants eat.
(b) The plant acts as camouflage for the anthill.
(c) The ants eat the plant.
(d) The plant protects the anthill against erosion.

6. What does AI stand for?
(a) Authentic Intelligence.
(b) Anomalous Involvement.
(c) Antecedent Integrity.
(d) Altruistic Investment.

7. What ant behavior does Dawkins give as an example of seemingly altruistic behavior?
(a) Running into a burning anthill to retrieve others' eggs.
(b) Bringing food back to other ants without eating.
(c) Throwing itself in front of predators.
(d) Hanging from a ceiling as a living food pack.

8. What happens to cuckoo eggs that look dissimilar to the host eggs they replace?
(a) They are recognized but allowed to stay in the nest.
(b) They are thrown out of the nest and don't survive.
(c) They are raised by the cuckoos instead of surrogates.
(d) They aren't recognized by the surrogate parent birds.

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

10. Do gulls recognize their own eggs and chicks?
(a) Gulls recognize neither their chicks nor their eggs.
(b) Gulls recognize their chicks and eggs.
(c) Gulls recognize their chicks but not their eggs.
(d) Gulls recognize their eggs but not their chicks.

11. How does a mother protecting a child promote the selfish gene theory?
(a) The mother is repurposing selfish genes to protect the child.
(b) The child carries many of the same genes as the mother.
(c) The child will later protect the mother in turn.
(d) The mother is extending selfish behavior to new situations.

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

13. What happens to female mice as the population rises to unacceptable limits?
(a) Fewer female mice are born.
(b) Female mice destroy their young.
(c) Female mice become less fertile.
(d) Female mice ignore male mice's advances.

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

15. What chance does a parent have of giving a particular gene to a child?
(a) A sixty percent chance.
(b) A thirty percent chance.
(c) A forty percent chance.
(d) A fifty percent chance.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Wynne-Edwards say happens when other animals communicate to the species that there is overpopulation?

2. According to Dawkins, how common is it for males to help raise the young?

3. In Dawkins' discussion, what is the detriment of raising offspring, if there is something wrong with it?

4. In Dawkins' discussion, why do baby birds scream?

5. What does Wynne-Edwards suggest that animals do to communicate overpopulation?

(see the answer keys)

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