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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What two opposites does Dawkins say he is examining the biology of?

3. What do the letters A, T, C, and G stand for?

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

5. In Dawkins' metaphor about DNA, how many books are on the bookshelf?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Dawkins say would happen if a selfish member of a species were born into a species of unselfish members?

2. Describe the behavior of chains of atoms in human blood, as Dawkins describes it.

3. Why doesn't Dawkins find it statistically remarkable that an early molecule would arise that would copy itself?

4. What does Dawkins say would be a natural extension of valuing one's own species more than other species?

5. In Dawkins' metaphor about DNA, what is the role of page numbers?

6. How does Dawkins view whether fidelity is important to evolution?

7. What is a cistron?

8. How does Dawkins say that DNA differs from blueprints for making a building?

9. What examples does Dawkins give of humanity's valuation of its own species?

10. What are the main actions living organisms do, as gene machines?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the relationship between parents and offspring in Dawkins' book.

1) How are offspring of organisms different than replications of protein molecules? How do organisms relate to their offspring?

2) How much variation is there in the natural world in how parents treat and care for their offspring? How does Dawkins account for this variation?

3) What factors affect parental care for offspring in Dawkins' theory?

Essay Topic 2

Dawkins attributes many attitudes and beliefs to things people want to be true. Discuss how what people want to believe affects people's perception of science in Dawkins' book.

1) Why does Dawkins say that people want to believe in group selection? What affect has this had on evolutionary thought?

2) Why does Dawkins say that people want to believe that parents' relationships with children are an exception to rules of evolution? Are Dawkins' concerns valid?

3) In what other ways do people's desire to believe certain things affect perceptions of the concepts in the book?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the origin of life as Dawkins presents it in The Selfish Gene.

1) Why is the origin of life, as Dawkins presents it, not something that still happens? How do the first replicator proteins come into being?

2) What elements in the environment lead to the development of replicator proteins into organisms?

3) How is the existence of early proteins as Dawkins presents it in ancient seas similar to and different from the existence of organisms in the natural world today?

(see the answer keys)

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