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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What do Oxford advisers not spend much of their time on, according to Gould?
(a) Paleontologists' work.
(b) Students' work.
(c) Parents' work.
(d) Philosophers' work.

2. What did 1971 through 1978 bring for Whittington?
(a) Devastating news that his research was no longer financed.
(b) No changes.
(c) Ten more new fossils.
(d) Revolutionary changes and a new shift in perspective.

3. What is the name of the small ribbon-shaped creation that is the first member known of the 'chordate' phylum?
(a) Mikaia.
(b) Oakaia.
(c) Nikaia.
(d) Pikaia.

4. What do bats superficially resemble?
(a) Albatross.
(b) Birds.
(c) Predators.
(d) Mammals.

5. What years did Whittington work on Naraoia and Aysheaia?
(a) 1978-1979.
(b) 1980-1981.
(c) 1977-1978.
(d) 1976-1977.

6. What is the second subtitle for the Act 5 chapter?
(a) Doomsday (There Are No Final Statements).
(b) Doomsday (There Are Final Answers).
(c) Doomsday (There Are No Final Answers).
(d) Wednesday (There Are No Final Answers).

7. When did prokaryotic cells exist?
(a) At 3.7 billion years.
(b) At 3.5 billion years.
(c) At 6.7 billion years.
(d) At 3.5 million years.

8. How can scientists describe the structure of evolutionary inference?
(a) Quite complex.
(b) Fairly easy.
(c) Fairly intuitive.
(d) Quite simple.

9. What adjectives describe Morris?
(a) Antisocial, benevolent, gracious.
(b) Young, radical, antisocial.
(c) Radical, immature.
(d) Gracious, young, compassionate.

10. What happened from 1971 through 1978 that changed everything?
(a) Gradually.
(b) Sporadic leaps in clarity.
(c) Two months of pondering.
(d) Years of scientific debate.

11. What did Naraoia lead Whittington to do?
(a) Begin a new class called Trilobitoidea.
(b) Dismiss the entire class Trilobitoidea as artificial.
(c) Dismiss Naraoia as a fluke.
(d) Combine two classes to create Trilobitoidea.

12. What kind of picture do scientists have of multi-cellular animal life because of the Burgess Shale?
(a) None.
(b) Distinct.
(c) General.
(d) Imagined.

13. What did Anomalocaris appear to represent?
(a) Another new species.
(b) Another new kingdom.
(c) Another new taxonomy.
(d) Another new phylum.

14. What did Gould note about the Burgess work at this time, in Act 5?
(a) Whittington has left the work to Simon and Briggs.
(b) Briggs has left the Burgess team.
(c) Whittington and Simon have begun to work on other topics.
(d) Whittington, Briggs and Simon have begun to work on other topics.

15. What stage of contingency does the book focus on most?
(a) The fifth stage.
(b) The sixth stage.
(c) The fourth stage.
(d) The first stage.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do we not know about mass extinction?

2. What did Act 3 explain?

3. Where did Collins find another dig site?

4. What kind of similarities and differences must scientists attend to?

5. What does the 'grab bag' provided by the Burgess Shale consist of?

(see the answer keys)

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