How Humans Evolved 7th Edition by Robert Boyd – Test Bank

How Humans Evolved 7th Edition by Robert Boyd – Test Bank

CHAPTER 1: Adaptation by Natural Selection

 

MULTIPLE CHOICE

 

1. Adaptations are defined as the components of an organism that

a.	allow it to survive and reproduce.	c.	occur by random chance alone.
b.	allow it to evolve more rapidly.	d.	absolutely never change.

 

 

ANS:  A                    DIF:    Medium         REF:   Explaining Adaptation Before Darwin

OBJ:   Describe why our modern understanding of the diversity of life is based on the ideas of Charles Darwin.           MSC:              Remembering

 

2. Which of the following is an adaptation?

a.	The human eye.
b.	Design by a divine creator.
c.	Both the human and the fish eye, but humans are better adapted to their environments than fish are to theirs.
d.	The Grand Canyon.

 

 

ANS:  A                    DIF:    Easy               REF:   Explaining Adaptation Before Darwin

OBJ:   Explain how natural selection can produce very complex adaptations like the human eye.

MSC:  Applying

 

3. Influential nineteenth-century scientists like Charles Darwin concluded that the complex adaptations we see in plants and animals are problematic and require a special explanation because

a.	a divine creator designed them.
b.	it is very unlikely that they arose by random chance alone.
c.	they occur in most plants and animals.
d.	they have no real function.

 

 

ANS:  B                    DIF:    Easy               REF:   Explaining Adaptation Before Darwin

OBJ:   Describe why our modern understanding of the diversity of life is based on the ideas of Charles Darwin.           MSC:              Understanding

 

4. Before Charles Darwin proposed his theory of natural selection by adaptation, many scholars argued that adaptations are proof that

a.	evolution is a process based on random chance alone.
b.	because of their ability to adapt quickly, humans are better than all other species.
c.	God exists and designs all things to fit a specific purpose.
d.	there is no way that God can exist.

 

 

ANS:  C                    DIF:    Easy               REF:   Explaining Adaptation Before Darwin

OBJ:   Describe why our modern understanding of the diversity of life is based on the ideas of Charles Darwin.           MSC:              Remembering

 

5. Charles Darwin is known for his revolutionary argument that

a.	plants and animals are not designed by God and do not change over time.
b.	plants and animals change slowly over time.
c.	fossil plants and animals changed, but existing plants and animals do not.
d.	plants and animals are created by chance and then evolve through divine intervention.

 

 

ANS:  B                    DIF:    Easy               REF:   Darwin’s Theory of Adaptation

OBJ:    Describe why our modern understanding of the diversity of life is based on the ideas of Charles Darwin.            MSC:   Remembering