SparkNotes: Charles Darwin: Quiz

1. Charles Darwin was born on

(A) February twelve, 1809

(B) January fifteen, 1812

(C) February nine, 1812

(D) March twelve, 1809

2. At the University of Edinburgh, Darwin studied to become a

(A) Physician

(B) Naturalist

(C) Clergyman

(D) Biologist

3. Darwin's grandfather ________ was best known for his speculative poetry on the natural world.

(A) Erasmus Darwin

(B) Robert Darwin

(C) Josiah Wedgwood

(D) Frances Darwin

4. Where was Darwin buried?

(A) At Westminster Abbey

(B) At the Down House

(C) In Cambridge

(D) In Shrewsbury

5. Darwin studied for what profession at Edinburgh?

(A) Medicine

(B) Law

(C) The clergy

(D) Academics

6. What hobby did Darwin pick up while at Edinburgh?

(A) Hunting

(B) Fishing

(C) Beetle collecting

(D) Birding

7. What alternative therapy did Darwin turn to treat his life-long illness?

(A) Homeopathy

(B) Pyropathy

(C) Acupuncture

(D) Hydropathy

8. What was the cause of Darwin's illness?

(A) Unknown

(B) Stomach ulcers

(C) High stress

(D) Disease picked up while on the Beagle

9. What was Darwin's major contribution to the theory of evolution?

(A) The mechanism of natural selection

(B) The importance of sexual selection

(C) The inheritance of acquired characteristics

(D) Pangenesis

10. Who was known as "Darwin's bulldog"?

(A) Joseph Hooker

(B) Thomas Henry Huxley

(C) Charles Lyell

(D) Samuel Wilberforce

11. What criticism did Jenkin bring against Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection?

(A) The earth had not been in existence long enough for evolution to have taken place

(B) The fossil record did not contain forms intermediate between today's species

(C) Any new traits would disappear once they were blended with the population

(D) All of the above

12. What criticism did Lord Kelvin bring against Darwin's theory of evolution?

(A) The fossil record did not contain forms intermediate between today's species

(B) Any new traits would disappear once they were blended with the population

(C) The earth had not been in existence long enough for evolution to have taken place

(D) All of the above

13. Whose paper on evolution in 1856 prompted Darwin to publish The Origin of Species?

(A) Alfred Russell Wallace

(B) Joseph Hooker

(C) Samuel Butler

(D) Thomas Henry Huxley

14. Who was the captain of the HMS Beagle?

(A) Robert FitzRoy

(B) John Herschel

(C) John Henslow

(D) Adam Sedgwick

15. What lowly species did Darwin spend eight years studying?

(A) Barnacles

(B) Earthworms

(C) Snails

(D) Finches

16. Darwin's father was a

(A) Lawyer

(B) Physician

(C) Poet

(D) Biologist

17. Who wrote the Principles of Biology that inspired Darwin while he was on the Beagle?

(A) George Case

(B) Joseph Hooker

(C) Adam Sedgwick

(D) Charles Lyell

18. Who sparked a controversy late in Darwin's life over the translation of a German book?

(A) Francis Galton

(B) Samuel Butler

(C) Frances Darwin

(D) Thomas Henry Huxley

19. In the 1870s Darwin turned his research focus towards

(A) Barnacles

(B) The great apes

(C) Plants and earthworm

(D) Evolutionary theory

20. In 1871, Darwin published a book that was a continuation of the argument started in the Origin. It was called

(A) Variation under Domestication

(B) The Descent of Man

(C) Sexual Selection

(D) The Preservation of Favoured Races

21. Which of the following continents did the Beagle not stop at during its five- year voyage?

(A) North America

(B) South America

(C) Africa

(D) Europe

22. While on the voyage of the Beagle, who did Darwin send his samples to?

(A) John Henslow

(B) Joseph Hooker

(C) Charles Lyell

(D) Robert Grant

23. Who supervised Darwin's research on marine biology at Edinburgh?

(A) Robert Grant

(B) Charles Lyell

(C) Erasmus Darwin

(D) John Henslow

24. Darwin married Emma Wedgwood in

(A) 1836

(B) 1838

(C) 1839

(D) 1842

25. Which of the following was a strong critic of the Origin of Species?

(A) Adam Sedgwick

(B) Joseph Hooker

(C) Charles Lyell

(D) Robert Grant

26. Darwin wrote about sexual selection in which of the follow books?

(A) The Expression of Emotions

(B) The Descent of Man

(C) The Origin of Species

(D) Variation under Domestication

27. Darwin was home schooled until age eight by his sister

(A) Caroline

(B) Marianne

(C) Mary

(D) Christine

28. Darwin's mother died when he was age

(A) seven

(B) eight

(C) nine

(D) ten

29. Darwin died on

(A) May fifteen, 1872

(B) May fifteen, 1878

(C) April nineteen, 1882

(D) April thirty, 1885

30. Who were principally responsible for Darwin's burial in Westminster Abbey?

(A) Thomas Henry Huxley and Francis Galton

(B) John Henslow and Emma Wedgwood

(C) Josiah Wedgwood and Erasmus Darwin

(D) Thomas Henry Huxley and Joseph Hooker

31. Josiah Wedgwood made his fortune in the business of

(A) Pottery

(B) Textiles

(C) Medicine

(D) Mining

32. The Wedgwood estate, where Darwin often went hunting, was called

(A) Maer

(B) The Mount

(C) Woodhouse

(D) Down

33. Darwin's home for the last forty years of his life was

(A) The Down House

(B) The Mount

(C) Maer Hall

(D) London

34. Darwin's mentor at Cambridge was the botanist

(A) Adam Sedgwick

(B) John Lubbock

(C) John Herschel

(D) John Henslow

35. During one of his Cambridge summers, Darwin went on a geological survey of North Wales with the geologist

(A) Adam Sedgwick

(B) Charles Lyell

(C) John Hooker

(D) Lord Kelvin

36. When he first returned from the voyage of the Beagle, Darwin took up residence in

(A) Cambridge

(B) London

(C) Edinburgh

(D) Shrewsbury

37. To learn first-hard about artificial selection, Darwin began to breed what species in his back yard?

(A) Chickens

(B) Barnacles

(C) Climbing plants

(D) Pigeons

38. With whom did Darwin conduct chemistry experiments in a shed behind the The Mount?

(A) Erasmus Darwin

(B) Caroline Darwin

(C) Robert Darwin

(D) Samuel Butler

39. At what age did Darwin begin to attend the University of Edinburgh?

(A) sixteen

(B) seventeen

(C) eighteen

(D) nineteen

40. With whom did Darwin have a flirtatious relationship before leaving on the Beagle?

(A) Fanny Owen

(B) Emma Wedgwood

(C) Mary Woodhouse

(D) Elizabeth Wedgwood

41. Who convinced Robert Darwin to allow Charles Darwin to accept the position of naturalist on the Beagle?

(A) Josiah Wedgwood

(B) Emma Wedgwood

(C) Frances Wedgwood

(D) Joseph Wedgwood

42. The voyage of the Beagle was originally intended to last two years but ended up lasting

(A) three years

(B) four years

(C) five years

(D) six years

43. In Argentina Darwin discovered in a cliff face the fossil remains of an ancient

(A) Mastodon

(B) Barnacle

(C) Megatherium

(D) Horse

44. The natives of the Galapagos Islands claimed that they could tell which island a particular _____ had come from just by looking at it.

(A) Iguana

(B) Finch

(C) Lizard

(D) Tortoise

45. What tragedy struck the Darwin household in April 1849?

(A) The death of Charles's daughter Annie

(B) The death of Charles's father Robert

(C) The death of Charles's brother Erasmus

(D) The birth of Charles's severely retarded son, Charles Waring