David Dobbs Restless Genes

Open Ended

Based on the title, what do you think the text will be about?

Multiple Choice

What are Genes?

• the smallest unit that can live on its own and that makes up all living organisms and the tissues of the body.

• The set of information that controls a trait

• any of the tubes forming part of the blood circulation system of the body

Multiple Choice

What important object did Polynesian Priest Tupaia give to Captain Cook?

answer choices

• He gave him a sense of adventure.

• He gave him a complete map of the South Pacific.

• He gave him a compass, chart, a clock and a sextant.

• He gave him the peace of mind that he was on the right track.

Multiple Choice

Two centuries later a global network of geneticists analyzing DNA bread-crumb trails of modern human migration would prove Cook right: Tupaia’s ancestors had colonized the Pacific 2,300 years before. Their improbable migration across the Pacific continued a long eastward march that had begun in Africa 70,000 to 50,000 years earlier. Cook’s journey, meanwhile, continued a westward movement started by his own ancestors, who had left Africa around the same time Tupaia’s ancestors had. In meeting each other, Cook and Tupaia closed the circle, completing a journey their forebears had begun together, so many millennia before.

What is the most likely meaning of the phrase “Cook and Tupaia closed the circle” at the end of the following passage (paragraph 4)?

• They established a close friendship that was unlikely because they were from such different cultures.

• Studying the DNA of Cook and Tupaia proved to geneticists that they were related.

• Their ancestors left Africa at the same time and migrated to different places, but more migration led Cook and Tupaia to be in the same spot.

• They made a circular journey, stopping at all the major islands until they returned to Tahiti.

Multiple Choice

Why indeed? Pääbo and other scientists pondering this question are themselves explorers, walking new ground. They know that they might have to backtrack and regroup at any time. They know that any notion about why we explore might soon face revision as their young disciplines—anthropology, genetics, developmental neuropsychology—turn up new fundamentals. Yet for those trying to figure out what makes humans tick, our urge to explore is irresistible terrain. What gives rise to this “madness” to explore? What drove us out from Africa and on to the moon and beyond?

• why humans explore is unanswerable

• scientists are like explorers

• exploration is connected to genes

• scientists will soon know why humans explore

Multiple Choice

Which inference is best supported by the story about Ernest Shackleton?

• He did not believe that exploration could be deadly.

• He survived because of his manual skill and his imagination combined.

• He was insane and did absurd things.

• He was genetically superior to the men in his crew.

Multiple Choice

 

Noonan makes a good case that our big brain and clever hands build a capacity for imagination. Alison Gopnik, a child-development psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley, says humans also possess another, less obvious advantage that fosters that imaginative capacity: a long childhood in which we can exercise our urge to explore while we’re still dependent on our parents. We stop nursing roughly a year and a half sooner than gorillas and chimps, and then take a far slower path to puberty—about a decade, compared with the three to five years typical for gorillas and chimps. Dental evidence from Neanderthals suggests they too grew up faster than we do. As a result, we have an unmatched period of protected “play” in which to learn exploration’s rewards.

How are the text structures of this paragraph (23) useful for supporting the overall claim of the article?

• This paragraph uses descriptive text structure to help the reader visualize the relationship between humans and other animals.

• This paragraph uses problem and solution text structure to clearly identify that humans would be smarter if children played less.

• This paragraph uses chronological and sequence text structure to show how much longer human children play than other species.

• This paragraph uses comparison and cause and effect structure to show the differences humans and other similar species.

Multiple Choice

But a migratory wave can also allow genes friendly to migration to drive their own selection. A notable, if noxious, example is the South American cane toad. Introduced to northeastern Australia in the 1930s, it now numbers more than 200 million and is advancing across the continent at 30 miles a year. The leading toads hop on legs that are 10 percent longer than those of their 1930s ancestors—and measurably longer than the legs of toads even a mile behind them. How so? Toads that are both restless and long legged move to the front, bringing any restless, long-legged genes with them. There they meet and mate with other restless, long-legged toads to create restless, leggy offspring that move to the front and repeat the cycle.

Which text structure does the author use in this paragraph?

• description of the characteristics of the South American cane toad

• sequence of events that led to the migration of the South American cane toad

• compare and contrast to show the differences and similarities in two breeds of toads

• problem-solution to examine the possible solution to the problem of the noxious South American cane toad

Multiple Choice

How does this text structure help the author build meaning and advance his purpose in the text?

• The text structure shows how cane toads changed the native toad population.

• The text structure helps the author ask an important question about genes.

• The text structure illustrates the differences between toads and humans.

• The text structure emphasizes how a gene can spread over time.

Multiple Choice

How does the author use paragraph 31 to refine and develop his central idea claim?

• He uses eye witness accounts of pioneer families in Quebec to support his claim.

• He uses facts and statistics from experts in the field of genetics to support his claim.

• He uses charts and graphs that explain the migration patterns of families to support his claim.

• He uses primary source information from the 1830 census to support his claim.

Open Ended

What are “restless genes,” according to the article? Build a description using evidence from the text.