Deck 2: Human Variation: Race and Gender

Question 1

A cline is:

A) a line on a map that connects points of the same value
B) a female country singer
C) a peak or a valley in topography
D) where many lines come together on a map
E) has nothing to do with maps

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Biologically, a race is a part of a species:

A) that is treated differently from others
B) that is darker or lighter than others
C) that behaves differently from others
D) that doesn't breed much with other parts of the species
E) that has less power than other parts

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Human physical differences are due to:

A) the distribution of the races
B) gene flow and natural selection
C) randomness
D) selective breeding
E) the stronger defeating the weaker

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Biologically, how many races are there now within our species, Homo sapiens sapiens?

A) none
B) two
C) three
D) four
E) more than four

Question 5

The most important thing about human races biologically is:

A) physical characteristics don't group together geographically
B) talking about it makes people uncomfortable
C) there are so many small groups it's hard to count them all
D) the genome isn't visible
E) since the Obama election, it's no longer an issue

Question 6

Exposure of people to intense sunlight:

A) is associated with skin cancer
B) breaks down folate and causes birth defects
C) affects people with light skin more
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 7

Melanin:

A) protects against the effects of intense sunlight
B) makes skin dark
C) filters out vitamin D
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 8

Polymorphic means:

A) cheerful all the time
B) different sounds have different meanings
C) always changing into something else
D) being a shape shifter
E) many forms

Question 9

In humans, racial differences are:

A) a biological fact
B) a linguistic fact
C) based on culture
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 10

The fear of foreigners:

A) makes people accept their own rulers
B) makes people doubt the sanity of their rulers
C) interferes with industry
D) is natural
E) is based on cultural relativity

Question 11

The real borders between peoples are:

A) between nations
B) between languages
C) between races
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 12

In the United States racism has been used to:

A) defend economic repression
B) defend political repression
C) defend slavery
D) enslave others
E) all of the above

Question 13

The real homeland of American people is:

A) Europe
B) East Asia
C) South Asia
D) Latin America
E) Africa

Question 14

The real homeland of the Jewish people is:

A) Europe
B) East Asia
C) South Asia
D) Latin America
E) Africa

Question 15

Sexual dimorphism means:

A) you have problems with sexual identity
B) being bisexual
C) males and females are different
D) males and females are equal
E) males and females are separated in public

Question 16

A lineage is:

A) a group of relatives
B) all the people descended from a single male
C) all the people descended from a single female
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 17

In a matrilineal lineage the most important male relative of any boy is:

A) the father
B) the grandfather
C) the mother's brother
D) the chieftain
E) the older brother

Question 18

For Freud, the Oedipus complex meant:

A) some boys would become the king
B) some boys would become crippled
C) boys compete with their fathers for their moms' attention
D) girls want to sleep with their fathers
E) it's all the mom's fault

Question 19

In the Trobriands, fathers have authority over:

A) their own sons
B) the little league
C) their sisters' sons
D) nobody at all
E) their own work

Question 20

Before Chinese influence, Tibetan herders used which form of marriage:

A) one man with several sisters
B) a father and a son with one wife
C) two brothers with one wife
D) a mother and daughter with one husband
E) all of the above

Question 21

Victorian English people started circumcising male children:

A) because it's more natural
B) because it's clean
C) to increase sexual pleasure
D) to prevent masturbation
E) because their religion demanded it

Question 22

The patent rights for stone tools are held by:

A) Australopithecus
B) Homo erectus
C) Homo neanderthalensis
D) Homo sapiens
E) Monsanto
F) none of the above

Question 23

The cave paintings in Europe were made by:

A) Cro-Magnon people
B) Neanderthal
C) Australopithecus
D) Homo erectus
E) Michelangelo

Question 24

The most important reason for our ability to learn is:

A) long infancy
B) language
C) bipedal locomotion
D) tool making
E) Cooperation
F) all of the above

Question 25

The most important thing about human innovations is:

A) the market
B) the ability to patent them
C) corporations
D) laws to protect new inventions
E) all of the above
F) none of the above

Question 26

In a system a loop is a process that:

A) returns to where it started
B) makes the system better
C) goes outside the system
D) destroys the system
E) ends when gets too long

Question 27

Evolution:

A) is a system
B) makes life better
C) destroys the weak
D) makes the strong stronger
E) is a myth

Question 28

Humans are pretty much like gorillas except for:

A) the pelvis
B) language
C) culture
D) dominance
E) all of the above

Question 29

There are no physical differences among Homo sapiens.

Question 30

The differences between two members of any group are greater than the differences between any one of them and any member of another group.

Question 31

Biologically, humans are divided into two main races.

Question 32

Biologically, humans are divided into four main races.

Question 33

Biologically, there are no human races.

Question 34

More rickets means less melanin.

Question 35

More melanin means less skin cancer.

Question 36

People are polymorphic.

Question 37

The important questions about race are biological.

Question 38

The important questions about race are political.

Question 39

To ask scientific questions about human variation we have to give up the idea of race.

Question 40

Language is a good guide to race.

Question 41

Attribution of differences of performance to race is racist.

Question 42

With equal opportunity comes equal performance.

Question 43

Racism is part of the American system.

Question 44

The American system cannot be changed.

Question 45

Really nice people can do racist things.

Question 46

People of any skin color can be racists.

Question 47

All human beings have the same homeland.

Question 48

A natural family is a mother, a father, and children.

Question 49

In matrilineal lineages the men are in charge.

Question 50

Trobriand islanders have matrilineal lineages.

Question 51

There is only one true definition of marriage.

Question 52

Tibetans do not equate sex with marriage.

Question 53

Most anthropologists agree that civilization depends on the practice of marriage as an exclusive heterosexual relationship.

Question 54

Victorian doctors would masturbate their female patients to treat hysteria.

Question 55

Freud taught that the clitoris was not involved in sex.

Question 56

Cutting off a woman's clitoris prevents her from having orgasms.

Question 57

White males are a minority in the United States.

Question 58

All minorities are treated badly in the United States.

Question 59

In the United States, class is not very important today.

Question 60

List two types of lineages:

Question 61

List five things that have helped determine human skin color:

Question 62

Name four anthropologists whose names you saw in Chapter 2 on human variation:

Question 63

Why, in spite of obvious biological variations among people, do anthropologists say that there is no such thing as biological race?

Question 64

Explain how the idea of race as a biological fact is used as a political weapon of oppression.

Question 65

Explain the process by which differences of skin color evolved.

Question 66

Why do anthropologists say there are no homelands?

Question 67

Discuss the debate about female genital cutting. What are the different sides and how do people defend each?

Question 68

Why do anthropologists say that civilization does not depend on the institution of marriage as a heterosexual union of a man and a woman?

Question 69

From the point of view of anthropology, what is normal sexual practice?