Which of the following statements regarding genetic testing is false?
A) Genetic testing before birth requires the collection of fetal cells.
B) Carrier testing helps determine whether a person carries a potentially harmful
disorder.
C) The screening of newborns can catch inherited disorders right after birth.
D) Most human genetic diseases are treatable if caught early.
It has been argued that cutting old-growth forests and replacing them with plantations
of young trees would help to alleviate the threat of global greenhouse warming. What
important fact does this argument ignore?
A) Forests play too minor a role in global CO2 dynamics, which are affected far more
by marine algae.
B) Young trees fix carbon at a lower rate per unit mass than old trees.
C) Most of the biomass of the cut trees would be added to the atmosphere as CO2
within a few years.
D) Most of the young trees would die within a few years.
The type of repetitive DNA composed of sequences of large repeated units is often
associated with
A) tandem repeats.
B) transposable elements.
C) sex-linked genes.
D) transcription factors.
The locomotive behavior of earthworms is enabled by contraction of their longitudinal
and circular muscles; this is seen through their typical burrowing behavior. Nematodes,
however, contract their longitudinal muscles against the pressure of fluid in their bodies
to produce a whiplike motion that enables them to move. Suppose you place an
earthworm and a nematode in a watery solution. Which do you think would be able to
move more easily, and why?
A) the earthworm, because it uses two sets of muscles to help it move through the
watery solution
B) the nematode, because its whiplike motion will easily propel it through the watery
solution
C) the earthworm, because it can contract and expand its muscles to burrow down
through the watery solution
D) the nematode, because it can move its paddle-like appendages on its segments to
help it move through the watery solution
Where along the nephron is glucose reabsorbed from the filtrate back into the blood?
A) distal tubule
B) loop of Henle
C) proximal tubule
D) Bowman’s capsule
A new plant species may arise in a single generation by
A) errors in meiosis leading to polyploidy.
B) a sudden geological disruption causing separation of two populations.
C) mutations in genes for flower color.
D) changes in the pollinator species.
Which of the following kinds of data could be used to map the relative position of three
genes on a chromosome?
A) the frequencies with which the genes exhibit incomplete dominance over each other
B) the frequencies of mutations in the genes
C) the frequencies with which the genes are inherited from the mother and from the
father
D) the frequencies with which the corresponding traits occur together in offspring
During filtration in the glomerulus, which of the following enters Bowman’s capsule
from the bloodstream?
A) ammonia and red blood cells
B) nucleic acids
C) lymphocytes
D) water
Kelp, a seaweed that is anchored to the seafloor by rootlike structures and can grow to
heights of 60 m, is a kind of
A) water mold.
B) brown alga.
C) green alga.
D) diatoms.
A person who cannot focus on distant objects has
A) hyperopia.
B) myopia.
C) astigmatism.
D) presbyopia.
The full range of electromagnetic energy is called the ________ spectrum.
A) visible
B) electromagnetic
C) energy
D) ultraviolet
Which of the following can increase red blood cell concentration in a unit of blood?
A) training at low altitudes
B) reducing blood levels of EPO
C) blood doping
D) hydration
Factors that help to perpetuate temperate grasslands, such as the American prairies, and
prevent them from becoming woodlands include
A) poor soil.
B) periodic drought and fires.
C) large numbers of cacti.
D) mild winters with very little rain.
Microevolution, or evolution at its smallest scale, occurs when
A) an individual’s traits change in response to environmental factors.
B) a community of organisms changes due to the extinction of several dominant
species.
C) a new species arises from an existing species.
D) a population’s allele frequencies change over a span of generations.
________ genes are responsible for coding for self-proteins.
A) STR
B) MHC
C) RFLP
D) PCR
Which of the following statements regarding cell division is false?
A) Cell division can reproduce an entire organism.
B) Cell division is necessary for development to occur.
C) Cell division is the basis of both sexual and asexual reproduction.
D) Cell division is common in eukaryotes but rare in prokaryotes.
Oncologists (medical doctors who treat cancer patients) routinely take biopsies
(samples) of tissue from patients to determine whether the tissue is cancerous or not.
What would be the best experiment to do to determine whether cells from the tissue
sample are cancerous?
A) Count the number of chromosomes in the cells from the tissue sample and compare
to the number of chromosomes in noncancerous cells from the patient.
B) Add cells from the tissue sample to a cell culture dish and compare their growth
against a sample of noncancerous cells from the patient.
C) Measure the amount of DNA in G1 in the cells from the tissue sample and compare it
to the amount of DNA in G2 in noncancerous cells from the patient.
D) Add cells from the tissue sample to a rat to see whether the rat develops cancer or
not.
When cloning a gene, one of the steps is to use restriction enzymes to insert the gene of
interest into a vector. If you separated the empty vector (the vector without the gene of
interest) and the cloned vector (the vector that has the gene of interest added) using
agarose gel electrophoresis, what do you expect to observe on the agarose gel if both
vectors are loaded at the same position at the top of the gel?
A) The empty vector would migrate farther down than the cloned vector.
B) The cloned vector would migrate farther down than the cloned vector.
C) The empty vector would migrate the same distance as the cloned vector.
D) It is impossible to know without knowing the identity of the gene of interest.
In female mammals, the inactive X chromosome in each cell
A) can be activated if mutations occur in the active X chromosome.
B) is broken down, and its nucleotides are degraded and reused.
C) is absorbed and used in energy production.
D) becomes a Barr body.
Which of the following is closely associated with the digestive, respiratory, and urinary
systems?
A) the skeletal system
B) the circulatory system
C) the reproductive system
D) the muscular system
Corn, peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers all contain seeds and are derived from the
ovary of a flowering plant. Therefore, in scientific terms, they are ________.
A) fruits.
B) vegetables.
C) sporophytes.
D) seeds.
The introduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park in 1991 resulted in
A) a general decline in overall habitat
B) ecological changes involving numerous plant and animal species.
C) the migration of most of these wolves out of the park and back to Canada.
D) the death of all of the wolves, likely due to an insufficient amount of available prey.
Clusters of light-gathering pigments in a photosystem
A) pass energy to the reaction center.
B) are found in the roots of plants.
C) absorb electrons.
D) break down H2O.
The model of species selection is analogous to natural selection. In this analogy,
________ are like individuals within a population, and ________ is analogous to
reproduction.
A) major groups of organisms; extinction
B) species; speciation
C) genes; gene duplication
D) families; interbreeding
Which of the following is a function of a tRNA molecule?
A) recognizing the appropriate anticodons in mRNA
B) transferring nucleotides to rRNA
C) helping to translate codons into nucleic acids
D) joining to only one specific type of amino acid
If wolves were now removed from Yellowstone National Park,
A) elk populations would increase.
B) deer populations would decrease.
C) the vegetation would remain unchanged.
D) vegetation would increase, providing shelter for smaller animals.
Which of the following statements regarding endocrine glands is true?
A) Some endocrine glands, like the pituitary, have other endocrine glands as their
targets.
B) The sex organs and the thyroid gland produce steroid hormones.
C) The pancreas has only nonendocrine functions.
D) Most of the endocrine glands produce steroid hormones.
Which of the following statements about the monomers and polymers found in living
organisms is false?
A) Cells typically make all of their macromolecules from a set of 40-50 common
monomers and a few other ingredients that are rare.
B) The monomers used to make polymers are essentially universal.
C) Monomers serve as building blocks for polymers.
D) Monomers are joined together by the process of hydrolysis.
Given that CO2 is produced by cellular respiration, why does the amount of CO2 in the
atmosphere remain relatively constant? (When answering this question, exclude the
impact of human activities on atmospheric CO2.)
A) CO2 is converted in photosynthesis to carbohydrates.
B) CO2 is split apart during photosynthesis.
C) CO2 mostly forms carbonate rocks.
D) CO2 is trapped in dead organisms’ bodies.
A primary immune response is
A) the immune response elicited by the primary antigen of a disease-causing
microorganism.
B) the immune response elicited by the primary antibodies of a disease-causing
microorganism.
C) the immune response elicited by the first exposure of lymphocytes to a particular
antigen.
D) the immune response elicited by the first exposure of memory cells to a particular
antigen.