Thirty people are selected for a long-term mission to colonize a planet many light-years
away from Earth. The mission is successful, and the population rapidly grows to several
hundred individuals. However, certain genetic diseases are unusually common in this
group, and the group’s gene pool is quite different from that of the Earth population
they have left behind. Which of the following phenomena has left its mark on this
population?
A) founder effect
B) bottleneck effect
C) high rates of mutation
D) natural selection
You are observing a developing embryo under a microscope and see that it has a space
in the middle of the endoderm, but no features of a notochord are present. In which
stage of development is this embryo?
A) zygote
B) blastula
C) gastrula
D) fetus
The prokaryotes that cause tooth decay have a ________ relationship with humans.
A) parasitic
B) predatory
C) mutualistic
D) competitive
Which of the following is a result of glycolysis?
A) production of CO2
B) conversion of glucose to two three-carbon compounds
C) a net loss of two ATPs per glucose molecule
D) conversion of NADH to NAD+
In a moss, most of the plants that we see are ________, and in a fern, the most
dominant stage is the ________.
A) gametophytes; gametophyte
B) gametophytes; sporophyte
C) sporophytes; gametophyte
D) sporophytes; sporophyte
Researchers set up a study to determine whether large doses of a nutritional supplement
would shorten the length of time it takes to recover from a cold. Three thousand
volunteers were split into two groups. For two weeks, members of group A took 3,000
mg of the supplement daily. Group B received 3,000 mg of a placebo. At the end of the
two-week period, the researchers inserted live cold viruses directly into the noses of all
the volunteers. The volunteers in both group A and group B continued to take their daily
pills. All the volunteers got colds, and there was no significant difference in the length
of time the colds lasted.
Which was the experimental group?
A) group A only
B) group B only
C) all 3,000 volunteers
D) the researchers that inserted the cold virus
Which of the following types of reproductive barriers separates a pair of moth species
that could interbreed but for the fact that the females’ mating pheromones are not
attractive to the males of the other species?
A) temporal isolation
B) behavioral isolation
C) mechanical isolation
D) gametic isolation
The results suggest that the smallest flow volume would be found in the ________ of
the human body.
A) arteries
B) veins
C) capillaries
D) arterioles
The gap between the transmitting and receiving neurons in a chemical synapse is
known as the
A) synaptic vesicle.
B) ion channel.
C) gap junction.
D) synaptic cleft.
A homeotic gene
A) determines which end of the egg will become the head and which end will become
the tail.
B) serves as a master control gene that functions during embryonic development by
controlling the developmental fate of groups of cells.
C) represses gene transcription and promotes mRNA translation.
D) is found only in adult somatic cells.
One of the finest available sequences of fossils shows how horses have changed slowly
and by subtle steps from small shrub-browsing ancestors to the large, grass-grazing
modern horse. A large number of fossil species have been named, and it is often
difficult to decide on the identity of a fossil horse because transitional forms are
common. This record of evolution best fits the idea of
A) the gradual model of speciation.
B) punctuated equilibrium.
C) adaptive radiation.
D) hybrid breakdown.
Which of the following statements regarding metabolism is false?
A) The basal metabolic rate is the amount of energy an animal needs just to stay alive;
it does not include the energy needed for activities.
B) Cells usually use carbohydrates and fats as fuel sources.
C) Humans store some extra energy in the form of glycogen reserves in the pancreas
and spleen.
D) The average basal metabolic rate is 1300-1500 kcal per day for females and
1600-1800 kcal per day for males.
Which of the following phyla is most closely related to echinoderms?
A) Annelida
B) Mollusca
C) Arthropoda
D) Chordata
A eukaryotic cell has a nuclear envelope that allows tRNA molecules, but not mRNA
molecules, to leave the nucleus. Which of the following processes will not be able to
take place in this cell?
A) DNA replication
B) tRNAs binding to codons
C) RNA being made from DNA
D) tRNAs binding to amino acids
Territories are typically used for activities such as
A) feeding, mating, and rearing young.
B) migration and feeding.
C) identification of kin and rearing young.
D) feeding and identification of kin.
According to this figure, which two groups are most closely related?
A) tarsiers and gibbons
B) gorillas and orangutans
C) chimpanzees and gibbons
D) Old World monkeys and humans
During which phase of mitosis does the nuclear envelope re-form?
A) anaphase
B) metaphase
C) prophase
D) telophase
The maximum amount of air that a human can inhale and exhale is called the
A) tidal volume.
B) vital capacity.
C) residual volume.
D) inhalation capacity.
Meconium is the clinical term used for the earliest stool (fecal matter) of a newborn
human infant, which is usually very sticky (like tar), almost completely odorless, and
dark olive green in color. Meconium takes this form due to materials that the fetus
orally ingests while in the uterus. Which of the following materials would the fetus
likely ingest during development?
A) amniotic fluid
B) placental blood
C) digestive products from the mother
D) blood from the mother
Thylakoids are arranged in stacks called
A) cristae.
B) stomata.
C) grana.
D) vacuoles.
Mechanoreceptors (touch) are not evenly spaced on your body. What part of the body
might be expected to have mechanoreceptors located farther apart?
A) lip
B) fingertip
C) underside of wrist
D) stomach
In terms of gene regulation, what do eukaryotes and prokaryotes have in common?
A) operons such as the lac operon and the trp operon
B) elaborate packing of DNA into chromosomes
C) activator proteins that bind to DNA
D) promoters that bind RNA polymerases
Epithelial cells lining the intestine have surface projections that increase the rate of
nutrient absorption. These projections are called
A) villi.
B) cilia.
C) microvilli.
D) parietal cells.
Plant cells are protected from the harmful effects of excessive light energy and reactive
oxidative molecules by
A) mitochondria.
B) chlorophyll.
C) carotenoids.
D) ATP.
According to this graph of population growth in Mexico, in what year was the rate of
population increase in Mexico the greatest?
A) 1912
B) 1930
C) 1965
D) 2000
You conduct a study with mice to determine whether giving them air with a higher than
normal oxygen level results in their having a higher than normal oxygen content in their
blood. What vessel should you draw blood from if you want to measure the highest
potential level of oxygen content in the blood?
A) superior vena cava
B) pulmonary vein
C) pulmonary artery
D) aorta
DNA replication
A) occurs through the addition of nucleotides to the end of the parental DNA molecule.
B) results in the formation of four new DNA strands.
C) uses each strand of a DNA molecule as a template for the creation of a new strand.
D) begins when two DNA molecules join together to exchange segments.
Plasmodial slime molds
A) are photoautotrophic.
B) are marine decomposers.
C) contain many nuclei in one mass of cytoplasm.
D) are primitive fungi.
What stimulates germination of desert plant seeds after a hard rain?
A) production of auxins
B) removal of abscisic acid
C) cooler temperatures
D) activation of cytokinins
Which of the following agents can cause an infection that can ultimately develop into
pelvic inflammatory disease in women?
A) herpes simplex virus type 2
B) papilloma virus
C) Candida albicans
D) Chlamydia trachomatis