A cell that neither gains nor loses a net amount of water at equilibrium when it is
immersed in a solution is ________.
A) isotonic to its environment
B) hypertonic to its environment
C) hypotonic to its environment
D) metabolically inactive
Mutualistic associations of plant roots and fungi are called ________.
A) mycorrhizae
B) mycelia
C) shoots
D) hyphae
Enzymes are ________.
A) amino acids
B) monosaccharides
C) phospholipids
D) proteins
Aerobic cellular respiration generates about ________ ATP from one glucose.
A) 2
B) 6
C) 38
D) The number generated depends on whether the end product of aerobic respiration is
lactic acid or ethyl alcohol.
Oleic acid is a fatty acid that occurs naturally in many animal and vegetable fats and
oils. What can you tell about oleic acid just by looking at its structure?
A) Oleic acid is an unsaturated fatty acid.
B) Oleic acid is a saturated fatty acid.
C) Oleic acid is a trans fatty acid.
D) Oleic acid is a hydrophilic fatty acid.
The segmented body of the worm below suggests that it is a(n) ________.
A) annelid
B) arthropod
C) snake
D) roundworm
Which of the following explains how phloem sap moves within a plant?
A) cohesion-tension mechanism
B) gravity pulls the phloem sap down
C) pressure-flow mechanism
D) transpiration
If one strand of a DNA double helix has the sequence AGTACTG, what will be the
sequence of the other strand?
A) GACGTCA
B) AGTACTG
C) GTCATGA
D) TCATGAC
Which one of the following statements is TRUE?
A) Natural family planning is one of the most reliable forms of birth control.
B) Morning-after pills are about 25% effective at preventing pregnancy.
C) Tubal ligation prevents ovulation.
D) A vasectomy involves removing a section of each vas deferens.
Which of the following are homologous?
A) the forelimb of a dog and the hindlimb of a cat
B) the forelimb of a dog and the forelimb of a cat
C) wings of a butterfly and wings of a sparrow
D) the mouth of a mosquito and the beak of a hummingbird
Of these steps, which occurs first in the production of a recombinant plasmid?
A) cloning
B) cutting DNA into fragments
C) isolation of a plasmid from a bacterium
D) reproduction of the engineered plasmid in bacteria
What name is given to the collection of traits exhibited by an organism?
A) genome
B) genotype
C) phenotype
D) genetic code
Which of the following hormones promotes seed germination?
A) auxin
B) ethylene
C) gibberellin
D) abscisic acid
Which of the following will help prevent cancer and increase survival?
A) Eat a low-fiber, low-fat diet.
B) Limit exercise.
C) Seek early detection of tumors.
D) Smoke only cigarettes.
Which of these convert organic matter to inorganic matter by breaking down dead
organisms?
A) producers
B) detritivores
C) decomposers
D) primary consumers
The figure below shows population cycles of snowshoe hare and lynx. Recent field
studies suggest that the most likely explanation for these cycles is ________.
A) periodic winter storms
B) excessive predation of snowshoe hares
C) nearly unlimited food for hares during the summers
D) boom-and-bust cycles in lemming populations
Most crop pests ________.
A) have an opportunistic life history
B) have an equilibrial life history
C) exhibit type I survivorship
D) consist of long-lived individuals
When two frog species, Rana pipiens and Rana sylvatica, mate, the offspring die early
in embryonic development. This is an example of ________.
A) hybrid sterility
B) mechanical isolation
C) reduced hybrid viability
D) reduced hybrid fertility
Table sugar is ________.
A) glucose, a monosaccharide
B) glucose, a disaccharide
C) sucrose, a monosaccharide
D) sucrose, a disaccharide
Which of these is an example of the action of an endocrine disruptor?
A) BPA in bottles affects particular glands.
B) Feedback from estrogen inhibits FSH.
C) Lack of iodine prevents synthesis of adequate thyroid hormone.
D) Lowered levels of calcitonin causes increased bone density.
As an experiment, you infect bacteria with an unknown virus to see how the
bacteriophage affects the bacteria. After a few days, you notice that the bacterial
population is growing normally and that the cells appear healthy. Assuming that the
infection occurred, what can you conclude from your observations?
A) The virus is a bacteriophage that is reproducing the lytic cycle.
B) The virus is a retrovirus that is reproducing the lytic cycle.
C) The virus is a bacteriophage that is reproducing the lysogenic cycle.
D) The virus is a retrovirus that is reproducing the lysogenic cycle.
The scientific field that studies complete sets of genes is called ________.
A) genomics
B) metagenomics
C) proteomics
D) genetic engineering
Which one of the following is a result of programmed cell death?
A) formation of fingers in humans
B) gastrulation
C) formation of the notochord
D) formation of the brain
The graph below shows data regarding radioactive decay of carbon-14. If decay
continues to occur normally, how much C-14 will remain after 22,800 years?
A) 25%
B) 12.5%
C) 6.25%
D) 3.125%
Suppose that you encounter an antigen for the first time. What types of cells stored in
your lymph nodes can be activated in case you encounter the antigen again?
A) memory cells
B) effector cells
C) phagocytic cells
D) helper T cells
Which risk factor is associated with cancer of the colon and rectum?
A) tobacco
B) viruses
C) UV radiation
D) dietary fat
Which of the following is a plausible reason for why it may be difficult to treat
infections that arise from tooth decay?
A) Biofilm bacteria that cause tooth decay begin to produce endospores as a means to
deter effects of antibiotics.
B) Binary fission in biofilm bacteria that cause tooth decay begins to decrease as the
biofilm community becomes more complex, thereby producing fewer bacterial cells for
antibiotics to penetrate.
C) As the biofilm that causes tooth decay becomes larger, its structure makes it difficult
for antibiotics to break through bacterial cell walls.
D) Bacteria of the biofilm that cause tooth decay form a symbiotic relationship with the
antibiotics and therefore diminish antibiotic effectiveness.
A hypothesis is a(n) ________.
A) tentative answer to a question
B) guess
C) observation
D) theory
Which theory states that all living things are composed of cells?
A) cell theory
B) Hooke’s rule
C) evolutionary theory
D) Mendel’s law
Examine the FDA label for the loaf of Baker Organic Bread and answer the following
questions.
A person who is trying to lose weight eats four servings of bread. Which of the
following activities would burn more total Calories than is consumed in those four
servings?
A) an hour of leisurely biking (<10 mph), 292 Calories
B) an hour of canoeing, 256 Calories
C) an hour of resistance (weight) training, 365 Calories
D) an hour of hiking, 438 Calories
________ is the discipline of biology that focuses on classifying organisms and
determining their evolutionary relationships.
A) Taxonomy
B) Evo-devo
C) Systematics
D) Biogeography
Together with the small intestine, the ________ absorbs water.
A) stomach
B) colon
C) rectum
D) appendix
Chromosomes that do NOT determine the sex of an individual are called ________.
A) homologous chromosomes
B) nonhomologous chromosomes
C) sex chromosomes
D) autosomes
A scientist finds seeds of an unknown plant on top of the soil in a desert. She measures
the concentration of two hormones in these seeds. After it rains, she collects more of
these seeds, and finds that the concentration of the two hormones has changed. A graph
of her results is shown above. If the scientist returns to the desert to collect more seeds,
a few days later, what should she observe?
A) The seeds that are still in the desert will be dormant.
B) The seeds that are still in the desert will be germinating.
C) The seeds that are still in the desert will be dead.
D) The seeds that are still in the desert will have increased levels of hormones 1 and 2.
Under what abiotic conditions can monomers spontaneously form polymers?
A) in the presence of oxygen gas
B) when ribozymes are present to catalyze the reaction
C) when a collection of organic molecules with a cell membrane are isolated
D) when water evaporates from a hot surface