Examine the figure below. If blood glucose levels decline, ________.
A) the pancreas releases more glucagon, which causes glucose to be released into the
blood
B) the pancreas releases more insulin, which causes glucose to be released into the
blood
C) body cells take up more glucose
D) liver cells convert glucose to glycogen
What kinds of cells engulf whatever foreign cells and molecules they encounter and
recognize?
A) natural killer cells
B) red blood cells
C) phagocytic cells
D) B cells
Of the following taxonomic levels, species found within the same ________ are the
most closely related.
A) family
B) phylum
C) order
D) domain
Examine the structure of blood vessels in the following figure. Which one of the
following has the structure best suited to chemical exchange between the blood and
tissues?
A) venule
B) capillary
C) arteriole
D) artery
Which of these human characteristics is hypothesized to have evolved first?
A) enlarged brain
B) erect posture
C) language
D) loss of body hair
To study the effect of ambient (environmental) temperature on the metabolic rate of
animals, a scientist takes a small animal and puts it in a sealed chamber with oxygen.
The scientist measures the amount of oxygen used by the animal at different
temperatures. The temperatures selected are those that the animal normally encounters
in nature. The data from this experiment are in the table below.
The thermoregulatory strategy of the animal studied by the scientist is most likely to be
________.
A) an ectotherm
B) an endotherm
C) one that cannot thermoregulate
D) one that primarily uses behavior to regulate temperature
Introns are ________.
A) noncoding DNA sequences
B) DNA sequences to which activators bind
C) expressed DNA sequences
D) the product of RNA splicing
Small areas that have a large number of endangered and threatened species are referred
to as ________.
A) biologically magnified
B) endemic environments
C) biodiverse environments
D) biodiversity hot spots
Which of these is a defining characteristic of animals that distinguishes them from other
eukaryotes?
A) Animals are multicellular.
B) Animals ingest food.
C) Animals are heterotrophs.
D) Animals use photosynthesis.
What happened when researchers added BPDE, a component of tobacco smoke, to
human lung cells in a laboratory experiment?
A) The cells behaved normally.
B) The cells shrank in size.
C) The cells developed mutations in their p53 genes.
D) The cells required less energy to grow.
Energy is transferred from ATP to other molecules by transferring a(n) ________.
A) adenosine
B) heat unit
C) ADP
D) phosphate group
Which of the following neurotransmitters is associated with sleep, mood, attention, and
learning?
A) acetylcholine
B) epinephrine
C) serotonin
D) endorphins
Read the following scenario to answer the following questions.
In late 2006, bee workers in the United States started to notice a disturbing
phenomenon: the sudden disappearance of honeybees from commercial hives. This
mysterious condition was called “colony collapse disorder,” and it has caused a drastic
reduction in commercial honeybee populations all over the country. It is estimated that
one-third of our food supply relies on bees and is in danger. Crops that rely most
heavily on honeybees include apples, almonds, blueberries, and pumpkins. If colony
collapse disorder cannot be cured or treated effectively, farmers may have to turn to
other insects, perhaps other bee species or even moths.
Which plant structure is adapted for attracting beneficial insects such as honeybees?
A) axillary bud
B) terminal bud
C) flower
D) petiole
Examine the photograph of the hand in the following figure. The person’s joints are
severely damaged because ________.
A) the immune system has damaged the cartilage and bone of the joints
B) a viral infection has attacked the cartilage of the fingers
C) cytotoxic T cells have destroyed the bone in the fingers
D) T cells have reacted against the myelin in the hand
Which of the following was supported by the terrible accident that happened to Phineas
Gage?
A) The cerebrum plays a major role in the sense of balance.
B) You cannot live without your hypothalamus.
C) The frontal lobes are associated with personality.
D) The pons plays a crucial role in hearing.
Plant cells ________.
A) do not need chloroplasts because their mitochondria meet their energy needs
B) have chloroplasts and mitochondria
C) use carbon dioxide but do not use oxygen
D) do not need mitochondria because their chloroplasts meet their energy needs
The hydrogen and oxygen atoms of a water molecule are held together by ________
bonds.
A) ionic
B) hydrogen
C) covalent
D) polar
The Endangered Species Act aims to help protect species that ________.
A) are in danger of extinction
B) dominate suitable habitats
C) compete with invasive species
D) are economically valuable
A plant grows taller through ________, which involves cell division in the ________.
A) primary growth… vascular cambium
B) secondary growth… vascular cambium
C) primary growth… apical meristem
D) secondary growth… cork cambium
If adenine makes up 20% of the bases in a DNA double helix, what percent of the bases
is guanine?
A) 60%
B) 40%
C) 20%
D) 30%
Which of the following best defines the term “transgenic organism”?
A) an organism that is the first of its kind to bear a particular allele
B) an organism in which a genetic defect has been corrected using recombinant DNA
therapy
C) an organism containing a gene from another species
D) an organism containing genes from three or more species
Unlike angiosperms, gymnosperms like pines have single instead of double
fertilization, but otherwise have an identical life cycle. What structure should have the
greatest difference between angiosperms and gymnosperms?
A) egg cell
B) seedling
C) seed
D) leaf cell
Read the following scenario to answer the following question(s).
Cellular respiration converts the energy of fuel molecules to a form of energy that a cell
can use to perform work. In an average day, most adult humans need to consume about
2,000 Calories to maintain their health. However, the exact amount of dietary Calories a
person needs depends upon many factors, including the person’s age, physical activity,
size, and health. Foods that we consume vary greatly in their nutritional content and
quality. A large hard-boiled egg, for example, has about 75 dietary Calories and
contains about 70% of our recommended daily intake of cholesterol.
If a person eats one hard-boiled egg and digests the egg fully, cellular respiration will
convert most of this energy into ________.
A) ATP
B) heat
C) carbon dioxide
D) sugars
What kind of connective tissue has a matrix that is strong and flexible?
A) bone
B) adipose tissue
C) loose connective tissue
D) cartilage
Please read the following paragraph and then answer the following questions.
Two researchers addressed the generally accepted idea that boxer shorts are better for
male fertility than briefs because they lower testicular temperature. They begin by
saying, “Although this idea is regarded as dogma by many in the lay community and the
changing of underwear type is a therapy frequently recommended by medical
practitioners, there is a paucity of data measuring scrotal temperature as a function of
underwear type. (“Munkelwitz, Robert, and Gilbert, Bruce R. “Are boxer shorts really
better? A critical analysis of the role of underwear type in male subfertility.” The
Journal of Urology, 160.4 (1998): 13291333.)
What hypothesis are these authors testing?
A) Boxer shorts allow the scrotal sac to be more exposed to outside temperature than
briefs do.
B) Boxer shorts fit more loosely than briefs.
C) Boxer shorts allow the scrotal sac to have a lower temperature than briefs do.
D) Men with impaired fertility are more likely to wear briefs than boxers.
Please read the following scenario to answer the following questions.
CO2 is not the only greenhouse gas that impacts global climate change. Other
greenhouse gases (GHGs) may be equally or more effective than CO2 at trapping heat
on Earth. Climate scientists determine how much a GHG may impact global warming
based on two factors: the efficiency with which a GHG absorbs energy (i.e. traps heat
on Earth) and the length of time (in years) that the gas remains in the atmosphere. A
unit of measurement called the Global Warming Potential (GWP) is used to describe
how much energy a GHG absorbs over a specific period of time (100 years is a standard
time frame). All GWP values of GHGs are compared to the GWP of CO2, which is
given a value of 1.
In this scenario, how would you best describe CO2?
A) It is a baseline comparison for the GWP values of all other GHGs.
B) It is a GHG whose GWP value is dependent upon the GWP values of all other
GHGs.
C) It is the GHG that is the most efficient at trapping heat on Earth.
D) It is the GHG that is the least efficient at trapping heat on Earth.
What is the name given to the reaction that breaks peptide bonds?
A) dehydration
B) hydrogenation
C) hydrolysis
D) glycolysis
It is best to receive an organ transplant from a donor who ________.
A) looks like you
B) rarely consumes alcohol
C) does not have any allergies
D) best matches your self proteins
A period of mass extinction is often followed by ________.
A) explosive diversification
B) paedomorphosis
C) global warming
D) continental drift
Which of these describes the type of reproduction that is most adaptive in a rapidly
changing environment with many different parasitic diseases present?
A) asexual reproduction because the currently successful genotypes can reproduce
quickly
B) asexual reproduction, because asexual reproduction uses less energy, which leaves
more for each individual to adapt to the changing environment
C) sexual reproduction because the diversity of genotypes increases the likelihood that
there is one which can survive in a new environment
D) sexual reproduction because this type of reproduction allows the production of a
greater number of offspring thus providing more individuals to take advantage of any
environmental challenges presented
Which of the following techniques is used to collect fetal cells during pregnancy for
genetic testing?
A) testcross
B) dihybrid cross
C) amniocentesis
D) pedigree analysis
Scientific research companies sell kits that allow researchers to produce proteins in test
tubes via a process known as “in vitro translation.” Which one of following components
is NOT needed in these kits?
A) amino acids
B) transfer RNA
C) DNA
D) ribosomes
Which of the following BEST describes the essential difference between plant and
animal nutrition?
A) Plants use inorganic substances and energy from the sun to produce their own food.
B) Plants use organic substances to produce their own food.
C) Plants absorb food through their roots.
D) Plant and animal nutrition are essentially the same.