The dialyzing solution used during kidney dialysis functions much like a fluid
associated with a nephron. What is the fluid?
A) interstitial fluid
B) the filtrate in the proximal tubule
C) the filtrate in the loop of Henle
D) the filtrate in the distal tubule
The endosymbiosis hypothesis proposes that
A) two separate cells worked cooperatively and one benefited from the other.
B) a small cell lived inside a larger cell to the benefit of both cells.
C) a large cell engulfed and digested a smaller cell, exposing its enzymes for use by the
larger cell.
D) two cells merged into one cell, improving the enzyme function of the new cell.
Which of the following statements regarding the chemical grooming of pyruvate is
false?
A) Two molecules of pyruvate are each converted into two-carbon molecules joined to
a coenzyme A molecule.
B) Each pyruvate loses a carbon atom, which is released as CO2.
C) Two pyruvate molecules together contain less chemical energy than was found in the
original glucose molecule.
D) Each pyruvate molecule has a CO2 added and then joins with an NADH.
Some of the unique adaptations of angiosperms include their beneficial relationships
with ________ and their relatively ________.
A) animals; well-developed vascular system
B) animals; rapid fertilization and seed production
C) animals; large sporophyte
D) fungi; well-developed vascular system
Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease that is characterized by the buildup of glucose
in the blood, or hyperglycemia. Diabetes results either from the pancreas not being able
to produce the hormone insulin (type 1 diabetes) or if the body’s cells become resistant
to insulin (type 2 diabetes). Insulin is a protein that binds to receptors on cell surfaces to
allow glucose to enter the cell.
In order to manage the disease, type 1 diabetics require frequent insulin injections. Until
the 1970s, insulin was obtained from processing the pancreases of large mammals such
as cows and pigs; it was then purified for medicinal use. This all changed in the 1970s
with the advent of recombinant DNA technology, which allows scientists to insert genes
from other species into bacterial plasmids and have bacteria produce proteins from
these other species’ genes. In 1978, the gene that codes for human insulin was added to
a bacterial plasmid and bacteria were used to produce human insulin. These bacteria
acted as mini-factories that produced human insulin for type 1 diabetes patients. Today,
the production of human insulin from bacteria is commonplace and is a multibillion
dollar market for pharmaceutical companies.
Suppose that the human insulin protein that was produced by the bacteria was much
shorter than it should be. Upon further investigation, it was found that the DNA of the
human insulin gene had a mutation while in the bacterial cells. What type of mutation
could not result in these observations?
A) nucleotide insertion
B) silent mutation
C) nucleotide deletion
D) nonsense mutation
The individual features of all organisms are the result of
A) genetics.
B) the environment.
C) the environment and individual needs.
D) genetics and the environment.
Who developed a theory of evolution almost identical to Darwin’s?
A) Lyell
B) Wallace
C) Aristotle
D) Lamarck
What is the transcription product of the sequence GCTAGCGATGAC?
A) CGTUCGCUTCUG
B) CGAUCGCUACUG
C) CAGTAGCGATCG
D) CGUTCGCUTCUG
Crop plants can have higher densities of stomata on the underside of their leaves than
on the surfaces of their leaves. Some scientists hypothesize that that the evolution of
this adaptation enhanced the ability of these plants to regulate the rate of CO2 uptake
for each surface.
You designed and performed an experiment that measured CO2 gas exchange levels at
the upper side of a sunflower leaf (fewer stomata) and the bottom side of a sunflower
leaf (greater stomata). After collecting and analyzing your data, you conclude that there
was not a significant difference in CO2 gas exchange between the two sides of the leaf.
Which of the following possibly explains this finding?
A) The difference in the density of stomata on the two leaf surfaces is not likely due to
an adaptation related to gas exchange regulation.
B) The difference in the density of stomata on the two leaf surfaces is likely due to
specific mechanisms that sunflowers use to disperse their seeds.
C) The difference in the density of stomata on the two leaf surfaces is likely due to
mycorrhizal associations with other plants.
D) The difference in the density of stomata on the two leaf surfaces is likely due to
different pollination needs for each surface.
Materials such as food, minerals, and oxygen are passed to cells through
A) water.
B) interstitial fluid.
C) matrix fibers.
D) neurons.
The diameter of most animal and plant cells ranges from
A) 0.1 to 1.0 micrometers.
B) 1.0 to 10 micrometers.
C) 10 to 100 micrometers.
D) 100 to 1000 micrometers.
Which of the following statements regarding prenatal testing is false?
A) Results from chorionic villus sampling come faster than those from amniocentesis.
B) Chorionic villus sampling is typically performed later in the pregnancy than
amniocentesis.
C) Ultrasound imaging has no known risk.
D) Chorionic villus sampling and amniocentesis are usually reserved for pregnancies
with higher than usual risks of complications.
Which of the following terms represents the frequency of heterozygotes in a population
that is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?
A) p
B) q
C) 2pq
D) q2
While playing soccer in your backyard, you disrupt a small fire ant mound. The fire
ants emerge and bite your feet. Your feet begin to show swollen, raised areas around the
bites. What is happening?
A) Your innate internal defenses have been activated.
B) Your adaptive defenses have been activated.
C) Blood flow to the affected area decreases.
D) You are experiencing passive immunity.
When a nipple is placed in a newborn baby’s mouth, the infant will immediately begin
to suckle. This is an example of
A) imprinted behavior.
B) classical conditioning.
C) innate behavior.
D) imitation.
If all of Earth’s history were compressed into an hour, humans would first appear less
than
A) 1 second ago.
B) 10 seconds ago.
C) 1 minute ago.
D) 10 minutes ago.
Which of the following statements about the energy yield of aerobic respiration is false?
A) Less than 50% of the chemical energy available in glucose is converted to ATP
energy.
B) Most of the ATP derived during aerobic respiration results from oxidative
phosphorylation.
C) Oxidative phosphorylation resulting from 1 glucose molecule yields about 12 ATP
molecules.
D) The total yield of ATP molecules per glucose molecule is about 32.
Complement proteins can do all of the following except
A) enhance phagocytosis by innate immune cells by attaching to cell invaders.
B) help trigger the inflammatory response.
C) attack cancer and virus-infected cells after they are released by natural killer cells.
D) act as chemical signals to recruit more immune cells to the site of infection.
Water’s surface tension and heat storage capacity are accounted for by its
A) orbitals.
B) hydrogen bonds.
C) mass.
D) size.
Heterotrophic eukaryotes that digest their food externally and absorb the small
molecules are referred to as
A) bacteria.
B) fungi.
C) plants.
D) multicellular algae.
Which of the following statements about evolution is true?
A) Individuals evolve within the span of their own lifetimes.
B) Organisms evolve structures in response to needs.
C) Evolution is deliberate and purposeful.
D) Evolution can result in adaptations.
Which of the following statements about plant viruses is false?
A) Once in a plant, a virus can spread from cell to cell through plasmodesmata.
B) The genetic material in most plant viruses is RNA.
C) Preventing infections and breeding resistant plants can control viral infection in
plants.
D) There are many successful ways to rid infected plants of a virus.
The major cause of tropical deforestation is
A) hurricane destruction of large regions.
B) people clearing forests to open up land for agriculture.
C) governments clearing forests to build cities.
D) natural succession as global warming occurs.
Urine differs in composition from the fluid that first enters a nephron tubule by
filtration because
A) the filtrate contains less water.
B) the filtrate contains red blood cells.
C) the filtrate has more salts.
D) the filtrate does not contain urea.
You prepare a karyotype from a cell from an unknown organism. Upon analysis, you
find 22 pairs of chromosomes that are each of equal length, and also a single pair that
has one chromosome longer than the other. What can you conclude from this
information?
A) The organism that this cell came from is likely a female.
B) The organism that this cell came from is likely a male.
C) The organism that this cell came from has a genetic disease.
D) This cell is likely haploid.
Earth’s continents and seafloors together form a thin outer layer of the planet called the
A) crust.
B) strata.
C) biosphere.
D) Pangean supercontinent.
The ________ is a passageway shared by both food and air.
A) trachea
B) pharynx
C) larynx
D) nasal cavity
How do sugars move from one sieve-tube cell to the next?
A) by osmotic diffusion through the sieve plate
B) by flowing along with water through perforations in the sieve plate
C) by active transport across cell membranes at the sieve plate
D) by diffusion through a companion cell that spans the sieve plate
Aspen trees are the most widely distributed tree in North America. A forest of many
aspen trees, some of which may be tens of thousands of years old, is actually one single
clone. Which of the following is likely to be the greatest threat to the long-term survival
of aspen forests?
A) insects, which may bore holes in the stems of trees
B) climate change, which alters aspen trees’ typical environment from the usual moist
and cool to dry and warm
C) a fungus that is often found associated with roots of some trees in the stand
D) lack of pollinators
Geologists have evidence that over the past 1.5 billion years,
A) Earth’s continents have remained essentially in their current shape and positions.
B) Earth’s landmasses have joined into a single continent and split back apart again on
three occasions.
C) Earth’s landmasses have moved about extensively but have remained separate.
D) Earth’s landmasses have been entirely submerged in water on three occasions.
How many generations does it take to develop a new plant species by polyploidy?
A) 1
B) 2
C) 10
D) about 20
Home pregnancy test kits can detect whether a woman is pregnant within one to three
weeks of her egg being fertilized. The test kits include a short strip of paper that extends
from a plastic case. After a woman urinates on the strip of paper and waits three to five
minutes, a symbol is displayed on a small window in the plastic case. Some tests show
a single line to indicate the woman is not pregnant (negative result) and two lines to
indicate she is pregnant (positive result). Others show a minus or plus sign (or some
other variation) to indicate negative and positive results.
The test reports a positive symbol if it detects the presence of HCG in the woman’s
urine. In order for HCG to be detected, it must be present in the urine at a concentration
of at least 10 to 100 units per milliliter. Even though home pregnancy tests are well
designed and have been tested extensively, false negative and false positive results do
occur. A false positive occurs when a test tells a woman that she is pregnant when she
really is not, and a false negative occurs when a test tells a woman that she is not
pregnant when she really is. Most home pregnancy test kit manufacturers claim that
their tests are over 99% accurate.
What would be the best experiment for a manufacturer to conduct in order to determine
the false negative rate of their test kits?
A) Have a group of women who are less than five weeks pregnant use the test and count
the number of false negative results.
B) Have a woman use the test before she is pregnant and again after she is pregnant and
determine whether the tests were positive or negative.
C) Have a group of women who are 32 weeks pregnant use the test and count the
number of false negative results.
D) Have a group of women who are not pregnant use the test and count the number of
false negative results.
As electrons move through the mitochondrial space,
A) NADH is reduced.
B) water is oxidized.
C) ATP synthase works by active transport.
D) the pH of the intermembrane space decreases.