Which of the following molecules are not required to express a gene in eukaryotic
cells?
A) RNA polymerase
B) DNA-bending protein
C) activator protein
D) repressor protein
Intestinal gas is evidence of active ________ in one’s digestive tract.
A) thermophiles
B) methanogens
C) yeast cultures
D) halophiles
Another term for gestation is
A) conception.
B) fertilization.
C) development.
D) pregnancy.
Which layer of the skin contains connective tissue?
A) epidermis
B) dermis
C) hypodermis
D) Skin does not contain connective tissue.
Which of the following processes dominates the third trimester of human development?
A) formation of external features such as arms and legs
B) formation of hair and fingernails
C) rapid growth
D) organ formation
Genes located close together on the same chromosomes are referred to as ________
genes and generally ________.
A) linked; sort independently during meiosis
B) homologous; are inherited together
C) linked; do not sort independently during meiosis
D) codependent; do not sort independently during meiosis
Rice is a staple crop across Asia; it serves as a main nutritional source for Asia’s high
population. In the 1970s, a pathogen called the grassy-stunt virus greatly decreased
cultivated rice plant populations. Scientists found one wild relative of the rice plant in
India that was resistant to the grassy-stunt virus, and today hybrid rice plants with that
resistant gene are grown across Asia. To find this one rice plant species, approximately
17,000 rice plants samples were tested over the course of four years.
If you were a scientist working on this project, how would you argue that the results of
the research would be worth the time investment?
A) Finding the wild relative with disease resistance would help avoid extirpation of
fungus that has a mutualistic relationship with the cultivated rice plants.
B) Finding the wild relative with disease resistance would protect the continent of Asia
as a biodiversity hot spot.
C) Finding the wild relative with disease resistance would allow Asian farmers to
continue to grow the crop they know.
D) Finding the wild relative with disease resistance would help deter invasive species of
rice plants.
In Clackamas, Oregon, a stand of hybrid poplar trees was planted on an area of land
that is contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Why would someone
purposely plant trees in an area with contaminated soil?
A) to use the trees as a means of phytoremediation
B) to use the trees as a means of eliminating insect species that consume nearby
endemic plants
C) to use the trees for lumber for houses
D) to see if animals will make nests in trees that grow in contaminated soil.
Most trees and shrubs continue to grow year after year. Such plants are known as
A) biennials.
B) perennials.
C) annuals.
D) superannuals.
When snapping shrimp are building their homes in the seafloor, goby fish keep guard
and flap their tails when danger is approaching. As part of this relationship, the shrimp
allow the gobies to sleep in the burrow and use it for cover from predators. This is an
example of
A) symbiosis.
B) biofilms.
C) bioremediation.
D) endosymbiosis.
A monohybrid cross is
A) the second generation of a self-fertilized plant.
B) a breeding experiment in which the parental varieties have only one trait in common.
C) a breeding experiment in which the parental varieties differ in only one character.
D) a breeding experiment in which the parental varieties have only one prominent trait.
Which of the following would be correctly classified as a protein?
A) cholesterol
B) starch
C) an enzyme
D) cellulose
The connection between structure and ________ is a basic concept of biology.
A) species
B) adaptation
C) function
D) sex
When building a nest, a female Fisher’s lovebird cuts long strips of vegetation and
carries them to the nest site one at a time in her beak. The female peach-faced lovebird
cuts short strips and carries them to the nest tucked under her back feathers. Hybrid
female offspring cut intermediate-sized strips and attempt to tuck them under back
feathers before carrying them in their beak. What does this demonstrate about behavior?
A) Behavior can be learned from parents.
B) There is a genetic basis to behavior.
C) Environment is important in forming behaviors.
D) Lovebirds can be trained easily.
Which of the following statements regarding the function of mitosis is false?
A) Mitosis allows organisms to grow.
B) Mitosis allows organisms to generate genetic diversity.
C) Mitosis allows organisms to reproduce asexually.
D) Mitosis allows organisms to repair tissues.
Tapeworms are similar to fungi in that
A) they have cell walls made of chitin.
B) they are sessile autotrophs.
C) they feed by absorption.
D) they inhabit marine, damp terrestrial, and freshwater habitats.
What feature of fats makes them hydrophobic?
A) Fats have carboxyl groups.
B) Fats include one glycerol molecule.
C) Fats have polar fatty acids.
D) Fats have nonpolar hydrocarbon chains.
Which of the following helps activate our nonspecific (innate) defense system?
A) active immunity
B) inflammation
C) passive immunity
D) mobilization of erythrocytes
According to this figure, how do hydrogen ions make their way from the stroma to the
thylakoid interior?
A) through photosystem I
B) through an electron transport chain molecule
C) through the ATP synthase
D) directly through the phospholipids of the thylakoid membrane
The flexible, longitudinal rod that is located between the digestive tract and the nerve
cord in chordates is called the
A) spinal cord.
B) notochord.
C) dorsal, hollow nerve cord.
D) spine.
Feathers are an example of a/an ________; they originally evolved ________.
A) homology; for flight
B) adaptation; for some other function and only later became adapted for flight
C) exaptation; in anticipation of future use in the development of flight
D) exaptation; for some other function and only later became adapted for flight
Over the next several decades, world population growth will necessitate as much as a
60% increase in food production, primarily in developing countries. These countries are
often the most seriously affected by drought and salinity. Even if irrigation water is
available, flooding fields with irrigation water leads to the gradual accumulation of
sodium ions and other salts in the soil.
To respond to this growing problem, scientists at the University of Connecticut have
genetically engineered a plant that can survive in salty soil and withstand extended
drought conditions. The new transgenic plant contains a gene for an ion pump. Salt ions
are transported from the soil and stored in vacuoles in the cytoplasm. The enhanced
uptake of ions into their vacuoles in turn improves water retention in the transgenic
plants and their resistance to drought. The concentration of solutes inside and outside
plant cells affects the direction of water movement through osmosis.
The researchers found that the salt concentration in the cells of the new transgenic
plants was significantly higher than in wild plants used as a control. In addition, the
transgenic plants survived longer when deprived of water.
Planting these transgenic crops periodically would be beneficial to the environment
because
A) the plants would help clean accumulated salts deposited in the soil by irrigation.
B) the transgenic plants would fix nitrogen and improve soil fertility.
C) the plants would remove carbon dioxide and decrease global warming.
D) the plants would resist diseases and decrease herbicide use.
If placed in tap water, an animal cell will undergo lysis, whereas a plant cell will not.
What accounts for this difference?
A) the expulsion of water by the plant cell’s central vacuole
B) the relative impermeability of the plant cell wall to water
C) the fact that plant cells are isotonic to tap water
D) the relative inelasticity and strength of the plant cell wall
Which species of wheat shown is polyploid?
A) T. monococcum
B) the AB sterile hybrid
C) T. turgidum
D) T. tauschii
Two species that sometimes mate and produce vigorous but sterile offspring are
affected by
A) gametic isolation.
B) reduced hybrid fertility.
C) reduced hybrid viability.
D) hybrid breakdown.
One of the strongest lines of evidence of a meteor or comet impact in the late
Cretaceous is
A) the extinction of the dinosaurs.
B) a thin layer of potassium-40 in late Cretaceous fossil strata.
C) a thin layer of iridium-enriched clay in late Cretaceous fossil strata.
D) the warming of Earth’s climate in the late Cretaceous.
Your first big biology exam is coming up in a few days, and in order to prepare for
late-night study sessions, you buy a box of Yummies, a delicious type of snack cake.
After checking out the nutrition facts label on the side of the box, you discover that a
single Yummie cake contains 4.5 grams of total fat, 27 grams of carbohydrate, 0 grams
of fiber, and 1 gram of protein.
After eating a Yummie cake, what molecule do you expect to be most abundant in your
digestive system?
A) amino acids
B) monosaccharides
C) cellulose
D) triglycerides
At which gestational age does a developing human fetus first look obviously human and
not like other vertebrate embryos?
A) 2 weeks
B) 4 weeks
C) 9 weeks
D) 4 months
To be scientifically valid, a hypothesis must be
A) part of a theory.
B) controlled.
C) reasonable.
D) testable and falsifiable.
Which of the following statements about the focusing of light by the eyes is true?
A) Squids and many fishes change the shape of the lens to focus light.
B) Mammals focus light when a rigid lens is moved back and forth.
C) Mammals use muscles and ligaments to change the shape of the lens to focus light.
D) Mammalian lenses thicken when focused on distant objects.
Heating inactivates enzymes by
A) breaking the covalent bonds that hold the molecule together.
B) removing phosphate groups from the enzyme.
C) causing enzyme molecules to stick together.
D) changing the enzyme’s three-dimensional shape.
Which of the following events occurs first during embryonic development?
A) gastrulation
B) neurulation
C) cleavage
D) organ formation
Amino acids can be distinguished from one another by
A) the number of R groups found on the amino acid molecules.
B) the chemical properties of their R groups.
C) the type of bond between the R group and the rest of the amino acid molecule.
D) the chemical properties of their amino and carboxyl groups.
At the end of the citric acid cycle, most of the energy remaining from the original
glucose is stored in
A) CO2.
B) pyruvate.
C) ATP.
D) NADH.