Question 1

Which is required for natural selection to occur?

Accepted Answer

A)  Organisms in a population must have the same traits. 
B)  A trait must be heritable so that it is capable of being passed on to future generations. 
C)  A trait must decrease survival. 
D)  A trait must decrease reproductive success. 
E)  A trait must be capable of change within a single individual.

Question 2

Prior to the industrial revolution in the mid-1800s, a species of moth had light-colored wings speckled with small black spots.This coloration camouflaged the moths resting on the birch trees growing in their native habitat, since birch bark has similar coloring.In the early 1900s, this changed as dark soot produced by industrial pollution coated birch trees such that the trees lost their speckled coloring.Years later, it was observed that the moths of this species had changed from being light and speckled to being solid black.Which is the most plausible reason for this change?

Accepted Answer

A)  The moths changed their coloration to match their habitat as a response to increases in birds that preyed on the moths. 
B)  Black moths migrated into the habitat while speckled moths migrated out to decrease their chances of becoming prey for birds. 
C)  Birds evolved to become better predators of the speckled moths since there were more of them available as a food source. 
D)  Both birds and moths evolved to become better able to survive since evolution always causes change in the direction of improving any species. 
E)  Speckled moths declined and darker variants rose in numbers, as birds could more easily prey on speckled moths and less easily prey on black moths.

Question 3

Which represents the correct order of the levels of complexity at which life is studied, from most inclusive to least inclusive?

Accepted Answer

A)  Cell, tissue, organ, organism, population, community 
B)  Community, population, organ, organism, tissue, cell 
C)  Community, population, organism, organ, tissue, cell 
D)  Community, organism, population, organ, tissue, cell 
E)  Community, organism, population, cell, organ, tissue

Question 4

Which claim has a scientific basis and why?

Accepted Answer

A)  Animals can understand the meanings of words, because it has been shown that they respond to specific oral commands. 
B)  Psychological factors improve some health conditions, because people taking pills containing no medication have shown health improvements. 
C)  A huge aquatic creature inhabits the extremely deep lake in Loch Ness, Scotland, because parts of it have been observed by many people over many decades. 
D)  Life must exist on other planets, because there are so many other planets that it would be impossible for all of them to be devoid of life. 
E)  Extrasensory perception has been claimed to be a real phenomenon, because so many people have experiences that have no other explanation.

Question 5

Some plants have a vascular system composed of a type of tissue called vascular tissue.Plant vascular tissue functions to carry water, minerals, and nutrients to cells throughout the plant.In an analogous way, some animals have a vascular system, which is composed of several types of tissues that function collectively to move water, minerals, and nutrients to cells throughout the animal's body.Which statement makes an accurate comparison of plant and animal vascular systems?

Accepted Answer

A)  Because both systems have the same basic function, they are composed of cells that are structurally similar. 
B)  Both plant and animal vascular systems evolved from a common origin, because they share the same biological function. 
C)  Animals are more complex than plants, implying that the vascular systems in animals are more complex than the vascular systems in plants. 
D)  The vascular systems in plants are not true vascular systems like those in animals, because plants do not have hearts. 
E)  Both systems evolved as the result of cell differentiation that took different paths in plants and animals but resulted in similar functions.

Question 6

Which correctly lists the order of important first events in the history of life?

Accepted Answer

A)  First archaea, chemical evolution, first chloroplasts, first nucleus, first cyanobacteria 
B)  Chemical evolution, first archaea, first cyanobacteria, first nucleus, first chloroplasts 
C)  Chemical evolution, first cyanobacteria, first archaea, first chloroplasts, first nucleus 
D)  First cyanobacteria, first nucleus, first archaea, first chloroplasts, chemical evolution 
E)  First cyanobacteria, chemical evolution, first archaea, first nucleus, first chloroplasts

Question 7

Which is not a step in the scientific method?

Accepted Answer

A)  Observing 
B)  Recording quantitative data 
C)  Discarding data that disprove a hypothesis 
D)  Formulating a hypothesis 
E)  Asking questions

Question 8

The accumulation of _______ allowed organisms to grow larger.

Accepted Answer

A)  O2 in the atmosphere 
B)  CO2 in the atmosphere 
C)  CO2 in the water 
D)  O3 in the atmosphere 
E)  O3 in the water

Question 9

Discuss how the process of scientific inquiry is different from other forms of inquiry.Include in your discussion a description of the hypothesis-and-prediction approach.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Discuss how the process of scientific inquiry...

Question 10

Suppose that you are working in a research lab investigating the nature of multicellularity.Which evidence could you gather from two different types of cells obtained from an adult multicellular animal to show that they are specialized?

Accepted Answer

A)  Presence of cell machinery needed to synthesize proteins 
B)  Ability to take in nutrients 
C)  Differences in genes being expressed 
D)  Changes to the total amount of DNA present 
E)  Responses of cells to waste buildup

Question 11

The organisms that produced oxygen gas in Earth's atmosphere paved the way for the type of metabolism used by larger organisms, called _______ metabolism.

Accepted Answer

A)  anaerobic 
B)  photosynthetic 
C)  aerobic 
D)  homeostatic 
E)  heterotrophic

Question 12

An organism

Accepted Answer

A)  always contains more than one cell. 
B)  can evolve. 
C)  cannot do biological work. 
D)  can be generated from nonliving materials. 
E)  must reproduce to ensure survival of its kind.

Question 13

Much of what we know about the biochemistry of photosynthesis was discovered in experiments with

Accepted Answer

A)  fruit flies. 
B)  zebrafish. 
C)  roundworms. 
D)  Arabidopsis. 
E)  Chlorella.

Question 14

The study of biology can be organized from the most basic unit, the molecule, up to the biosphere.Describe how each level is connected with the level below it.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The study of biology can be organized...

Question 15

Which is the oldest example of a human application of biological principles?

Accepted Answer

A)  Vaccinations 
B)  Stem cell therapies 
C)  Molecular genetic technologies 
D)  Plant breeding techniques 
E)  Antibiotic production

Question 16

Suppose that multicellular life had never evolved on Earth.Which characteristic would be absent in the life forms observed today in that case?

Accepted Answer

A)  The ability to carry out photosynthesis 
B)  The ability to move about 
C)  The ability to prey on other organisms 
D)  The ability to digest food molecules 
E)  Nervous systems

Question 17

The exposure of DNA to excessive levels of ultraviolet radiation produces dimers of thymine (a nucleotide); if unrepaired, these can lead to production of skin cancer.This mutation would

Accepted Answer

A)  have no effect on genes. 
B)  have no effect on proteins. 
C)  affect both genes and proteins. 
D)  affect only proteins. 
E)  affect only genes.

Question 18

The change in genetic makeup of biological populations through time is called _______.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The change in genetic makeup of biological...

Question 19

Which scientific name is written incorrectly?

Accepted Answer

A)  Homo sapiens 
B)  Branta Canadensis 
C)  Acer saccharum 
D)  H. neanderthalensis 
E)  Canis lupus

Question 20

Single-celled organisms that lack discrete intracellular compartments belong to the groups Archaea and _______.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Single-celled organisms that lack discrete intracellular compartments...

Exam 1: Studying Life