D) cell biology
E) biochemistry
Answer: B
15) Which of the following is an example of natural selection?
A) depending on the food a turtle eats, it shell may grow faster or slower
B) human beings develop freckles from being out in the sun
C) sometime during human's life they break a bone and it heals
D) a bird's beak is able to effectively crack the seeds it encounters
E) bacteria can be effectively killed by treatment with bleach
Answer: D
16) What term is used to describe the fact that different genes in an organism often provide differences in
observable features?
A) alleles
B) natural selection
C) phenotype
D) inheritance
E) genotype
Answer: C
17) Which of the following is an example of heredity?
A) Flying squirrels have a different mechanism of flight than mosquitos.
B) Flies and molluscs both have eyes.
C) Both moths and birds have wings and can fly.
D) Doberman pinschers and boxers have similar body shapes.
E) Dalmation dogs all have spots.
Answer: E
3
18) Which of the following is NOT an example of variation?
A) both monocotyledons and dicotyledons perform the dark reaction
B) giraffes have not been seen in an albino form
C) a child does not have her mother's hair color
D) cats can have long or short fur
E) lobsters can come in many colors including blue, read, and brown
Answer: A
19) What would happen if, during meiosis, the chromosome number was not halved before egg and sperm
formation?
A) each offspring would have different phenotypes than their parents
B) nothing
C) in each successive generation, the offspring would double their chromosome number
D) the spindle would be compromised
E) n would become halved
Answer: C
20) Alternative forms of a gene are called ________.
A) phenotypes
B) mutants
C) meiotic products
D) alleles
E) genotypes
Answer: D
21) The various characteristics of organisms that result from their genetic makeup are collectively referred to as an
organism's ________.
A) phenotype B) alleles C) proteome D) genome E) genotype
Answer: A
22) Name the substance that serves as the hereditary material in eukaryotes and prokaryotes.
A) lipid
B) DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid
C) protein
D) carbohydrate
E) RNA or ribonucleic acid
Answer: B
23) Which of the following contains all the others?
A) DNA strand
B) hydrogen bond
C) sugar
D) double helix
E) nucleotide
Answer: D
4
24) A fundamental property of DNA's nitrogenous bases that is necessary for the double- stranded nature of its
structure is ________.
A) deoxyribose versus ribose
B) anti- parallel
C) ring structure
D) complementarity
E) sugar phosphate backbone
Answer: D
25) Which of the following is the function of DNA?
A) DNA serves to hold the information for protein, lipid, and carbohydrate storage.
B) DNA is used structurally to hold the nucleus together.
C) DNA is responsible for the storage and replication of genetic information.
D) DNA is involved in the expression of stored genetic information.
E) DNA is required when cells are using their ribosomes to translate a protein.
Answer: C
26) Which of the following molecules serves the function to express the genetic material by being translated to
protein?
A) lipid
B) cholesterol
C) DNA
D) RNA
E) carbohydrate
Answer: D
27) Name the bases in DNA and their pairing specificities.
A) adenine:guanine, thymine:cytosine
B) adenine:guanine, guanine:uracil
C) adenine:cytosine, guanine:uracil
D) adenine:thymine, guanine:cytosine
E) adenine:uracil, guanine:cytosine
Answer: D
28) The ________ consists of a linear series of three adjacent nucleotides present in mRNA molecules.
A) genetic code
B) law of segregation
C) Watson—Crick base pairing
D) messenger RNA
E) chromosomal theory of inheritance
Answer: A
29) Which of the following processes describes the formation of a complementary RNA molecule?
A) mutation B) transcription C) translation D) replication E) mosaicism
Answer: B
5
30) If a scientist changed a cell's ionic composition and complementarity between DNA strands could no longer
occur, what would the scientist first detect?
A) DNA strands become shorter
B) cell membranes would become less permeable
C) ribosomes would move into the nucleus
D) DNA becomes single stranded
E) RNA would start binding to DNA
Answer: D
31) Reference is often made to adapter molecules when describing protein synthesis in that they allow amino acids to
associate with nucleic acids. To what class of molecules does this term refer?