BI 173 - First Exam - 2002

MULTIPLE CHOICE. 

Place the letter of the choice that best answers the question on the line to the left. Two Points Each.
NOTE: "e" answers are never the correct answer.

_______ 1. The concept ontology recapitulates phylogeny is based mostly on features of

                        a. Genes             b. Fossils             c. Embryos             d. Plants
                                            e. A language that I barely recognize

_______ 2. In the fluid mosaic model, the "fluid" part is

                        a. Osmosis             b. Water             c. Proteins             d. Phospholipids
                                                        e. The part that flu-ed

_______ 3. Which is most likely a product of artificial selection?

                        a. Tomato                 b. Beaver                 c. Galapagos tortoise
                        d. Reservoir                     e. Eeeny-meeny-miney-moe...

_______ 4. A cell with lots of microvilli is likely involved in

                        a. Absorption                 b. Movement                 c. Reproduction
                        d. Protein production             e. I thought that was some sort of pasta...

_______5. A codon is a

                        a. DNA allele for a particular protein
                        b. Single gene in a multiple gene system
                        c. Type of homologous chromosome
                        d. 3-base sequence in a gene
                        e. What you put when you go out

_______6. In biology, the advantage of electron microscopes over light microscopes is their

                        a. Lower cost                                         b. Greater ease of use
                        c. Better resolution                                 d. Greater penetrating power
                                        e. Wider range of decorator colors

_______7. Which is the best capsule definition of meiosis?

                        a. Monoploid/haploid cells from diploid cells             b. Nuclear duplication
                        c. Diploid cells from monoploid/haploid cells             d. Cell duplication
                            e. One of those things I always mean to get straight but seldom do

_______8. A solution with a pH of 4 is _______ as a solution with a pH of 5.

                        a. Ten times as basic                         b. Twice as basic
                        c. Ten times as acidic                        d. Twice as acidic
                                                e. Hardly as interesting

_______9. A cell that produces secretions should contain lots of

                        a. Golgi bodies and ribosomes
                        b. Vesicles and vacuoles
                        c. Golgi bodies and chromosomes
                        d. Mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum
                        e. Ummm...secrets?

_______10. When a spaniel is born, its long tail is clipped. This procedure has been going on for
                        generations and is still necessary. Whose ideas does this contradict?

                        a. Mendel             b. Darwin             c. Malthus             d. Lamarck
                                                    e. Did anyone ask the dogs?

_______11. Evolutionarily, probably the most important feature within any population is

                        a. Variation             b. Mutations            c. Cellular makeup 
                        d. Reproductive rate                    e. Whether anyone likes them or not

_______12. Scientific predictions can be tested through classic experiments or

                        a. Hypothetical constructs                             b. Organized observations
                        c. Reasonable conclusions                            d. Systematic logic
                                                e. Doing an E! Internet poll

_______13. For genetic drift to work, groups absolutely must be isolated

                        a. Functionally             b. Physically            c. Reproductively 
                        d. Geographically                                    e. On some sort of raft

_______14. The dominance of an allele is a product of

                        a. How likely it is to be passed on
                        b. The amount of protein made with it
                        c. The effect of the protein it codes for
                        d. All of the above
                        e. How much it wears studded leather

_______15. Protein functions are most directly a result of the molecules’

                        a. Sequence of amino acids
                        b. Three-dimensional shapes
                        c. Ability to dissolve
                        d. Interaction with genetic material
                        e. Childhood traumas

_______16. Thomas Malthus presented influential ideas about

                        a. Genetics                 b. Evolution                 c. Earth’s history
                        d. Population growth and limits                       e. Unisex underwear

_______17. Based upon the ideas of uniformitarianism, Darwin’s theory theorized evolution as

                        a. Affecting genetics                                             b. Based upon populations
                        c. Moving toward more complex ends                   d. Occurring gradually
                                                e. Being full of very long words

_______18. What was Alfred Russel Wallace’s influence on Charles Darwin?

                        a. They developed their theories as a collaboration
                        b. He was one of Darwin’s mentors
                        c. Darwin might never have published if not for Wallace
                        d. He forced Darwin to take his exploratory trip on the Beagle
                        e. He gave Chuck fashion tips

SHORT ANSWER. 

Pick TEN Questions to answer in the spaces provided.
NOTE: if you answer MORE than ten, only the first ten will be corrected.
Four Points each. Partial credit is possible.

1. Briefly explain Mendel’s Law of Segregation.

2. What are two different, significant contributions of hydrogen bonds in living systems?

3. In general, what are two features a type of organism needs to have a reasonably complete fossil record?

4. Alfred Russel Wallace: other than evolution, what subdiscipline of biology did he more or less "invent"?

5. What critical feature should a hypothesis have that makes it "scientific"?

6. Explain / define: homologous features which are not analogous.

7. What advantage goes with:

8. The primary role of carbohydrates in animals:

9. What two pre-existing systems may have combined to develop the first photosynthetic system?

10. What can comparative biochemistry be based upon if not molecular sequences?

11. Briefly explain how the movement of materials helps one know whether something is passive transport or active transport.

12. Briefly explain how multiple gene traits work without using the term "multiple gene."

13. In genetics, what does linkage mean?

14. What is the actual purpose of a control in an experiment?

15. When it became clear that fossils were remains of once-living but extinct creatures, what ideas derived from the Bible were immediately put into question?

16. Define syncytium.

LONG ANSWER. 

Select and answer completely any four of the following questions.
NOTE: if you answer more than four, only the first four will be corrected.
Six Points Each. Partial credit is possible.

1. What are six different characteristics considered as typical features of all living things?

2. For the two types of genetic redundancy:

3. Number the following steps in the order that the current Heterotroph Hypothesis puts them:

4. Answer for one of the two fundamental types of reproduction.

4 Give a simple progression, according to Darwin’s Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection, from the beginning to the end here -

5. What are three different ways that gender is differentiated / expressed in animals?

6. Give three matching sets of differences between:

BONUS QUESTIONS. 

Answer as many or as few as you wish. You can't lose points on the rest of the exam by getting these wrong. Partial credit is possible.

For Two Points Each, what features of viruses make some biologists consider them NON-living?

In a good experiment, you should not know what your results should be in advance. What aspect of your results should you know? Four Points.

For Three Points Each, what ideas by Lyell or Lamarck persist strongly today even in scientific circles, despite evidence against them?

Who thought themselves haunted by Wallace’s ghost? Three Points.

Cladistics is at least partly a product of what technological limitation? Three Points.

What possibly faulty assumption is part of the concept of molecular clocks? Four Points.

HOME