BI 173 - First Exam - 1998

Answer Key


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. A number of unused or poorly-used niches in an area often sets up an 
                    opportunity for
                           a. Mutations                 b. Recombination                 c. Adaptive radiation
                           d. Genetic drift                     e. Vigorous scratching (got a niche?)


_______ 2. Sex-linked traits in humans
                           a. Show up more in males because the genes are on the Y chromosome
                           b. Show up more in males because the genes are on the X chromosome
                           c. Show up more in females because the genes are on the X chromosome
                           d. Show up more in males because of their hormone chemistry
                           e. Sound like inappropriate subject matter for my delicate constitution


_______ 3. The main reason that proteins can serve so many different purposes is the vast 
                   number of different
                           a. Elements in the protein molecules         
                           b. Amino acids in each molecule
                           c. DNA sequences used to produce them 
                           d. 3-Dimensional shapes they can have
                           e. Credit cards they carry


_______ 4. A cell that is full of Golgi bodies is most likely doing what kind of job?
                           a. Secretion                 b. Respiration                 c. Absorption
                           d. Swimming                     e. Something very poorly paying


_______5. When it is said that one allele is dominant over another, recessive one, what is 
                   really happening?
                           a. Only that one allele is being expressed
                           b. That allele's protein has an effect that overwhelms the other allele's protein
                           c. Both alleles are really identical
                           d. They are not being expressed at the same time
                           e. It beats it up and takes its lunch money


_______6. The idea that there are natural controls on populations is attributed to
                           a. Lyell                 b. Lamarck                 c. Malthus
                           d. Wallace                         e. There are?


_______7. Which type of molecule is most likely to be used as a quick energy source?
                           a. Carbohydrate             b. Protein             c. Lipid
                           d. Nucleic acid                     e. The hyper ones


_______8. Which part of Darwin's ideas on evolution can be traced back to Charles Lyell?
                           a. Selection can change traits 
                           b. Slow processes can produce big changes
                           c. Traits get passed on 
                           d. Populations are naturally controlled
                           e. The really stupid ones

 

_______9. The advantage of electron microscopes over light microscopes is related to the
                           a. Imaging screen                                  b. Nature of the stains used
                           c. Vacuum in the viewing chamber         d. Size of the basic imaging beam
                           e. Well, it's new, it's cool, it's up to date - what's not to like?


_______10. The adaptive value of an allele combination is determined by
                           a. Circumstances                 b. Statistics                 c. DNA sequence
                           d. Its position in the gene pool             e. A staff of IRS lawyers


_______11. In an experiment, a control will provide
                           a. A chance to repeat the results             b. A comparison for the results
                           b. An explanation for observations          d. Something to actually test
                                                      e. A little dial-thingy to turn


_______12. Which cell structures are involved in making protein using RNA code?
                           a. Lysosomes                 b. Vacuoles                 c. Ribosomes
                           d. Mitochondria                     e. The protein-making-whatsis


_______13. New traits that seem to "appear" in a group most likely originated from
                           a. Diploid speciation             b. Crossing over             c. Founder effect
                           d. Mutation                                     e. A mail-order catalog


_______14. If a material is moved by active transport, it would move
                           a. From a high concentration area to a low concentration area
                           b. From a low concentration area to a high concentration area
                           c. In both directions equally
                           d. By dissolving through the lipid membrane
                           e. Whenever the materials it's staying with booted it out


_______15. The number of chromosomes an organism characteristically has involves evolution 
                    that balances between
                           a. Recombination possibilities and ease of cell division
                           b. The chance of mutation and the exact duplication of offspring
                           c. The needs of metabolism and the size of the nucleus
                           d. The numbers of individuals and the type of reproduction used
                           e. The nature of these questions and my descent into madness


_______16. In the fluid mosaic model of the cell membrane, the mosaic part is played by
                           a. DNA                 b. Embedded proteins                 c. Phospholipids
                           d. Ribosomes                 e. The Artist Formerly Known as Prince


_______17. Most fossilized organisms died in an area with
                           a. Volcanoes                 b. Tar pits                 c. Mud flats
                           d. Bodies of water                 e. Low property values


_______18. Water moves from fresh, almost-pure pond water into the cytoplasm of an ameba 
                    because of
                           a. Active transport                 b. Exocytosis             c. Osmosis
                           d. Speciation                                 e. It's much less boring there


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. Very briefly describe what occurs during:

Meiosis I:


Meiosis II:


2. What are two types of temporal isolation?




3. What are two major uses for lipids in living things?




4. How does the imaging system of a scanning microscope work?




5. What is the significance of "XX - X0?"




6. What was meant by the expression "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny."




7. Why is genetic redundancy such an important aspect of NeoDarwinian theory? What aspect of evolution does it explain?




8. What existing idea was seriously challenged when fossils of extinct animals were first found?

 

 

9. What was Alfred Russel Wallace's contribution to the theory of evolution by natural selection?




10. What are two ways that cilia and flagella are different from each other?
CILIA FLAGELLA


11. There are two basic ways or processes to test predictions made by a hypothesis. What are they?




12. The branches or breaks in a cladistics diagram represent what event?




13. Of the three types of bonds that hold molecules together, which two are the most important in biological systems?


14. What are two components of the cytoskeleton?




15. Where did the organic molecules of the Primordial Soup come from?




16. How is the nuclear envelope structurally different from the cell membrane (other than where it is)?




17. Fill in: A ___________ is a 3-base sequence in the molecule ___________ that


represents a single ____________ in a ___________.

 

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. For each type of reproduction, give the requested information.

ASEXUAL SEXUAL
Definition:

Definition:
Advantage over sexual:

Advantage over asexual:
Disadvantage vs sexual:

Disadvantage vs asexual:

2. Expand/ explain the assumptions of Darwin's Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection that are suggested by the words or short phrases.
Competition.

Advantages.
Selection.

Inheritance.
Spread of traits.

Speciation.

3. Name and describe Mendel's Laws.












4.Type of structure Definition Type of evolution
HOMOLOGOUS

ANALOGOUS


5. According to the Hardy-Weinberg Law, a rare allele stays at its starting proportion in a population if what four items are true?









6. Living things in general have many characteristics in common. Briefly describe (so this will take a bit more than a simple label) six such characteristics.

7. Take this alphabetized list and put it into chronological order, according to current theory: Aerobic respiration; autotrophs; Cambrian Explosion; eukaryotes; heterotrophs; prokaryotes.
1.
 2 3

4. 		5 6

8. According the Neo-Darwinian ecology theory, what are the possible species responses to environmental change?










BONUS QUESTIONS ON BACK.

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.

What very common group is the center of an "are they really alive or not?" debate because several of the "basic characteristics" of life don't quite fit them? Three Points.




When chemists set up the pH scale, where did they get the numbers of the scale from (not what do the numbers mean, acid - base - neutral, but why did acids wind up less than 7, neutral at 7, and bases above 7)? Three Points.




Describe the type of active transport that is at the center of a terminology dispute. Three Points.




The primordial soup theory solved a huge problem that the "origins of life" theorists couldn't previously solve. What was it? Four Points.




Gregor Mendel worked out his Laws of Inheritance with pea plants. Why was he working with pea plants? Three Points.





Why was it considered necessary to hire "Captain's companions," such as Charles Darwin? Four Points.





Under what general conditions might an organism's evolution produced a non-evolving species? Four Points.

 

 

 

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