BI 173 - First Exam - 2000

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.

_______ 2. The ventral fins of a shark and anterior fins of a squid both serve as stabilizers but share no real underlying structural features. This makes them
                            a. Analogous                     b. Analogous but not homologous
                            c. Homologous                  d. Homologous but not analogous
                                              e. Equally uninteresting

_______ 3. What very common genetic feature did not affect Mendel's original genetic experiments due to his choices of studied traits?
                            a. Mitochondrial recombination                     b. Mutation
                            c. Segregation of alleles                                 d. Linkage
                            e. Blaming of parents for how the kids are screwed up

_______ 4. The early discovery of fossils first presented which "blasphemous" idea?
                            a. Evolution             b. Giant serpents             c. Extinction
                            d. Man as just type of animal             e. Ancient fanged Pope

_______5. What occurred during the Cambrian explosion?
                            a. Virtually all major multicellular organism groups "appeared"
                            b. Virtually all major animal groups "appeared"
                            c. Life first appears in the fossil record
                            d. Life moved onto the land
                            e. Ummm...."Boom?".....

_______6. The component parts of a colonial organism, unlike a regular multicellular organism,
                            a. Are themselves single cells                     b. Can work together
                            c. Can survive independently                     d. Do not share nutrients
                            e. Occasionally fight a revolutionary war against the oppressive individual

_______7. Which is the pattern for a gene code?
                            a. Three bases code for each amino acid
                            b. Three amino acids code for each base
                            c. The sequence pattern changes depending upon the type of coded molecule
                            d. Each base codes for each amino acid
                            e. How does a gene catch a code?

_______8. Thomas Malthus influenced evolutionary theories with his ideas about
                            a. Evolution of new species          b. The age of the earth
                            c. Control of populations             d. Inheritance of acquired characteristics
                                    e. His game show, "Who wants to be an advanced organism"

_______9. In a typical nonpolluted lake, phosphate is rare, but wherever it is available, it will move into living cells that themselves have a much higher concentration than the water, through which process?
                            a. Osmosis                 b. Mediated diffusion                 c. Passive transport
                            d. Active transport                     e. Chat room deception

_______10. Which is a major function of microtubules?
                            a. Movement of flagella                 b. Membrane-to-membrane contacts
                            c. Support of microvilli                  d. Gene transcription
                                        e. They're parasites on Teletubbies

_______11. It now seems likely that the first photosynthetic systems probably arose as a combination of
                            a. Chemosynthesis & nutrition processing
                            b. Chemosynthesis & light sensing
                            c. Heat absorption and powered movement
                            d. Nutrition processing & powered movement
                            e. A vast alien real estate deal

_______12. The acidity of a solution is measured on a scale for the proportion of
                            a. Water                 b. Hydroxide                 c. Hydrogen
                            d. Electrons                     e. Nasty biting things

_______13. What sort of focusing lens is found in an electron microscope?
                            a. Glass                         b. Liquid crystal                     c. Magnets
                            d. Reflective metal                         e. Expensive

_______14. Which is an evolutionary disadvantage associated with sexual reproduction?
                            a. It always requires a partner
                            b. A particularly advantageous set of alleles cannot be passed on exactly
                            c. Not enough variation
                            d. Mutations are particularly damaging
                            e. It produces bad reputations

_______15. In the fluid mosaic model of membrane structure,
                            a. The fluid is largely lipid, the mosaic mostly protein
                            b. The fluid is inside the membrane, the mosaic is on the surface
                            c. The fluid is water, the mosaic dissolved materials
                            d. The fluid represents permeability, the mosaic impermeability
                     e. The fluid models work for Sears, the mosaic models for Victoria's Secret

SHORT ANSWER.  

Pick EIGHT Questions to answer in the spaces provided.
NOTE: if you answer MORE than eight, only the first eight will be corrected.

Five Points each. Partial credit is possible.

1. What are two features most well-known organisms share that make them unlikely to have a smooth, progressive fossil record?

4. What aspects of artificial selection made it part of Darwin's steps toward developing his Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection?

5. There are two very different ways that scientific predictions can be properly tested. What are they?

6. What are two different classes of molecules used in comparative biochemistry?

7. Briefly explain how genetic redundancy can be evolutionarily advantageous.

8. What is the function of a nucleolus?

9. There are two major precepts of geologic uniformitarianism. What are they?

10. What are two aspects of the chemistry of living things that make them distinct from the processes of "nonlife?"

11. Why are embryological similarities between groups slower to disappear than similarities at the adult stage?

12. What is the inferred function in a cell full of Golgi bodies?

13. What are two ways that the process of meiosis is distinctly different from the process of mitosis?

14. Why is the concept of primordial soup so important to the heterotroph hypothesis?

15. Of the various types of molecular bonds, which one has the least impact in living systems, and why?

LONG ANSWER.  

Select and answer completely any three of the following questions.
NOTE: if you answer more than three, only the first three will be corrected.

Ten Points Each. Partial credit is possible.

1. What are three different ways that organisms use to determine gender?

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 Three Points each, what traits of living things are not really found in viruses?

Osmosis gets a special designation, but it's really just a type of diffusion. Why is it useful to consider it separately? Three Points.

Gregor Mendel did his historic work with pea plants. Why did he use that particular organism for his experiments? Three Points.

What reasons other than scientific study may have led Charles Darwin to spend as much time ashore during his voyage on the HMS Beagle? Three Points each.

Where did Alfred Russel Wallace do his work (2 Points), and why was that a good place to develop a theory of evolution (Three Points)?

Why is mitochondrial DNA considered a better research source than nuclear DNA? Three Points.

Go HERE for a KEY to this Exam.

M. McDarby