Question 1

When lactose is digested by the human body, each lactose molecule is broken down into smaller molecules. To which of the following categories of molecules do these smaller molecules belong?

Accepted Answer

Lactose is a disaccharide sugar composed of galactose and glucose, which are both monosaccharides. When digested, lactose is broken down into these two simpler sugar molecules.

Question 2

Unlike dairy milk, soymilk provides some of the body's daily requirement for iron. In which of the following functions of the human body does iron serve a primary role?

Accepted Answer

Iron is a key component of hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells responsible for transporting oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.

Question 3

Which type of milk, per serving, will theoretically yield a greater amount of ATP in the human body, and what is the reason for this?

Accepted Answer

Dairy milk can yield a greater amount of ATP per serving because it typically contains larger amounts of sugar (lactose) and fat, which are key sources of energy for the body. The metabolism of these macronutrients generates ATP, the energy currency of cells.

Question 4

Individuals with one form of lactose intolerance do not produce the enzyme lactase because the gene coding for the production of lactase is shut off in their cells. This means that which of the following processes does not occur for the gene?

Accepted Answer

Transcription is the process by which the information in a strand of DNA is copied into a new molecule of messenger RNA (mRNA). If the gene coding for lactase is shut off, it means that transcription for this gene does not occur, preventing the production of lactase enzyme.

Question 5

Which of the following organs removes extra water from the blood to keep the amount of fluid in the bloodstream at the proper level?

Accepted Answer

The kidneys filter the blood, removing waste products and extra water, which is then excreted as urine. This process helps maintain the proper fluid balance in the bloodstream.

Question 6

Which of the following best explains how the fossil record provides evidence that evolution has occurred?

Accepted Answer

The fossil record shows changes in the form and structure of organisms over time, providing evidence of evolutionary processes.

Question 7

Populations of Caribbean coral have decreased significantly over the past 30 years due to disease. Which of the following is most likely a major factor leading to the increased amount of disease in the coral?

Accepted Answer

Increased water temperatures can favor the growth of pathogenic microorganisms, which can lead to more disease in coral populations. This is a significant factor in the decline of coral health globally.

Question 8

Frogs, lizards, and birds all have a similar arrangement of bones in their limbs. Which of the following does this similarity most likely indicate about these animals?

Accepted Answer

The similarity in the arrangement of bones in the limbs of frogs, lizards, and birds suggests they have a common ancestry. This is an example of homology, where similar structures in different species indicate a shared evolutionary past.

Question 9

When gametes are produced from a parent cell during normal meiosis, which of the following describes the number of chromosomes in each resulting cell?

Accepted Answer

During normal meiosis, each resulting gamete has one-half the number of chromosomes as the parent cell, ensuring that when two gametes fuse during fertilization, the offspring has the same number of chromosomes as each parent.

Question 10

The outermost tail feather of the male barn swallow is longer than that of the female barn swallow. The long tail feather helps the males attract females, but it also requires the males to use extra energy to fly.The long tail feather trait is maintained in the barn swallow populations because, compared to males with a shorter tail feather, males with a longer tail feather are more likely to

Accepted Answer

The long tail feather in male barn swallows is a sexually selected trait, meaning it has evolved because it gives males a reproductive advantage. Females prefer males with longer tail feathers, which leads to males with this trait having a higher chance of mating and producing offspring. This preference outweighs the energy cost of having longer tail feathers.

Question 11

Which of the following most likely happens in the cells of a person running in the Boston Marathon?

Accepted Answer

During intense physical activity such as running a marathon, the body's demand for energy increases significantly. To meet this demand, cells increase their respiration rate to produce more ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which is the primary molecule used for energy transfer within cells.

Question 12

Which of the following environmental conditions makes water less available to plants for growth?

Accepted Answer

Cold temperatures can freeze the water in and on the ground, making it unavailable for plant uptake. This physical state change prevents plants from accessing the water they need for various physiological processes, including growth.

Question 13

Some bacteria live in hot springs. Their cells contain enzymes that function best at temperatures of 70°C or higher.At a temperature of 50°C, how will the enzymes in these bacterial cells most likely be affected?

Accepted Answer

Enzymes from bacteria that thrive in hot springs are adapted to work best at high temperatures, such as 70°C. At lower temperatures, like 50°C, these enzymes will not be as efficient in catalyzing reactions, meaning they won't increase the rate of reactions as much as they would at their optimal temperature.

Question 14

On the Galápagos Islands, finches adapted over time to different food sources through changes in their beak structure. Which of the following most likely resulted from the finches' beak structure adaptations?

Accepted Answer

The adaptation of finches' beak structures to different food sources on the Galápagos Islands likely led to an increased species diversity of finches. This is because as finches adapted to different niches, they evolved into different species, each with a beak structure specialized for a specific type of food source. This process, known as adaptive radiation, results in an increase in species diversity.

Question 15

In sexual reproduction, what is the source of the genetic material in a zygote?

Accepted Answer

In sexual reproduction, a zygote is formed by the fusion of genetic material from two gametes: an egg cell from the female and a sperm cell from the male.

Question 16

In sheep, the allele for white wool (W) is dominant, and the allele for black wool (w) is recessive. A farmer has mated two Suffolk sheep for a few years. These matings have resulted in six offspring, four with white wool and two ith black wool. One parent has white wool and the other has black wool.Which of the following could be the genotypes of the parent sheep?

Accepted Answer

Since one parent has black wool, its genotype must be ww (recessive homozygous). The offspring include both white and black wool sheep, indicating that the white-wooled parent must carry the recessive allele to pass it on to the black-wooled offspring. Therefore, the genotype of the white-wooled parent is Ww, and the black-wooled parent is ww.

Question 17

There is a limit to how large any given population can grow. Which of the following statements best explains why apopulation must eventually stop growing?

Accepted Answer

The resources available are fully used by the population as it grows, leading to a limit on population growth due to competition for those finite resources.

Question 18

In pea plants, the genes for seed color and seed shape are on different chromosomes. Which of the following explains why the genes for these traits are not inherited together?

Accepted Answer

The law of independent assortment explains why genes on different chromosomes are inherited independently of each other. This principle, one of Mendel's laws, states that the alleles of two (or more) different genes get sorted into gametes independently of one another, meaning the allele a gamete receives for one gene does not influence the allele received for another gene if the genes are on different chromosomes.

Question 19

On remote islands, immigration and emigration usually do not have a large effect on population sizes. A bird population on a remote island remains at a relatively constant size year after year. Which of the following most likely describes the birthrate and the death rate for this population?

Accepted Answer

For a population to remain at a relatively constant size, the birthrate and death rate must be close to equal, balancing each other out.

Question 20

If scientists search other planets for possible life, they are likely to focus on the presence of molecules containing which of the following elements?

Accepted Answer

Carbon is fundamental to life as we know it because it can form stable bonds with many elements, including itself, creating the complex molecules necessary for life.

Quiz 1: Biology