FREE Biology End-of-Course Questions and Answers

Question 1

If a company claims that its product has been proven scientifically, which of the following should have taken place if the results are to be considered reliable?

Accepted Answer

Results should have been peer-reviewed and repeated producing the same findings.

Answer

The company should have held discussions with leading industry scientists.

Answer

Technology should have been used in both the gathering of data and data analysis.

Answer

The results of the investigation should have been published in popular magazines.

Question 2

Based on your knowledge of scientific investigations, which stage of scientific investigation did the invention of the microscope significantly advance?

Accepted Answer

Gathering the data for the investigation

Answer

Communicating the results of experimentation

Answer

Generating explanations of phenomena

Answer

Planning the investigation and experimentation

Question 3

To help patients replenish bodily fluids quickly during an illness, doctors need to understand how cells behave in their environment. Doctors have confidence in what they know about how cells behave because

Accepted Answer

Cell theory has been tested, refined, and observed to be true over hundreds of years

Answer

Large medical institutions have conducted their own experiments justifying cell theory

Answer

The basics of cell theory have not changed much since the original experiments

Answer

What we know about cell theory has been published in reputable journals

Question 4

Which of the following best describes a result of the polar nature of water molecules?

Accepted Answer

Ionic compounds dissolve easily in water.

Answer

The volume of water decreases by nearly half when it is frozen.

Answer

Water molecules repel each other.

Answer

Water molecules repel most other substances.

Question 5

Water has a much higher specific heat than most other covalent compounds. What do you predict might happen if water had a low specific heat instead?

Accepted Answer

Organisms that are sensitive to changes in temperature would die.

Answer

Flooding would occur and animals would be forced to migrate.

Answer

Harmful organisms living in water would reproduce at a rapid rate.

Answer

Plants would not have enough water to effectively carry out photosynthesis

Question 6

In which of the following circumstances would it be most likely for large organic molecules to form during a laboratory experiment?

Accepted Answer

If RNA segments that could act as catalysts formed

Answer

If amino acids and nucleic acids both formed

Answer

If oxygen were slowly added as the experiment progressed

Answer

If the mixture were repeatedly heated and cooled

Question 7

Assume a group of scientists has managed to set up an experiment simulating the conditions of early Earth that resulted in a cell with DNA using RNA to produce proteins from amino acids as modern cells do. What conclusion could they draw from this experiment?

Accepted Answer

It is possible for a cell similar to a modern cell to form under the conditions of the experiment.

Answer

Modern cells developed from inorganic compounds in the conditions that existed on early Earth.

Answer

The conditions of their experiment exactly replicated the conditions found on early Earth.

Answer

The way modern cells function is the only way a cell could be constructed and survive.

Question 8

Which of the following best compares the structures of lipids and carbohydrates?

Accepted Answer

Both consist of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, but carbohydrates have repeating structural units and lipids do not.

Answer

Both are made up of monosaccharide monomers, but lipids are hydrophobic and carbohydrates are hydrophilic.

Answer

Both contain carbon and hydrogen, but carbohydrates also contain oxygen and lipids contain nitrogen.

Answer

Both have a carbon backbone, but lipids also have an amino group and carbohydrates have a carboxylic acid group.

Question 9

Which of the following best describes the difference between the functions of nucleic acids and enzymes?

Accepted Answer

Nucleic acids contain the genetic code for protein synthesis, while enzymes catalyze chemical reactions.

Answer

Nucleic acids are used as the building blocks of proteins, while enzymes are used as the building blocks of phospholipids.

Answer

Nucleic acids inhibit biochemical reactions, while enzymes provide structural support in cells.

Answer

Nucleic acids transmit signals that begin biochemical processes, while enzymes convert carbohydrates into lipids and proteins.

Question 10

Some proteins catalyze biochemical reactions. If a genetic defect prevented a protein catalyst from being produced, which of the following do you predict would happen in the cell?

Accepted Answer

The reaction the protein catalyzes would proceed very slowly or not at all.

Answer

The cell would find a different type of protein to catalyze the reaction.

Answer

The reaction the protein catalyzes would only occur in some places in the cell.

Answer

The reverse reaction of the one the protein catalyzes would begin to proceed.