Test Flashcards
1 Scientists change the genes in organisms to make them useful. This process is called genetic
engineering. Genetic changes can help crops fight disease or make more food. Genetic changes can also
allow bacteria and yeast to make medicines. Changing the genes in organisms can bring up ethical
concerns. Which is the best example of an ethical concern?
C. A genetically engineered plant may out-compete native organisms in ecosystems.
Question #2
Rounded, floating leaves with waxy covering and flexible stems have made the organism shown suited
to the environment in which it lives.
Which process is most responsible for adapting this organism to its environment?
C. natural selection
Question #3
Onions can reproduce from bulbs. One parent bulb generates daughter bulbs with duplicate genetic
information. Which is the most likely advantage of this kind of reproduction
D. Many offspring are produced rapidly
Question #4
Daffodils can reproduce both asexually and sexually. How does a daffodil population benefit from
reproducing sexually instead of asexually?
C It can increase the diversity of inherited traits.
Question #5
Leaves fall from deciduous trees onto the forest floor. These leaves decay slowly and become part of
the topsoil. Which change is most likely to have a positive impact on the nutrients available in the
topsoil?
D. an increase in the number of decomposers
Question #6
As glaciers receded at the end of the last Ice Age, temperatures increased, allowing lakes to form.
Pioneer plants grew in the dunes near the lakes. Farther from the dunes, grasslands and forested areas
developed. Which process took place after the glaciers melted, allowing grasslands and forests to
develop?
A. primary succession
Question #7
The Arctic tundra is covered by a thick frozen soil layer called permafrost. The surface of the ground
above this layer thaws during the summer. Microorganisms and some plants with shallow roots are
able to survive in this thawed layer.
C the amount of fertile soil
Question #8
The directions for making a protein
B are carried by DNA.
Question #9
Which of these is accomplished by the interaction of haploid cells in sexually reproducing organisms?
A production of a zygote with a complete set of chromosomes with genetic material from two parents
Question #10
Nonnative flathead catfish that prey on smaller fish were accidentally introduced into the Yadkin
River in North Carolina. What is the most likely effect these catfish could have on the ecology of the
Yadkin River?
D They could reduce native fish populations.
The biological selection of a particular allele for a trait to be passed to offspring has nothing do with
the selection of the allele for another trait. Which of the following supports this statement?
A law of independent assortment
Question #12
What is the primary distinguishing factor between anaerobic and aerobic
respiration?
C
Anaerobic respiration takes place without oxygen, while aerobic respiration uses oxygen at the end
of the electron transport chain
Scientists study rainforests as systems structured in vertical layers, or strata.
Rainforest Strata
Overstory (or
Emergents)
up to 50 meters
Canopy 30–40 meters
Under canopy 15–25 meters
Ground layer 0–10 meters
How would a tree falling from the overstory layer most immediately affect the surrounding plants in
the other three layers?
B They would have access to more sunlight and more space.
Question #14
Which of these is part of the description of protein?
A a folded chain of amino acids
A salt marsh has a variety of animals and plants. The pyramid represents the amount of energy
transferred between organisms in a salt marsh.
Which trophic level would lose the most useful energy as heat when organisms at that level feed on
other organisms?
D. 2
