GEPA Life Practice Assessment! :)
Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
____1.A cat hisses when it sees a dog. The hissing is an example of
a. / a stimulus.b. / a response.
c. / courtship behavior.
d. / a circadian rhythm.
____2.Female fur seals spend the winter in the ocean off the coast of California. Then, in the spring, they swim thousands of miles northward to islands off the coast of Alaska. This behavior is an example of
a. / a circadian rhythm.b. / aggression.
c. / migration.
d. / hibernation.
____3.A signal that causes an organism to react in some way is called a(n)
a. / stimulus.b. / response.
c. / idea.
d. / message.
____4.Evidence indicates that birds are descended from
a. / reptiles.b. / mammals.
c. / insects.
d. / amphibians.
____5.A bird’s nearly hollow bones help it to
a. / store extra oxygen.b. / deliver oxygen to its cells.
c. / be lightweight in the air.
d. / defend itself against predators.
____6.As a bird’s wing moves forward through the air, the air pressure on the wing
a. / is equal above and below the wing.b. / pushes the wing downward.
c. / is greater above the wing than beneath it.
d. / is less above the wing than beneath it.
____7.Which characteristic is NOT common to all mammals?
a. / They are ectotherms.b. / Their hearts have four chambers.
c. / Their skin is covered with hair or fur.
d. / Their young are fed with milk produced by organs in the mother’s body.
____8.Birds are the only animals that have
a. / scales.b. / feathers.
c. / nests.
d. / a heart with four chambers.
____9.The process by which an organism’s internal environment is kept stable in spite of changes in the external environment is called
a. / healing.b. / digestion.
c. / homeostasis.
d. / respiration.
____10.Messages are carried back and forth between the brain and other parts of the body by
a. / respiratory tissue.b. / nervous tissue.
c. / the circulatory system.
d. / digestive tissue.
____11.The spaces in bones are filled with a soft connective tissue called
a. / blood.b. / water.
c. / cartilage.
d. / marrow.
____12.Which type of muscle is found only in the heart?
a. / voluntary muscleb. / cardiac muscle
c. / smooth muscle
d. / soft muscle
____13.How do pairs of skeletal muscles work together?
a. / Both muscles contract at the same time.b. / Both muscles extend at the same time.
c. / While one muscle in the pair contracts, the other returns to its original length.
d. / One muscle in the pair pulls on a bone, while the second muscle pulls on the first muscle.
____14.How does the skin help regulate body temperature?
a. / by removing wastes from the bodyb. / by blocking information about the environment
c. / by enabling excess heat to escape from the body
d. / by allowing body temperature to change when the weather becomes warmer or cooler
____15.What are the products of photosynthesis?
a. / carbon dioxide and waterb. / oxygen and water
c. / carbon dioxide and sugars
d. / oxygen and sugars
____16.What happens during photosynthesis?
a. / The cell uses oxygen to make food.b. / The cell uses the energy in sunlight to make food.
c. / The cell uses glucose to make oxygen.
d. / The cell uses the energy in sunlight to make carbon dioxide.
____17.How does photosynthesis benefit heterotrophs?
a. / It adds carbon dioxide to the air.b. / It creates food that they can eat.
c. / It eliminates harmful sugars.
d. / It creates clean water.
____18.What happens during respiration?
a. / Oxygen is released into the air.b. / Glucose is broken down, releasing energy.
c. / Carbohydrates are released into the bloodstream.
d. / Water and carbon dioxide are converted into energy.
____19.How are photosynthesis and respiration related?
a. / They have opposite equations.b. / They have the same equation.
c. / They both produce carbon dioxide.
d. / They both produce oxygen.
____20.Mitosis is the stage of the cell cycle during which
a. / the cell’s nucleus divides into two new nuclei.b. / the cell’s DNA is replicated.
c. / the cell divides into two new cells.
d. / the cell’s cytoplasm divides.
____21.What happens during cytokinesis in animal cells?
a. / A new round of mitosis begins.b. / Two new daughter cells are formed.
c. / Each organelle divides into two parts.
d. / A cell plate forms in the middle of the cell.
____22.A DNA molecule is shaped like a
a. / long, thin rod.b. / spiral staircase.
c. / straight ladder.
d. / triple helix.
____23.During DNA replication, adenine (A) always pairs with
a. / guanine (G).b. / cytosine (C).
c. / thymine (T).
d. / adenine (A).
____24.What captures energy from sunlight during photosynthesis?
a. / solar cellsb. / stomata
c. / chlorophyll and other pigments
d. / carbohydrates
____25.Each rung of the DNA ladder is made of
a. / a single nitrogen base.b. / a pair of nitrogen bases.
c. / three nitrogen bases.
d. / four nitrogen bases.
____26.All organic compounds contain the element
a. / water.b. / oxygen.
c. / carbon.
d. / nitrogen.
____27.Which term refers to the movement of molecules from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration?
a. / collisionb. / diffusion
c. / active transport
d. / concentration
____28.Which term refers to the movement of materials through a cell membrane without using the cell’s energy?
a. / concentrationb. / collision
c. / active transport
d. / passive transport
____29.A species is a group of similar organisms that
a. / can mate with each other and produce fertile offspring.b. / can live together on an island.
c. / can migrate to an island from the mainland.
d. / all have exactly the same traits.
____30.Differences between members of the same species are called
a. / predators.b. / selections.
c. / traits.
d. / variations.
____31.Which of these is one of the main ways that a new species forms?
a. / Cross-breeding occurs within the species.b. / A group is separated from the rest of the species.
c. / Competition occurs between members of the species.
d. / Mutations occur in the alleles of members of the species.
____32.If two organisms look very similar during their early stages of development, this is evidence that the organisms
a. / are not related.b. / evolved from different ancestors.
c. / have exactly the same DNA.
d. / evolved from a common ancestor.
____33.What did Darwin observe about finches in the Galápagos Islands?
a. / Their feathers were adapted to match their environment.b. / Their beaks were adaptations related to the foods the finches ate.
c. / They had identical phenotypes in all locations.
d. / They had identical genotypes in all locations.
____34.The gradual change in a species over time is called
a. / mutation.b. / evolution.
c. / migration.
d. / variation.
____35.Which term refers to the process by which individuals that are better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce?
a. / natural selectionb. / overproduction
c. / competition
d. / variation
____36.What evidence suggests that the ancestors of whales once walked on land?
a. / Scientists have found fossils of whalelike creatures that had legs.b. / Whales perform walking motions as they swim.
c. / Whales have similar DNA to elephants.
d. / Whales breathe through lungs.
____37.Blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart are called
a. / veins.b. / arteries.
c. / capillaries.
d. / lymphatic vessels.
____38.When blood flows into the right atrium from the body, it contains
a. / little oxygen and a lot of carbon dioxide.b. / a lot of oxygen and little carbon dioxide.
c. / a lot of both oxygen and carbon dioxide.
d. / little of either oxygen or carbon dioxide.
____39.If a person’s blood lacked platelets, what process could not take place?
a. / carrying oxygen to cellsb. / carrying glucose to cells
c. / clotting of blood
d. / transfusing of blood
____40.The function of white blood cells is to
a. / carry carbon dioxide.b. / increase blood pressure.
c. / carry wastes away from body cells.
d. / fight disease.
____41.Consumers that eat both plants and animals are called
a. / omnivores.b. / herbivores.
c. / carnivores.
d. / scavengers.
____42.Which of these consumers is a herbivore?
a. / lionb. / deer
c. / spider
d. / snake
____43.The many overlapping food chains in an ecosystem make up a(n)
a. / food web.b. / niche.
c. / energy pyramid.
d. / feeding level.
____44.In an energy pyramid, which level has the most available energy?
a. / producer levelb. / first-level consumer level
c. / second-level consumer level
d. / third-level consumer level
____45.The step in the water cycle in which water vapor becomes liquid water is
a. / condensation.b. / nitrogen fixation.
c. / recycling.
d. / precipitation.
____46.In which process do molecules of liquid water absorb energy and change into the gas state?
a. / condensationb. / precipitation
c. / evaporation
d. / recycling
____47.In which process do producers use carbon from carbon dioxide to produce other carbon-containing molecules?
a. / the nitrogen cycleb. / photosynthesis
c. / precipitation
d. / the water cycle
____48.Vultures, which feed on the bodies of dead organisms, are
a. / first-level consumers.b. / scavengers.
c. / producers.
d. / herbivores.
____49.The first organism in a food chain is always a
a. / consumer.b. / herbivore.
c. / carnivore.
d. / producer.
____50.What do producers release as a result of photosynthesis?
a. / hydrogenb. / nitrogen
c. / oxygen
d. / carbon dioxide
____51.Louis Pasteur demonstrated that killing organisms that cause a disease could
a. / prevent the spread of that disease.b. / be accomplished only with antibiotics.
c. / be accomplished only with over-the-counter medications.
d. / make a person sick with that disease.
____52.Immunity is the body’s ability to
a. / distinguish pathogens from one another.b. / destroy pathogens before they can cause disease.
c. / fight disease with the inflammation response.
d. / produce antigens.
____53.At some point in their lives, all chordates have a flexible supporting rod in their backs called a
a. / notochord.b. / gill.
c. / nerve cord.
d. / backbone.
____54.If an animal is an ectotherm, it has
a. / a skeleton on the outside of its body.b. / a skeleton on the inside of its body.
c. / a body that regulates its own internal temperature.
d. / a body that does not produce much internal heat.
____55.What does the backbone surround and protect in a vertebrate?
a. / the heart and lungsb. / vertebrae
c. / the spinal cord
d. / the gill slits
____56.Fishes take in oxygen through their
a. / fins.b. / gills.
c. / scales.
d. / vertebrae.
____57.Most adult amphibians can obtain oxygen through
a. / gills.b. / gills and lungs.
c. / lungs and thin, moist skin.
d. / lungs only.
____58.How is a reptile egg different from an amphibian egg?
a. / It is covered with protective jelly.b. / It has a shell and internal membranes.
c. / It must be kept in shallow water.
d. / It does not release carbon dioxide.
____59.Which of these is LEAST likely to be learned by studying animal fossils?
a. / the approximate age of the fossilsb. / how the animals changed over time
c. / what type of skin the animals had when they were living
d. / whether the animals were invertebrates or vertebrates
____60.To which phylum do vertebrates belong?
a. / Arthropodab. / Chordata
c. / Porifera
d. / Echinodermata
____61.An animal whose body temperature does not change much, even when the temperature of the environment changes, is called
a. / a temperature regulator.b. / a cold-blooded animal.
c. / an endotherm.
d. / an ectotherm.
____62.Which of the following is NOT a function of the digestive system?
a. / obtaining oxygenb. / eliminating undigested wastes from the body
c. / breaking down food into molecules that the body can use
d. / absorbing food molecules into the blood
____63.Which process takes place in the large intestine?
a. / Water is added to undigested food.b. / Water is absorbed from undigested food.
c. / Digested nutrients are absorbed through the villi.
d. / Enzymes are added to complete chemical digestion.
____64.Factors that control traits are called
a. / genes.b. / purebreds.
c. / recessives.
d. / parents.
____65.Scientists call an organism that has two different alleles for a trait a
a. / hybrid.b. / trait.
c. / purebred.
d. / factor.
____66.What does the notation TT mean to geneticists?
a. / two dominant allelesb. / heterozygous alleles
c. / at least one dominant allele
d. / one dominant and one recessive allele
____67.What does the notation Tt mean to geneticists?
a. / two dominant allelesb. / two recessive alleles
c. / homozygous alleles
d. / one dominant allele and one recessive allele
____68.What is the probability of producing a tall pea plant from a genetic cross between two hybrid tall pea plants?
a. / one in fourb. / two in four
c. / three in four
d. / four in four
____69.What does a Punnett square show?
a. / all the possible outcomes of a genetic crossb. / only the dominant alleles in a genetic cross
c. / only the recessive alleles in a genetic cross
d. / all of Mendel’s discoveries about genetic crosses
____70.If a homozygous black guinea pig (BB) is crossed with a homozygous white guinea pig (bb), what is the probability that an offspring will have black fur?
a. / 25 percentb. / 50 percent
c. / 75 percent
d. / 100 percent
____71.An organism’s physical appearance is its
a. / genotype.b. / phenotype.
c. / codominance.
d. / heterozygous.
____72.The different forms of a gene are called
a. / alleles.b. / factors.
c. / masks.
d. / traits.
____73.Chromosomes are made up of
a. / one pair of alleles.b. / many traits joined together.
c. / transfer RNA.
d. / many genes joined together.
____74.Using one or more of your senses to gather information is called
a. / observing.b. / inferring.
c. / predicting.
d. / classifying.
____75.Observations that deal with descriptions that cannot be expressed in numbers are called
a. / manipulated observations.b. / quantitative observations.
c. / qualitative observations.
d. / operational observations.
____76.Explaining or interpreting the things you observe based on reasoning from what you already know is called
a. / observing.b. / inferring.
c. / predicting.
d. / classifying.
____77.Which of the following is considered a renewable resource?
a. / ironb. / sunlight
c. / oil
d. / coal
____78.Which of the following would be a cost of drilling for oil in Antarctica?
a. / The supply of heating fuel would be increased.b. / There would be a greater opportunity to study wildlife there.
c. / An oil spill could harm food sources for penguins.
d. / Many new jobs would be created.
____79.If fish are caught faster than they can breed, the population will
a. / increase.b. / decrease.
c. / remain the same.
d. / move to other waters.
____80.The exhaust fumes from automobiles are an example of
a. / habitat destruction.b. / poaching.
c. / pollution.
d. / exotic species.
____81.The most diverse ecosystems on Earth are
a. / tropical rain forests.b. / coral reefs.
c. / deep-sea areas.
d. / fisheries.
____82.Which combination of sex chromosomes results in a male human being?
a. / XXb. / YY
c. / XY
d. / either XX or YY
____83.Cloning results in two organisms that are
a. / both adult mammals.b. / produced from cuttings.
c. / genetically similar.
d. / genetically identical.
____84.Which of the following is true of all mollusks?
a. / They have shells.b. / They have soft bodies.
c. / They have segments.
d. / They have a closed circulatory system.
____85.Which characteristic is NOT common to all arthropods?
a. / a segmented bodyb. / an external skeleton
c. / jointed appendages
d. / a backbone
____86.Which of these is NOT an arthropod?
a. / centipedeb. / grasshopper
c. / snail
d. / lobster
____87.All plants are
a. / eukaryotes.b. / unicellular.
c. / heterotrophs.
d. / prokaryotes.
____88.What happens in the phloem?
a. / Water moves up from roots.b. / Food moves down from leaves.
c. / Food moves up from roots.
d. / Water moves down to roots.
____89.How are angiosperms different from gymnosperms?
a. / Angiosperms produce fruits.b. / Angiosperms produce seeds.
c. / Gymnosperms do not produce pollen.
d. / Angiosperms do not produce pollen.
____90.Gases pass in and out of a leaf through the
a. / phloem.b. / xylem.
c. / cuticle.
d. / stomata.
____91.Which of the following is an example of a population?
a. / the cats and dogs in your neighborhoodb. / the bushes and grass in a park
c. / the rocks in a rock collection
d. / the gray wolves in a forest
____92.If you count 20 beetles in a garden measuring 5 square meters, the population density of the beetles is
a. / 100 beetles per square meter.b. / 20 beetles per square meter.
c. / 5 beetles per square meter.
d. / 4 beetles per square meter.
____93.An organism’s particular role in its habitat, or how it makes its living, is called its
a. / carrying capacity.b. / ecosystem.
c. / competition.
d. / niche.
____94.The Escherichiacoli that live in your intestine and help break down food are an example of which type of interaction?
a. / competitionb. / mutualism
c. / parasitism
d. / predation
____95.Which of the following is an example of a predator adaptation?
a. / a porcupine’s needlesb. / a shark’s powerful jaws
c. / a frog’s bright colors
d. / a plant’s poisonous chemicals
____96.All the different populations that live together in an area make up a(n)
a. / organism.b. / community.
c. / species.
d. / ecosystem.
____97.The role of the respiratory system is to bring what substance into the body?
a. / waterb. / oxygen
c. / carbon dioxide
d. / red blood cells
____98.What is the main function of the excretory system?
a. / to protect the nervous systemb. / to strengthen skeletal muscles
c. / to bring oxygen to body cells
d. / to collect and remove wastes from the body
____99.Which excretory organ eliminates water and some chemical wastes in perspiration?
a. / skinb. / liver
c. / lungs
d. / kidneys
____100.What is the name of the small flap of tissue that seals off the trachea during swallowing?
a. / pharynxb. / larynx
c. / epiglottis
d. / alveoli
____101.Which of these is NOT a major kind of worm?
a. / a flatwormb. / a roundworm
c. / a silkworm
d. / a segmented worm
____102.The process by which a new organism forms from the joining of an egg cell and a sperm cell is called
a. / asexual reproduction.b. / sexual reproduction.
c. / adaptation.
d. / budding.
____103.Why do hormones cause changes only in specific body organs?
a. / A hormone is carried to a specific location by tiny tubes.b. / A hormone interacts only with target cells, which fit together with that hormone.
c. / A hormone is produced only in the location where it is needed.
d. / A hormone works only through negative feedback.
____104.Which of the following structures is formed when fertilization occurs?
a. / eggb. / ovary
c. / sperm
d. / zygote
____105.Where does a fertilized egg develop after it leaves the fallopian tube?
a. / in the cervixb. / in an ovary
c. / in the uterus
d. / in the vagina
____106.In a female’s body, an egg develops in an ovary, and the uterus prepares for the arrival of a fertilized egg during
a. / homeostasis.b. / labor and delivery.
c. / pregnancy.
d. / the menstrual cycle.
____107.When a human egg is not fertilized, extra blood and tissue from the uterus are released through the vagina in a process called
a. / menstruation.b. / elimination.
c. / ovulation.
d. / reproduction.
____108.The endocrine system produces chemicals that
a. / begin to function after puberty.b. / require a system of nerves to control many body activities.
c. / travel to selected locations through tiny tubes.
d. / control both daily activities and long-term changes through hormones.
____109.The thick column of nerve tissue that links the brain to most of the nerves in the peripheral nervous system is the