Download 6. Correct Response: C.

CORE Secondary Education - Life
Science (045) Practice
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1. A medical researcher hypothesizes that the increased frequency
of asthma in adults living in the early twenty-first century
compared with previous generations is caused by overreactions
of immune systems that have not been sufficiently challenged
by previous exposure to allergens. Which of the following types
of information would be most consistent with this hypothesis?
A. data that show a correlation between a high frequency of
asthma in adults and the absence of pets in their childhood
environments
B. evidence that a mechanism exists that explains how animal
allergens can induce asthma in both adults and children
C. data that show that adults living with household pets are more
likely to have asthma than adults living in households without
pets
D. evidence that children living with household pets are more
likely to develop asthma than those living without household
pets
2. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS
probably originated in chimpanzees in central Africa and began
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Science (045) Practice
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appearing in humans between 1915 and 1940. The first cases of
AIDS were diagnosed in the early 1980s. Which of the following
was most likely responsible for the subsequent worldwide
spread of the virus?
A. Improved transportation facilitated greater movement of
humans around the world.
B. Rapid encroachment on chimpanzee habitat increased the
frequency with which humans contracted the virus.
C. New technology facilitated the recognition and diagnosis of the
disease.
D. Blood transfusions became more widely available and provided
a new route for transmission of the virus.
3. CAM and C4 photosynthesis are similar in that both processes:
A. utilize photosystem II instead of photosystem I.
B. provide an alternative pathway for the polymerization of
glucose into starch.
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Science (045) Practice
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C. bypass the Calvin cycle and the production of 3phosphoglycerate.
D. increase the concentration of CO2 in photosynthesizing tissues.
4. The extensive development of Golgi apparatus is most likely to
be found in which of the following types of cells?
A. apical meristem tissue cells in the tips of roots
B. vertebrate muscle cells with high aerobic demands
C. light-sensitive cells in the compound eyes of insects
D. mammalian cells specialized for secreting hormones
5. Sponges are animals composed of relatively unspecialized cells.
This characteristic of sponges best accounts for their:
A. lack of body symmetry.
B. filter feeding habit.
C. lack of true tissues.
D. sessile lifestyle.
6. The primary function of phloem tissue in a green plant is to:
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Science (045) Practice
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A. carry water and minerals from the roots to the rest of the plant.
B. provide undifferentiated cells that contribute to primary growth.
C. transport sugars and other nutrients throughout the plant.
D. convert cellular waste products into harmless compounds.
7. Which of the following is the best example of a homeostatic
mechanism regulating a biological system?
A. The ability of hemoglobin to bind oxygen molecules changes
according to variations in the partial pressure of dissolved
oxygen in blood.
B. The growth rates of plants change according to the availability
of freshwater.
C. The number of Batesian mimics in an ecosystem changes as a
result of changes in the numbers of available models in the
ecosystem.
D. Musculature and cardiovascular capacity change in response to
increased exercise in mammals.
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Science (045) Practice
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8. The net primary productivity of an ecosystem can be viewed as
the:
A. standing biomass of all trophic levels.
B. amount of energy available to the consumers.
C. new growth of all consumers and producers.
D. total biomass available to the decomposers.
9. Use the soil food web below to answer the question that follows.
If predator-prey relationships are assumed to exist only between
animals, how many different predator-prey relationships are shown
in the food web, and on how many different trophic levels do
predators occur?
A. 6 predator-prey relationships on 4 trophic levels
B. 6 predator-prey relationships on 3 trophic levels
C. 7 predator-prey relationships on 3 trophic levels
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Science (045) Practice
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D. 7 predator-prey relationships on 4 trophic levels
10. In a population consisting of 800 individuals of an insect species,
there are only two alleles for the gene locus that determines eye
color. One allele is dominant to the other. There are 250
homozygous dominant, 400 heterozygous, and 150 homozygous
recessive individuals. What is the approximate frequency of the
recessive allele in the gene pool of this population?
A. 31%
B. 38%
C. 44%
D. 56%
11. In order to produce large quantities of insulin, human growth
hormone, or other valuable medical compounds, genetic engineers
use which of the following procedures?
A. applying the polymerase chain reaction to a recombinant
plasmid
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Science (045) Practice
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B. cutting human DNA with restriction enzymes and inserting
recombinant plasmids
C. identifying recombinant plasmids using a DNA microarray assay
D. inserting recombinant plasmids into bacterial cells that then
multiply
12. The idea that species are generally well adapted to their
environments because the ecosystems they inhabit are stable over
long periods of time is a basic tenet of which of the following
theories of evolution?
A. punctuated equilibrium
B. natural selection
C. uniformitarianism
D. biological species concept
13. James Hutton's theory of gradualism and Charles Lyell's theory
of uniformitarianism played significant roles in the development of
evolutionary theory, because together they influenced Charles
Darwin by persuading him that:
A. the occurrence of continental drift provides an explanation for
the discovery of similar species on different landmasses.
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Science (045) Practice
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B. the common ancestry of all living organisms explains their
fundamental similarity.
C. Earth is old enough that changes through natural selection
could account for the evolution of species.
D. transitional forms in the fossil record provide links between
distinct species.
14. Use the cladogram below to answer the question that follows.
Which of the following conclusions about the evolutionary
relationships of species A–H can be drawn from the cladogram
shown?
A. Species F is more closely related to species H than species F is to
species D.
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Science (045) Practice
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B. Species D is more closely related to species E than species D is to
species C.
C. Species F is more closely related to species A than species F is to
species G.
D. Species D is more closely related to species A than species D is to
species B.
15. A biology teacher is planning to discuss the conservation of
matter and energy as part of a presentation on ecosystems but
discovers that students have a poor conceptual understanding of the
physical science concept of entropy. Which of the following activities
would be the most effective for helping students develop a
conceptual understanding of entropy in biological systems?
A. calculating the amount of energy transferred from the sun to
primary producers, consumers, and predators in a local ecosystem
B. creating a compost bin as a model ecosystem and using it to
measure the breakdown of organic matter and the heat generated
by decay
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Science (045) Practice
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C. identifying everyday examples of heat loss that effectively
demonstrate the second law of thermodynamics in a closed system
D. comparing the amount of energy transferred between trophic
levels in an ecosystem with the amount of mass that is transferred
between levels
***Answer Key Below
Answer Key
1. Correct Response: A.
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Science (045) Practice
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This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of the
interpretation of scientific data. The investigator's hypothesis links an
increase in the frequency of adult asthma with a decrease in allergen
exposure during childhood. Data showing a correlation between adults
diagnosed with asthma and an absence of pets in their childhood
environments would be the strongest evidence to support the
investigator's hypothesis.
2. Correct Response: A.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of the
social, cultural, and ethical aspects of science. An increase in the
availability and affordability of different modes of transportation
between 1915 and 1980 led to an increase in both domestic and
international travel. This increase in travel has contributed to the
worldwide spread of viruses like HIV.
3. Correct Response: D.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of the
biochemical pathways involved in photosynthesis. In CAM
photosynthesis, CO2 is taken up by photosynthesizing cells at night and
is temporarily fixed into organic compounds. During the day, the CO2 is
released and used in the Calvin cycle. In C4 photosynthesis, CO2 is
temporarily fixed into an organic acid in mesophyll cells. These organic
acids are then transported to photosynthesizing cells and release CO2
for use in the Calvin cycle. Both of these processes have the same effect:
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Science (045) Practice
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they increase the concentration of CO2 in photosynthesizing cells.
4. Correct Response: D.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of the
functions of organelles. The Golgi apparatus is an organelle that consists
of a stack of flattened vesicles called cisternae. Proteins that enter the
Golgi apparatus are modified by enzymes found in the cisternae, and
many of the modified proteins are later transported outside of the cell.
A cell that is specialized for secreting hormones would likely contain a
large number of Golgi apparatus.
5. Correct Response: C.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of the
hierarchical levels of organization in multicellular organisms. True tissues
consist of cells from the same origin that work together to carry out a
specific function. Sponges lack functionally specialized cells and as a
result lack true tissues.
6. Correct Response: C.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of the
function of different types of tissues in organisms. Phloem is one type of
tissue found in the vascular system of green plants. Its function is to
transport sugars and other nutrients throughout the plant.
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Science (045) Practice
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7. Correct Response: A.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of the
processes and strategies used by organisms to maintain homeostasis.
Homeostatic mechanisms help biological organisms maintain a steady
internal environment when confronted with changing internal or external
conditions. For example, under conditions of high partial pressure of
oxygen, such as in the lungs, the binding of oxygen by hemoglobin is
high and oxygen is taken up. Conversely, under conditions of low partial
pressure of oxygen, such as would be found in metabolically active
tissues, the ability of hemoglobin to bind oxygen is low and oxygen is
released. This mechanism ensures that an organism can rapidly respond
to internal changes in the need for oxygen.
8. Correct Response: B.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of the
flow of energy and the cycling of matter through ecosystems. The
primary productivity of an ecosystem is equal to the amount of light
energy that is converted into chemical energy per unit time by primary
producers. Some of this chemical energy is used by primary producers
to sustain their metabolic processes. The difference between these two
values is the net primary productivity, and it represents the amount of
energy that is available to consumers in an ecosystem.
9. Correct Response: B.
CORE Secondary Education - Life
Science (045) Practice
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This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of the
interdependence of organisms within a food web. There are six
predator-prey relationships in the food web. They are arthropods
consuming nematodes; nematodes consuming nematodes; arthropods
consuming arthropods; arthropods consuming nematodes; birds
consuming arthropods; and animals consuming arthropods. Trophic
levels are described in terms of how far they are removed from the
primary producers at the base of a food chain (decomposers that feed
on detritus are not counted). For example, in the food chain at the top
of the diagram, plants represent the producers, the nematodes are
primary consumers (herbivores), while arthropods represent secondary
and tertiary consumers, and birds represent quaternary consumers. Thus
the predators occupy three trophic levels.
10. Correct Response: C.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of the
patterns of inheritance and their application to genetics problems. Each
individual in the population of 800 (250 + 400 + 150) has two gene loci
that can be occupied by alleles, so there are 1600 (2 × 800) loci present.
The 250 homozygous dominant individuals total 0 recessive alleles
among them. The 400 heterozygous individuals possess a total of 400
recessive alleles, and the 150 homozygous recessive individuals have 300
recessive alleles. Thus the total number of recessive alleles present in the
population is 700 (0 + 400 + 300), and the approximate frequency of
the recessive allele in the population is.
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Science (045) Practice
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11. Correct Response: D.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of the
basic principles, methods, and applications of genetic engineering.
Plasmids are small, circular DNA molecules found primarily in bacteria
cells. They are distinct from the bacterial genome, can be transferred to
other bacteria, and replicate independently. Genetic engineers use
plasmids as vectors to carry genetic material into bacterial cells. Genes
can be added to plasmid DNA using restriction enzymes and the
resulting recombinant plasmid can then be inserted into bacterial cells.
The bacteria containing the plasmids then multiply and produce copies
of the gene of interest.
12. Correct Response: A.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of
modern evolutionary theory. Punctuated equilibrium is a theory of
evolution that proposes that species diverge relatively rapidly (in
geologic terms) and then stay the same for longer periods of time. If the
new species is well adapted to its environment and that environment is
stable, the species may not change much for long periods of time as a
result of stabilizing selection.
13. Correct Response: C.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of
modern evolutionary theory and its historical development. The theory
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Science (045) Practice
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of gradualism was developed to explain the geologic features on Earth.
This theory maintained that slow steady processes, such as a river
carving through rock, could lead to substantial changes in the
landscape. Uniformitarianism expanded the theory of gradualism by
suggesting that the types of geologic processes that shaped Earth's
surface have remained the same throughout Earth's history. The use of
these theories to explain the wide variation in landforms on Earth's
surface led scientists to conclude that the Earth was very old. This
realization played a significant role in the development of evolutionary
theory because it supported the idea that the Earth was old enough for
species to have evolved through natural selection.
14. Correct Response: C.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of
systems of taxonomic classification. Each branch point in a cladogram
represents the divergence of two species from a common ancestor and
the location of each branch indicates how recently this divergence
occurred. In the given cladogram, Species A and F share a common
ancestor, the second branch point from the bottom of the main
evolutionary line. Since species G and H derive from an ancestor that
diverged from the main line at an earlier point, they do not share a
direct common ancestor with species F.
15. Correct Response: B.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of
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Science (045) Practice
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instructional strategies for promoting students' development of
conceptual understanding. Isolated systems spontaneously evolve
towards the state of maximum entropy, which occurs at thermodynamic
equilibrium. The diminishing mass of the compost over time,
accompanied by the loss of heat energy, eventually results in a
thermodynamically stable system that represents a state of maximum
entropy. The measurable changes in the compost thus provide a good
example of entropy that will be hands-on and accessible to students.
Study Practice Problems: Found
on http://www.in.nesinc.com/Content/STUDYGUIDE/IN_SG_SRI_045.htm