[Under Construction]              

                                                                                                             

 

Biology Division, LCC

 

 

Kabi R. Neupane, Ph.D.

Instructor, Biology and Biotechnology, LCC, Hawaii

 

 

 

              

 

 

 

First Midterm Examination: Sample answers

(Note: Although presentation sequence of questions in the actual test may not match this list, the set of questions are the same) 

Question 1  (1.5 points)

Humans are _____.

Question 2  (1.5 points)
What is the basic unit of life?

Question 3  (1.5 points)
The aspect of biology that unites all of the diverse fields of biology as a single science is _____.

Question 4  (1.5 points)
How do hypotheses differ from theories?

Question 5  (1.5 points)
Which of the following is not recycled?

Question 6  (1.5 points)
What will happen if you do not (properly) finish your antibiotic prescription?

Question 7  (1.5 points)
Lamarck is best known for proposing _____.

Question 8  (1.5 points)
Which of the following is a scientific conclusion based on knowing that humans and bacteria share a common genetic language?

Question 9  (1.5 points)
What name is given to the functional compartments of a cell?

Question 10  (1.5 points)
_____ is a steroid.

Question 11  (1.5 points)
Sweating cools your body by _____.


Question 12  (1.5 points)
A base _____.

Question 13  (1.5 points)
How are adjacent water molecules connected?

Question 14  (1.5 points)
Why is water considered a polar molecule?

Question 15  (1.5 points)
Isotopes of an element have the same number of _____ and different numbers of _____.

Question 16  (1.5 points)
The third electron shell of an atom can hold a maximum of _____ electron(s).

Question 17  (1.5 points)
What name is given to substances that resist changes in pH?

Question 18  (1.5 points)
All atoms of an element have the same number of _____.

Question 19  (1.5 points)
Sugar dissolves when stirred into water. The sugar is the _____, the water is the _____, and the sweetened water is the _____.

Question 20  (1.5 points)
The lower the pH of a solution the _____.

Question 21  (1.5 points)
All of the people in your class form a _____.

Question 22  (1.5 points)
A single carbon atom can form a maximum of _____ covalent bonds.

Question 23  (1.5 points)
What name is given to the following reaction?
sucrose + water --> glucose + fructose

Question 24  (1.5 points)
The following molecule is best described as a _____.
CH3-CH2-CH2-CH2

Question 25  (1.5 points)
A glycerol with three fatty acids attached is referred to as a _____.

Question 26  (1.5 points)
Which of the following is an example of a polysaccharide?

Question 27  (1.5 points)
Which of the following is true with regard to a DNA molecule?

Question 28  (1.5 points)
If one strand of a DNA double helix has the sequence AGTACTG, what will be the sequence of the other strand?

Question 29  (1.5 points)
The region of an enzyme to which a substrate binds is called the _____ site.

Question 30  (1.5 points)
Proteins are polymers constructed from _____ monomers.

Question 31  (1.5 points)
_____ are the major lipids of plasma membranes.

Question 32  (1.5 points)
What microtubule arrangement is found in the cilia and flagella of eukaryotic cells?

Question 33  (1.5 points)
Most human cells contain _____ chromosomes .

Question 34  (1.5 points)
Vacuoles are _____.

Question 35  (1.5 points)
What structures move proteins from the ER to the Golgi apparatus?

Question 36  (1.5 points)
Microfilaments are a component of _____.

Question 37  (1.5 points)
Information is transferred from the nucleus to ribosomes via _____.

Question 38  (1.5 points)
In eukaryotic cells, what name is given to the region between the nucleus and the plasma membrane?

Question 39  (1.5 points)
The two basic types of cells are _____ and _____.

Question 40  (1.5 points)
_____ code for the structure of proteins.

Question 41  (4 points)
What is natural selection?

Natural selection is the concept that explains evolution or descent with modification. According to this concept, species produce more offspring than can be supported by finite resources. As a result, individuals in a population that are better adapted to a given environment survive to reproduce producing next generation population with better adaptation to the environment of their parents.


Question 42  (4 points)
What is biology?

Biology is the scientific study of life.

Question 43  (4 points)
Differentiate between prokaryotic and Eukaryotic cells

Prokaryotic cells are smaller and less complex compared to eukaryotic cells. The main difference is that the eukaryotic cells contain membrane-bound organelles such as nucleus, mitochondria etc. whereas there are no such organelles in prokaryotic cells. 

Question 44  (4 points)
What is an emergent property? What is the relevance of this property to life?

A complex substance (for example, hammer) can be created by putting together two or more components  (for example a metal head and an wooden handle) in a certain way. Emergent property is the novel property that arises as a result of such combination. Living things are made up of simple chemicals but their combination results in increasingly complex organization such as cells, tissues and the whole organism. In other words, cells are more than a bag of complex organic molecules and an organism is more than a collection of different systems.

 

Question 45  (4 points)
Write short notes TWO
A) Atomic mass B) Isotope C) Hydrogen bond

A) Atomic mass: It is the mass of nucleus of  an atom expressed in Daltons. Atomic mass includes the mass of protons plus the mass of neutrons.

B) Isotope: An isotope is the variant form of an atom. Two isotopes have the same atomic number but different mass due to differences in the number of their neutrons.
C) Hydrogen bond: A weak bond formed between a partially positive atom in one molecule with another molecule having a partial negative charge. For example, adjacent water molecules are held together by partially positive hydrogen of one molecule with partially negative oxygen of another. 

Question 46  (4 points)
Why is water considered a polar molecule?

Shared electrons between two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom of a water molecule spend most of their time around oxygen nucleus and not as much time around hydrogen nuclei. This results in the generation of slight negative charge on oxygen side and slight positive charge on hydrogen side. Because of this electrical charge on opposite ends, water is considered to be a polar molecule.

Question 47  (4 points)
What does the acronym DNA stand for and what is the importance of this molecule?

DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic acid. It is the genetic material (genes) that is transmitted from parents to offspring. 

Question 48  (4 points)
Differentiate between ONE of the following:
A) Active transport and passive transport
B) Diffusion and Osmosis

A) Active transport is the movement of molecules against their concentration gradient (i.e., from the region of low to the region of high concentration) across a biological membrane by utilizing energy from ATP molecules. Passive transport is the movement of molecules along their concentration gradient (from a region of high concentration to a region of low concentration) and it does not require an energy input.

B) Diffusion and osmosis: Diffusion is the movement of molecules along their concentration gradient whereas osmosis is the passive movement of water across a biological membrane.
 

Question 49  (4 points)
Wrtie short notes on any TWO of the following:
A) Chloroplast
B) Mitochondria
C) lysosomes

A) Chloroplast: Chloroplast is a membrane-enclosed organelle found in plant cells. It contains the green pigment called chlorophyll and is the site where photosynthesis takes place.

B)Mitochondria: Mitochondira are membrane-enclosed organelles found in all eukaryotic cells. Mitochondria generate ATP from food for all cellular work.

C) Lysosomes: They are membrane-bound organelles containing digestive enzymes. Lysosomes help in cellular digestion, defense against invading organisms and in sculpturing of embryos during development. 


Question 50  (4 points)
Differentiate between any ONE of the following
A) Cytoplasm and Nucleoplasm
B) Rough Endoplasmic reticulum (RER) and Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum (SER)

A) Cytoplasm is everything between the cell membrane and nucleus. It includes semifluid material and organelles. Nucleoplasm is the semifluid material inside the nucleus.

B) Rough ER: Ribosome-studded membrane sacs in the cytoplasm which make membrane proteins and secretory proteins.  Smooth ER: They are like Rough ER but do not have ribosomes on the surface. These membraneous sacs manufacture lipids and hormones.

Question 51  (5 points)
What is Cell theory? Explain.

It is a theory which states that 

a. all organisms are made up of at least one cell.

b. cells are structural and functional units of life.

c. cells arise from preexisting cells.
 
nd mail, questions or comments about this web site to kabi@hawaii.edu.
Copyright © 2003 Kabi R. Neupane
Last modified: December 13, 2006
About PowerPoint Presentation: Many PowerPoint files have been adapted from media supplement of the Textbook Publisher, Benjamin Cummings (Pearson Education, Inc.). I strongly recommend students to visit the Publisher’s website at www.essentialbiology.com (Bio 101) or www.campbellbiology.com (Bio 171) and benefit form their online resources.