Biology – Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) with Answers

Biology Science Multiple Choice Questions Part 3 Eduhyme

Living things have a high degree of Biological Order (body pattern or organization). In general, living organisms are much more organized than dead ones.

This article is for people who want to get acquainted with the concepts of basic biology. It can serve as a supplemental text in a classroom, tutored, or home-schooling environment. It should also be useful for career changers who need to refresh their knowledge of the subject.

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This article (Part 3) work contains an abundance of practice quiz, test, and exam questions. The answers are listed in the end of the article.

1. Which of the following terms translates exactly to mean the ‘‘study of life’’?

(a) Anatomy
(b) Physiology
(c) Ecology
(d) Biology
(e) Structure

2. All organisms have this in common:

(a) Anatomy, physiology, and Biological Order
(b) Anatomy only
(c) Physiology only
(d) Just the fact that they are alive
(e) Living, but lacking any Pattern of Order

3. A young boy squashes a frog flat like a pancake under his boot. The dead frog no longer has:

(a) Biological Disorder
(b) Physiology
(c) Gross anatomy
(d) Microscopic anatomy
(e) Either structure or function

4. A severely fractured wing no longer permits a wounded bird to fly. The best theoretical explanation for this fact is:

(a) The germ theory of disease
(b) The state of Biological Disorder is too great for normal function to occur
(c) Bird metabolism has been totally destroyed
(d) A perfect pattern of body structure exists
(e) Bird physiology has not been significantly affected

5. Biological Disorder is best reflected by:

(a) Normal healing of a skin wound
(b) Two diseases making a patient sicker
(c) Sexual reproduction
(d) A small bone growing to become a larger one
(e) Extensive patterns of veins within a leaf

6. According to the text, a broken spider web could best be used as a symbol for:

(a) Normal anatomy and physiology
(b) A good balance among the organisms inhabiting a local swamp
(c) Draining of a swamp, accompanied by massive loss of species and habitat
(d) A fish dying from a swallowed hook
(e) A football player falling and injuring his knee

7. The Father of Natural History:

(a) Perry Como
(b) Claude Bernard
(c) William Tell
(d) Aristotle
(e) Hippocrates

8. Derives from the Latin for ‘‘control of sameness’’ (relative constancy):

(a) Ecology
(b) Glucose
(c) Homeostasis
(d) Excretion
(e) Oral

9. Carbon (C) represents what specific level of biological organization?

(a) Chemical bond
(b) Molecule
(c) Atom (element)
(d) Electron
(e) Proton

10. Which of the following is an example of an organic molecule?

(a) C–C (carbon–carbon) bond
(b) CO2
(c) O2
(d) N2
(e) NH2

11. Level lying just below the cell, but just above the molecule:

(a) Organism
(b) Atom
(c) Organelle
(d) Tissue
(e) Organ system

12. A ‘‘little-organ’’-like structure that conducts specific functions within the cell:

(a) Organelle
(b) Population
(c) Community
(d) Organic chemical
(e) Organism

13. A liver cell is alive, but its mitochondria technically are not, because:

(a) Mitochondria have all the properties of living things
(b) The cell is able to reproduce itself
(c) The mitochondrion produces lots of energy
(d) There can be no change in the number of mitochondria within each cell
(e) Cells (but not mitochondria) are commonly visible through the compound microscope

14. Which of the following groups represent the basic (primary) types of tissue?

(a) Cardiac, nervous, endocrine, muscular
(b) Bony, connective, cartilage, muscle
(c) Blood, epithelial, nervous, exocrine
(d) Brain, circulatory, nervous, cardiac
(e) Epithelial, connective, nervous, muscle

15. The kidney is considered an example of what level of biological organization?

(a) Tissue
(b) Cell
(c) Community
(d) Organ system
(e) Organ

16. Male and female members of the Homo sapiens species are considered:

(a) An ecosystem
(b) A population
(c) A community
(d) A genus
(e) A subphylum

17. Ecological relationships exist at what level of biological organization?

(a) Organ, organ system, organism
(b) Organ system, community, population
(c) Population, community, ecosystem
(d) Tissue, chemical, organelle
(e) Organism, community, ecosystem

18. A swarm of mosquitoes is blown into a new swampland by strong winds. There are few birds to eat them. Soon the mosquitoes greatly multiply in number. This would be an instance of:

(a) Population balance
(b) Species extinction
(c) Predator living upon prey
(d) An unstable population
(e) Homeostasis of mosquito numbers

19. Louis Pasteur demonstrated that:

(a) The Theory of Biogenesis is false
(b) Micro-organisms did not spontaneously generate themselves
(c) Francesco Redi was very wrong about his finding that flies do not arise from rotting meat
(d) Human beings came into existence during the Big Bang
(e) The Ancient Egyptians did not arise by spontaneous generation

20. ‘‘Life is produced only from other things that are already alive.’’ This statement summarizes the:

(a) Concept of evolution by natural selection
(b) Folklore about mice spontaneously generating from dirty shirts
(c) Theory of Biogenesis
(d) Doctrine of Survival of the Fittest
(e) One bird in the hand is better than two birds in the bush!

21. Eukaryotes are characterized by:

(a) The lack of a cell nucleus
(b) A rigid cell wall, but no nuclear membrane
(c) The presence of several membrane-surrounded organelles, including a cell nucleus
(d) The complete absence of any organelles when viewed under the microscope
(e) The same body structures and functions as most bacteria

22. With the coming of multicellular organisms, what features arrived?

(a) A generalized ability for all body cells to carry out all of the essential functions of life
(b) A rapid loss of physiology, accompanied by a corresponding gain in anatomy
(c) Greater specialization of body structures and functions
(d) Nothing really different than was present for the unicellular organisms
(e) Each cell had two nuclei, rather than one

23. The Paleozoic Era is important due to the fact that:

(a) It represents the Age of Reptiles
(b) Eskimos first showed up during its Ice Age
(c) The first vertebrate animals and fish, land plants, insects, and forests of fern-like trees, appeared during this Era
(d) Invertebrate animals (like starfish and sea squirts) were the only ones around
(e) Delicate jellyfish first appeared within the sea

24. The Age of the Dinosaurs:

(a) Cenozoic Era
(b) Mesozoic Era
(c) Late Pre-Cambrian Era
(d) Paleozoic Era
(e) The Final Ice Age

25. The last major group of mammals to evolve:

(a) Birds
(b) Snakes
(c) Lizards and turtles
(d) Fur-bearing marsupials
(e) Primates

26. The water (H2O) molecule:

(a) Is an example of a crystal?
(b) Unequally shares outermost electrons between its O and H atoms
(c) Frequently breaks down its peptide bonds to release energy
(d) Equally shares outermost electrons between its O and H atoms
(e) Is one of the least common types of molecules within most organisms

27. Both H2O and NaCl differ from CO2 in that they:

(a) Are important organic compounds
(b) Do not contain chemical bonds
(c) Represent key inorganic compounds
(d) Never react with other particles
(e) Are both mainly ionic in their bonding

28. The main reason you shouldn’t swim in salty water during a thunderstorm is:

(a) Lightning might strike and topple a nearby tree, hitting you on the head!
(b) Sodium chloride is very salty and irritating to the eyes and skin
(c) Your body contains only organic solutes, while salty water contains only inorganic ones
(d) Lightning might strike the water, and its electrons be carried to your body by ions
(e) The rain might wash organic solvents into the surrounding seawater

29. C–C bonds:

(a) Can create long chains, branching trees, or closed-ring molecules
(b) Always bond with hydrogen and oxygen at the same time
(c) Are especially abundant in CO2 molecules
(d) Create a highly orderly inorganic skeleton for many body molecules
(e) Seldom occur within the membranes of living cells

30. General name for the fats and fat-like hydrocarbons that cannot dissolve in water:

(a) Enzymes
(b) Lipids
(c) Carbohydrates
(d) Krebs cycle electron carriers
(e) Nucleic acids

31. Type of energy released by action of ATPase:

(a) Potential energy
(b) Motivational juice
(c) Kinetic energy
(d) Consumption of calories
(e) Cold stimulus

32. Adenosine diphosphate:

(a) Represents a reduced, lower-energy form of ATP
(b) Continuously degrades into free energy, electrons, and O2
(c) Has no connection whatsoever to the Cell Cycle
(d) Is regenerated whenever the cell has an excess of energy
(e) May be important in humans and animals, but not in plants

33. You chew up and swallow a hamburger. Within your stomach and small intestine, it is further digested into individual proteins and amino acids, which in turn are finally broken down to provide free energy. The overall name for this process is:

(a) Cannibalism
(b) Anabolism
(c) Tissue rehydration
(d) Metabolism
(e) Catabolism

34. After a portion of a tree trunk is gouged by a saw, the trunk slowly repairs itself, then continues growing. The general terms for these physiological operations are:

(a) Mitosis & anabolic processes
(b) Mitochondrial enzymatic action
(c) Mitosis & catabolic processes
(d) Stepwise decreases in Biological Order and pattern
(e) Random osmosis/diffusion

35. Plant cells consume carbon dioxide as part of their metabolism because:

(a) Cellular respiration always involves the net consumption of CO2
(b) The Calvin cycle starts with a group of C atoms coming from CO2
(c) Photosynthesis uses energy from sunlight
(d) CO2 molecules, not O2 molecules, have enough energy in their bonds to make ATP
(e) Most plants live in low-oxygen environments

36. All the greenish parts of a plant contain ________ with chlorophyll molecules:

(a) Rough ER
(b) Cell nuclei
(c) Golgi apparatuses
(d) Lysosomes
(e) Chloroplasts

37. Cellular respiration:

(a) Occurs right after glycolysis under anaerobic conditions
(b) Utilizes O2 to catabolize carbohydrates, lipids, or proteins
(c) Does not occur in the cells of heterotrophs
(d) Involves the production of lactic acid, under aerobic conditions
(e) Takes place within the cytoplasm

38. The Krebs cycle:

(a) Produces hydrogen-carrier molecules, which then move onto the cristae of the mitochondria
(b) Is named for the concert pianist Krebs Kuhdiddlehopper
(c) Includes enzymes that operate directly upon the glucose molecule
(d) Is much less efficient than glycolysis in producing ATP molecules
(e) Has carbon as its final electron acceptor

39. Schleiden & Schwann are especially noted for:

(a) Advancing the Modern Cell Theory
(b) Being the first to use the word, cell
(c) Showing that cells were really not very important
(d) Painting pictures of organisms upon cave walls
(e) Successfully disproving the conclusions of Robert Hooke

40. The word lysosome translates into Common English to mean:

(a) Breakdown body
(b) Kernel-resembler
(c) Lice-cutter
(d) Tiny digester
(e) 5-carbon sugar body

41. A packager of proteins, lipids, hormones, and various cell products:

(a) Lysosome
(b) Golgi body
(c) Nucleoid region
(d) Rigid cell wall
(e) Nuclear membrane

42. A cytoskeleton:

(a) Often cracks into tiny particles
(b) Provides pores in the nuclear membrane
(c) Manufactures antibodies
(d) Consists of microtubules as well as microfilaments
(e) Makes each cell extremely weak and fragile

43. A single gene is important because:

(a) It provides a code or blueprint for the production of a certain protein
(b) Most cells contain no more than one gene
(c) It always acts to speed up a particular digestive process
(d) Each gene provides a specific code for some type of membrane transport
(e) No DNA is present without it

44. If all the tRNAs within a cell were suddenly destroyed, _____ would be directly and immediately affected:

(a) Osmosis
(b) Transcription
(c) Simple diffusion
(d) Intracellular transport
(e) Translation

45. A polypeptide gets its name from the fact that:

(a) It consists of a series of unattached amino acids
(b) The word mitosis also has the same meaning
(c) The molecule really has a lot of pep!
(d) The molecule contains peptide bonds between its amino acid subunits
(e) There is nothing else quite like it within the living plant/animal body

46. One of the main reasons that body tissues do not become clogged with millions of dead cells:

(a) Quick occurrence of autolysis
(b) Microscopic vacuum-cleaners within the cytoplasm
(c) Slow and reliable rates of structural protein synthesis
(d) Just enough mitochondria to provide the needed energy
(e) A massive allergic reaction to the dead cells

47. Active transport systems differ from passive transport systems by their:

(a) Lack of importance in protein synthesis
(b) Use of free energy from the splitting of ATP
(c) Frequent lack of potential energy supplies
(d) Stickiness and rubbery texture
(e) Participation in cellular movements

48. Like simple diffusion, osmosis:

(a) Proceeds from an area of higher to one of lower concentration
(b) Occurs from an area of lower to one of higher concentration
(c) Involves the random movement of H2O molecules only
(d) Directly releases energy to support cell metabolism
(e) Interferes with normal cellular digestion

49. Facilitated diffusion shares a certain major feature with active transport:

(a) Energy-free scattering of particles
(b) Thrusting of particles from a region where their concentration is low, up to a region where their concentration is high
(c) No similarity to simple diffusion
(d) Dependence upon the action of protein carrier molecules
(e) Breaking down of glucose

50. Mitosis is:

(a) The orderly division of paired, duplicated chromosomes into single, unpaired chromosomes
(b) A complete destruction of 46 chromosomes
(c) A specific type of cellular transport process
(d) Removal of mitochondria from the cytoplasm
(e) The same thing as interphase

51. Biological discipline which defines and classifies different groups of organisms:

(a) Ecology
(b) Anatomy
(c) Taxonomy
(d) Physiology
(e) Bacteriology

52. The bacteria and all other types of prokaryotes are members of this kingdom:

(a) Bacteriae
(b) Monera
(c) Plantae
(d) Animalia
(e) Fungi

53. A group of bacteria that use nitrogen-fixation to produce their food:

(a) Photoautotrophs
(b) Heterotrophs
(c) Chemoautotrophs
(d) Gram-positive
(e) Gram-negative

54. Comes from the Latin for poison:

(a) Bacteremia
(b) Septicemia
(c) Antibiotics
(d) Virus
(e) Coccus

55. Extensively use pseudopodia to help them eat and move:

(a) Euglena
(b) Bacteria
(c) Amoebas
(d) Mushrooms
(e) Plankton

56. Type of fungi that get much of their nutrition from rotting plants and leaves:

(a) Parasitic
(b) Pathogenic
(c) Saprophytic
(d) Gram-positive
(e) Photosynthetic

57. Every time you see the suffix, -mycetes, you know that a ________is somehow involved:

(a) Fungus
(b) Plant
(c) Virus
(d) Bacterium
(e) Amoeba

58. Alcoholic fermentation is primarily carried out by:

(a) Morel mushrooms
(b) Anaerobic yeast cells
(c) Hyphae
(d) Oxygen-utilizing club fungi
(e) Fertile basidia

59. Mixtures of fungi with algae or bluish-green bacteria in symbiosis:

(a) Chloroplasts
(b) Lichens
(c) Cellular slime molds
(d) Flagella
(e) Mosses

60. Scattered white patches appearing on a person’s mucous membranes may well signal the presence of:

(a) Albinism
(b) Enhanced immune system activity
(c) Candidiasis
(d) Amebiasis
(e) Deadly bark-rot syndrome

61. A partial, undeveloped plant contained within a seed:

(a) Zygote
(b) Ovum
(c) Sperm
(d) Embryo
(e) Fetus

62. Mosses and other moss-like plants:

(a) Nonvascular plants
(b) Tracheophytes
(c) Vascular plants
(d) Oviducts
(e) Lichens

63. Sphagnum is also known as:

(a) Peat moss
(b) Water chestnut
(c) Plantain
(d) Leafy veins
(e) Chlorophyll

64. Lacking a vascular (vessel-bearing) system, they must grow upon shallow pools of water:

(a) Conifers
(b) Gymnosperms
(c) Mosses and liverworts
(d) Lichens and corals
(e) Club fungi and sac fungi

65. Ferns:

(a) Have split leaves or fronds
(b) Show broad, flat leaves
(c) Cannot reproduce naturally
(d) Grow only in cold, dry climates
(e) Did not exist during the Carboniferous Period

66. An entire pine tree is technically called a:

(a) Nonvascular tracheophyte
(b) Mature sporophyte
(c) Partial basidium
(d) Amoeboid center
(e) Oogonium

67. Gnetophytes, like all _____, reproduce by means of spores and cones:

(a) Gymnosperms
(b) Angiosperms
(c) Spermatozoa
(d) Oocytes
(e) Zygotes

68. The female reproductive organ of a flower:

(a) Anthers
(b) Filaments
(c) Stamen
(d) Corolla
(e) Carpel

69. Plucking one petal from an otherwise perfect round flower would result in:

(a) Creation of symmetry
(b) Enhanced Biological Order
(c) The process of measuring together
(d) Introduction of bilateral symmetry
(e) Breaking of radial symmetry

70. After a zygote undergoes several cleavages, the eight-cell stage is followed by:

(a) A blastula, then a gastrula
(b) An archenteron, then a blastula
(c) A gastrula, then a blastula
(d) Endosymbiosis
(e) Self-pollination

71. Bilateral invertebrates with no main body cavity:

(a) Annelids and other types of coelomates
(b) Primates and many other mammals
(c) Planaria and other types of acoelomates
(d) Nearly all types of autotrophs
(e) Mollusks

72. A huge phylum of invertebrates with segmented bodies and ‘‘jointed feet’’:

(a) Humans and other vertebrates
(b) Fungi
(c) Arthropods
(d) Plantae
(e) Mycetes

73. Comprise the hugest number of known species of any animal:

(a) Millipedes
(b) Echinoderms
(c) Centipedes
(d) Marsupials
(e) Insects

74. Evolutionary ‘bridging species between most invertebrates and the true vertebrates:

(a) Archaeopteryx and other ancient bird-reptiles
(b) Monarch butterflies and pupating moths
(c) Sea squirts and lancelets
(d) Sharks and other cartilaginous fishes
(e) Snakes and turtles

75. The vertebrates all have a (an) ___________ system:

(a) Cartilaginous osseous
(b) Open circulatory
(c) Nonfunctional nervous
(d) Open-topped vertebral
(e) Closed circulatory

76. The skin and skeleton can be legitimately studied together because:

(a) They both arise from two neighboring germ layers in the embryo
(b) Each is composed of hard bony tissue
(c) Neither is the exact opposite of the other
(d) Organ systems never die
(e) Oftentimes both types of systems are missing in late embryos

77. Substance mainly responsible for waterproofing human skin:

(a) Keratin
(b) Melanin
(c) Glycogen
(d) Albumen
(e) Chlorophyll

78. Possess an endoskeleton comprised of bone and joint connective tissue:

(a) Most arthropods
(b) Some crabs
(c) A few types of fish, only
(d) Most spiders
(e) Humans and most other vertebrates

79. Maintenance of blood calcium homeostasis is important because:

(a) Caþþ is essential for all enzyme function
(b) Bone matrix cannot store many calcium ions
(c) Contractions of all body muscles depend upon an adequate supply of blood Caþþ
(d) Homeostasis can never be violated
(e) People’s bones are easily fractured when there is too much body calcium

80. Within a bone–muscle lever system, the _____ usually serves as the fulcrum:

(a) Tendon
(b) Joint
(c) Synovial membrane
(d) Ligament
(e) Bursa

81. Perimysium is located where within a skeletal muscle organ?

(a) Around each fascicle of muscle fibers
(b) Lying upon the entire muscle organ
(c) Within each bundle or fascicle of fibers
(d) Between fascicles, but within the muscle organ
(e) Neither within nor outside of muscle fiber fascicles

82. According to the sliding filament theory, muscle fibers contract because:

(a) Thin actin myofilaments slide inward over tilted myosin crossbridges
(b) Thick myosin myofilaments become longer, causing the actin to shorten
(c) Myofibrils pile upon one another, somewhat like an accordion
(d) Thick myosin myofilaments slide outward over vertical actin crossbridges
(e) Muscle proteins are progressively destroyed and digested

83. Spinal nerves and individual peripheral nerves are considered parts of the:

(a) CNS
(b) Spinal cord
(c) Cerebrum
(d) PNS
(e) Neuromuscular junction

84. Sensory receptors are specialized nerve endings that are sensitive to a particular kind of:

(a) Thought impulse
(b) Stimulus
(c) ACh molecule
(d) Motor impulse
(e) Higher motor neuron

85. Exocrine glands:

(a) Are without ducts
(b) Secrete major hormone products
(c) Depend upon ducts to carry their secretions
(d) Release messengers into the bloodstream
(e) Include the thyroid and anterior pituitary

86. Releasing hormones are:

(a) Secreted into the bloodstream by special neurons in the hypothalamus
(b) Sent into a system of ducts
(c) Produced by epithelial cells within the posterior pituitary gland
(d) Modified by the adrenal cortex before they are actually secreted
(e) Named for their direct influence upon the thyroid gland

87. Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) primarily acts to:

(a) Release insulin into the bloodstream
(b) Enhance the development of ovarian follicles and their secretion of estrogen and progesterone
(c) Rupture the mature ovarian follicles, resulting in ovulation
(d) Decrease the rate of secretion of growth hormone (GH)
(e) Reduce the symptoms of tissue inflammation

88. Helps the adrenal medulla carry out the ‘‘Fight-or-Flight’’ stress response:

(a) Corpus luteum
(b) Secondary sex characteristic
(c) Sympathetic portion of the nervous system
(d) The structure of the progesterone molecule
(e) A calm, serene, mental attitude

89. An alternate name for the cardiovascular system:

(a) Respiratory network
(b) Pituitary stalk
(c) Circulatory system
(d) Endocrine system
(e) Integumentary system

90. The tiniest blood vessels:

(a) Capillaries
(b) Veins
(c) Arterioles
(d) Arteries
(e) Venules

91. Have a two-chambered heart with only a single circulation:

(a) Fish
(b) Amphibians
(c) Reptiles
(d) Humans
(e) All other mammals besides humans

92. The contraction and emptying phase of each heart chamber:

(a) Systole
(b) ‘‘Dupp’’
(c) Diastole
(d) Cardiac cycle
(e) ‘‘Lubb’’

93. A below normal or ‘‘deficient’’ blood pressure:

(a) Normotension
(b) Arteriosclerotic heart disease
(c) Hypotension
(d) Atherosclerosis
(e) Hypertension

94. Closely associated with immunity:

(a) Human exoskeleton
(b) Digestive tract
(c) Lymphatic and reticuloendothelial system
(d) Nodal tissue
(e) Myocardium

95. External respiration occurs between the blood in the _____ and the air in the _____:

(a) Systemic arterioles; pulmonary capillaries
(b) Pulmonary capillaries; alveoli
(c) Pulmonary arteries; alveoli
(d) Bronchi; trachea
(e) Systemic capillaries; bronchioles

96. Fish respiration differs from that in land-dwelling animals in that they:

(a) Extract much more oxygen from the surrounding air
(b) Have a better defense mechanism to protect wet breathing surfaces from dehydration
(c) Utilize H2O as a source for both obtaining O2 and excreting CO2
(d) Take advantage of the lungs as a mechanism for ventilation
(e) Possess five lungs, instead of just two

97. A flexible flap of cartilage forming the lid over the voice box:

(a) Epiglottis
(b) Primary bronchus
(c) Glottis
(d) Thyroid cartilage
(e) Laryngeal prominence

98. Digestion:

(a) The movement of food from the pharynx into the esophagus
(b) A type of peristalsis found in the human stomach
(c) Essentially the same thing as caloric balance
(d) The chemical and physical breakdown of food
(e) Passage of nutrients across the wall of the digestive tube, into the blood

99. Consists of the duodenum plus the jejunum plus the ileum:

(a) Small intestine
(b) Colon
(c) Cecum
(d) Vermiform appendix
(e) Rectum

100. In humans, the stage of development from the third month after fertilization:

(a) Blastula
(b) Embryo
(c) Yolk sac
(d) Fetus
(e) Zygote