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Multiple Choice Quiz
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1
The earth's primitive atmosphere was the same as today's atmosphere.
A)True
B)False
2
The primitive atmosphere most likely contained _____.
A)H2
B)NH3 (ammonia)
C)H2O
D)all of the above
3
The primitive atmosphere had little if any _____.
A)water
B)free oxygen
C)carbon dioxide
D)nitrogen
4
The primitive atmosphere was a reducing atmosphere.
A)True
B)False
5
The first organic molecules may have been carried to earth by _____.
A)a comet
B)a meteorite
C)both A and B
6
Which of the following statements about water associated with the primitive earth is false?
A)initially water was present only as a vapor
B)as the earth cooled, water condensed to liquid water
C)after condensing, water fell as rain for hundreds of million years and formed the oceans
D)none of the above
7
If the earth was any farther from the sun water would have frozen.
A)True
B)False
8
When O2 attaches to organic molecules _____.
A)they form polymers
B)it breaks them apart
C)they become radioactive
D)they dissolve in water more easily
9
Which of the following could have been the source of energy in Oparin's suggestion that the first organic molecules could have been produced from primitive atmospheric gases in the presence of a strong energy source?
A)volcanic heat
B)lightening
C)UV radiation
D)all of the above
10
Evidence that organic molecules could be synthesized from the inorganic molecules methane, carbon dioxide, ammonia, hydrogen gas, heat, and energy was provided by _____.
A)Miller
B)Cuvier
C)Wallace
D)Watson and Crick
11
Miller's mixture resembling a strong reducing atmosphere, heat and an electric spark produced _____.
A)DNA
B)the first cells
C)a variety of amino acids
D)ribosomes
12
Since Miller's experiment other investigators have achieved similar results by utilizing other less-reducing combinations of gases dissolved in water.
A)True
B)False
13
The earliest formed organic molecules would have _____.
A)been oxidized by free oxygen
B)would have decayed
C)accumulated in the oceans
D)all of the above
14
The primitive atmosphere gases and elements in the earth's crust would have contained all the elements needed to make organic molecules.
A)True
B)False
15
Which of the following atmospheric gases used by Miller concerned some investigators because they believed it would have been scarce?
A)H2
B)CH4
C)NH3
D)H2O
16
Researchers demonstrated that _____ could have facilitated the conversion of various nitrogen sources to ammonia.
A)oceanic hydrothermal vents
B)lightening
C)UV radiation
D)radioactivity
17
Researchers have shown that organic molecules will react and amino acids will form peptides in the presence of iron-nickel sulfides under ventlike conditions.
A)True
B)False
18
The first cells might have been _____.
A)eukaryotic
B)photosynthetic
C)heterotrophic
D)all of the above
19
If primordial earth lacked free O2, as is speculated, then the first living organisms must have
A)been photosynthetic
B)formed on land
C)practiced fermentation (anaerobic metabolism)
D)practiced glycolysis and cellular respiration
20
It has been shown that amino acids polymerize abiotically when exposed to dry heat.
A)True
B)False
21
The RNA-first hypothesisis is supported by _____.
A)RNA viruses that practice reverse transcription
B)the fossil record
C)comparing the DNA of humans and primates
D)the features of mitochondria which are similar to those of prokaryotic cells
22
The polymerization of polypeptides may have been facilitated by _____ which attracts small organic molecules and contains iron and zinc.
A)microspheres
B)lipsomes
C)proteinoids
D)clay
23
Clay's tendency to collect energy from _____ and to discharge it when the temperature and/or humidity changes could have been the a source of energy for polymerization to occcur.
A)UV radiation
B)radioactive decay
C)lightening
24
Collections of amino acids in shallow puddles that were heated by the sun could have formed _____.
A)proteinoids
B)liposomes
C)steroids
D)DNA
25
Proteinoids added to water formed _____.
A)liposomes
B)plasma membranes
C)microspheres
D)complex cells
26
Researchers all agree that proteins must have developed prior to RNA.
A)True
B)False
27
RNA can be _____.
A)a substrate
B)an enzyme
C)both A and B
28
Living things share a common metabolic pathway called _____.
A)alcoholic fermentation
B)glycolysis
C)photosynthesis
D)cellular respiration
29
In a liquid environment phospholipid molecules form droplets called _____.
A)liposomes
B)coacervate droplets
C)microspheres
D)ribosomes
30
The newly formed organic molecules likely polymerized to produce still larger molecules and then macromolecules.
A)True
B)False
31
If the protocell developed at hydrothermal vents it would have been a chemoautotroph.
A)True
B)False
32
What is the correct order of events that biologists believe occurred as life evolved on earth?
1. monomers joined together to form polymers
2. the aggregation of polymers inside a plasma membrane produced a protocell
3. there was an abiotic synthesis of small organic molecules
4. a true cell evolved once the protocell contained DNA genes
A)1, 2, 3, 4
B)2, 1, 4, 3
C)4, 2, 1, 3
D)3, 1, 2, 4
33
Evidence suggests that the genetic code did undergo a natural selection process before finalizing into today's code.
A)True
B)False
34
Sedimentation takes place _____.
A)on land
B)in water
C)both A and B
D)neither A or B
35
Fossils include _____.
A)footprints
B)droppings
C)worm casts
D)all of the above
36
Fossils generally consist of _____.
A)hard parts such as shells, bones or teeth
B)soft parts such as organs or skin
C)both A and B
37
Any given stratum is _____ the one above it.
A)younger than
B)the same age as
C)older than
38
We are living in the __________ period of the Cenozoic era.
A)Paleogene
B)Neogene
C)neither A or B
39
By the beginning of the Cretaceous period the dinosaurs were extinct.
A)True
B)False
40
Invertebrates are animals without a vertebral column.
A)True
B)False
41
The first vascular plants flourished in the warm swamps of the _____.
A)Permian period
B)Carboniferous period
C)Ordovician period
42
The characteristics of strata are the same all over the world.
A)True
B)False
43
According to a relative dating method strata all around the world that contain a fossil of the ammonite would be the same age.
A)True
B)False
44
The only radioactive isotope contained in organic matter _____.
A)is 14C
B)is 135I
C)is 40K
D)is 14N
45
Radioactive dating techniques that assign an actual date to a fossil are used for _____ dating of fossils.
A)relative
B)absolute
46
The geological time scale divides the history of the earth into _____.
A)eras
B)periods
C)epochs
D)all of the above
47
The time period during which life arose and the first cells came into existence is the _____.
A)Jurassic
B)Carboniferous
C)Precambrian
D)Paleogene
48
Once oxygen was added to the atmosphere by cyanobacteria _____.
A)the atmosphere became an oxidizing one instead of a reducing one
B)the ozone layer formed which allowed living things to live on land
C)aerobic bacteria proliferated
D)all of the above
49
Invagination of the plasma membrane may have formed the _____.
A)mitochondria
B)chloroplast
C)nucleus
D)none of the above
50
Chloroplasts are believed to have been free-living photosynthetic prokaryotes that were engulfed by a nucleated cell.
A)True
B)False
51
The oldest known fossils are of _____.
A)complex prokaryotes
B)unicellular eukaryotes
C)multicellular eukaryotes
52
Which of these eukaryotic cell organelles may have originally been free-living prokaryotic cells?
A)chloroplasts
B)flagella
C)mitochondria
D)all of the above
53
The period of time during which multicellularity began has been clearly established.
A)True
B)False
54
Three major mass extinctions occurred during the Paleozoic era.
A)True
B)False
55
During the Cambrian period outer skeletons may have evolved because they helped protect animals against predation.
A)True
B)False
56
A(n) _____ is based on the principle that some differences in proteins' amino acid sequences or differences in DNA base pair sequences between species occur at a fixed rate and are not tied to natural selection.
A)absolute dating method
B)relative dating method
C)molecular clock
D)none of the above
57
Protective outer skeletons _____.
A)evolved during the Cambrian period
B)survived forces that are apt to destroy fossils which explains the large number of Cambrian fossils
C)cut down on possible access to oxygen in seawater
D)all of the above
58
A association of plant roots with _____ called mycorrhizae is credited with allowing plants to survive on bare rocks.
A)cyanobacteria
B)protozoans
C)fungi
D)none of the above
59
The evolution of _____ allowed insects to develop into the most diverse and abundant group of animals today.
A)wings
B)antennae
C)exoskeletons
D)jointed appendages
60
The ancestors to the amphibians are believed to be _____.
A)jawless fish
B)ray-finned fish
C)cartilaginous fish
D)lobe-finned fish
61
The great _____ forests turned into the coal we use today to fuel our modern society.
A)Precambrian
B)Carboniferous
C)Silurian
D)Devonian
62
The Precambrian time comprises about 87% of the geological time scale.
A)True
B)False
63
Mammals diversified and human evolution began during the _____ era.
A)Cenozoic
B)Mesozoic
C)Paleozoic
64
Which of the following groups of plants evolved at the end of the Mesozoic era and began their radiation in the Cenozoic era?
A)algae
B)angiosperms
C)gymnosperms
D)ferns
65
Earthquakes are the result of the movement of the two plates that meet along a transform boundary.
A)True
B)False
66
The division of Pangaea formed _____.
A)Gondwanaland
B)Eurasia
C)Laurasia
D)both A and C
67
The supercontinent formed 225 MYA by the union of the continents is called _____.
A)Gondwanaland
B)Pangea
C)Eurasia
D)Laurasia
68
Seafloor spreading causes the continents to move a few __________ a year on the average.
A)millimeters
B)centimeters
C)inches
D)none of the above
69
The study of the movement of the earth's crust is called _____.
A)paleontology
B)meteorology
C)plate tectonics
D)driftology
70
The place where two plates scrape across each other is called a _____.
A)subduction zone
B)volcano
C)ocean trench
D)transform boundary
71
When two continents collide a(n) _____ often forms.
A)chain of volcanic islands
B)ocean trench
C)mountain range
D)ocean ridge
72
There have been at least _____ mass extinctions throughout history.
A)two
B)three
C)four
D)five
73
The mass extinctions throughout history may have been due to _____.
A)excess carbon dioxide
B)continental drift
C)a bolide
D)all of the above
74
The mass extinction at the end of the _____ period may have benefitted the dinosaurs because that is when the first of the giant dinosaurs took charge of the land.
A)Cretaceous
B)Triassic
C)Ordovician
D)none of the above
75
Dinosaurs and most reptiles became extinct at the end of the _____ period.
A)Jurassic
B)Precambrian
C)Neogene
D)Cretaceous
76
Placental mammals first appeared during the _____ period.
A)Cretaceous
B)Carboniferous
C)Devonian
D)Pleistocene
77
At the end of the Permian period 90% of the oceanic species and 70% of the land dwelling species disappeared.
A)True
B)False
78
During the Jurassic period _____ flourished.
A)club mosses, horsetails, and ferns
B)cycads and other gymnosperms
C)apelike and grazing mammals
D)both A and B
79
Cretaceous clay contains an abnormally high amount of _____, an element that is rare in the earth's crust but more common in asteroids and meteorites.
A)lead
B)copper
C)iron
D)iridium
80
Huge craters have been found on the Yucatan peninsula and in Central Quebec that are believed to be evidence for meteorite impacts that caused mass extinctions.
A)True
B)False







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