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Practice Test 25 - High School Biology

20 questions. Answer them in any order, then submit to see your score and every explanation.

  1. A cell needs to speed up chemical reactions such as breaking down sugars and building new molecules. It does this by making proteins that act as enzymes. How does protein synthesis connect to cell function?
  2. A logistic growth curve is shown. As the population gets closer to carrying capacity KK, the curve becomes less steep and eventually nearly flat. What happens to the population growth rate as it approaches KK?
  3. An environmental club drafts a narrative model for industrial wastewater released into a river. Which modeled pathway most logically links the human activity to a biodiversity outcome?
  4. A structure is described as being made of several different tissue types (including muscle tissue, connective tissue, and nervous tissue) working together to pump blood. Which level of biological organization is this structure?
  5. After heavy rain, fertilizer from nearby farms washes into a lake. A few days later, the water turns green with an algal bloom. Two weeks later, many fish are found dead near the shore. What is the best explanation for how the fertilizer runoff led to the fish die-off?
  6. A river wetland was drained decades ago, reducing habitat for migratory birds and amphibians. A restoration plan would plug drainage ditches, re-flood the area, and replant native wetland vegetation. Which statement best evaluates the likely benefits and challenges of this restoration strategy?
  7. A model shows: [Sun] → (light energy) → [Leaf chlorophyll] → (chemical reactions) → [Glucose] Which statement best interprets what the model shows about energy in glucose?
  8. During a long run, human muscle cells break down stored glycogen into glucose to produce ATP for muscle contraction. How does glycogen synthesis connect to muscle function?
  9. In pea plants, tall stems (T) are dominant over short stems (t). Two tall plants are crossed and produce 80 offspring: 61 tall and 19 short. Which inheritance pattern and parent genotypes best explain these results?
  10. In a condensation (dehydration synthesis) reaction, two glucose molecules can combine to form a disaccharide. Conceptually, which change occurs when the two monomers become linked?​
  11. Peppered moths rest on tree bark. In a polluted forest with darkened bark, dark moths are eaten by birds less often than light moths. In a clean forest with light bark, light moths are eaten less often than dark moths. Which statement best describes how moth color relates to fitness across environments?
  12. A cell is observed with a visible cleavage furrow forming, and the cytoplasm is pinching into two parts. Two nuclei have already formed in the cell. What is the best stage name for what is happening now?
  13. Which statement correctly distinguishes stability from resilience?
  14. A person's blood pressure suddenly drops when they stand up quickly. Their body responds in a way that increases blood pressure back toward normal. Which classification best fits this feedback mechanism?
  15. Claim: A moth population evolved lighter wing color after pollution decreased and tree bark became lighter. Evidence: 1) In 1970, 82% of moths sampled were dark; in 2020, 27% were dark from the same forest. 2) In 2020, both dark and light moths exist in the forest. 3) Birds more often captured dark moth models placed on light-colored bark than light moth models. 4) An adult dark moth kept in a light box for a week appeared slightly lighter. Which evidence is least relevant to demonstrating population-level evolution?
  16. A class recorded the number of spots on 30 ladybugs: 0 spots (1), 2 spots (3), 4 spots (6), 6 spots (8), 8 spots (7), 10 spots (4), 12 spots (1). Which statement best describes the distribution pattern?
  17. Claim: A finch population on Island A evolved larger beaks after a 2-year drought. Evidence: 1) Average beak depth was 8.2 mm in 2018 (before drought) and 9.6 mm in 2021 (after drought). 2) Birds with deeper beaks were more likely to survive the drought year than birds with shallow beaks. 3) Beak depth is heritable in this population (offspring beak depth correlates with parents). 4) In 2021, there was variation in beak depth (some birds had small beaks and some had large beaks). Which set of evidence is most sufficient to support the claim that the population evolved larger beaks?
  18. In a population of rabbits, fur thickness varies and is heritable. A colder climate lasts for many decades. Rabbits with thicker fur survive winters better and have more offspring. Which statement best explains why the population's average fur thickness changes over time?
  19. Claim: Matter cycles through food webs because the same atoms can move from plants to animals and to decomposers. A class used a safe tracer idea in a simulation: "labeled carbon" is added as CO2_2 to a plant container. Later, the label is detected in different places: 1) After 1 day, labeled carbon is detected in plant sugars. 2) After 1 week, labeled carbon is detected in tissues of herbivores that ate the plants. 3) After 2 weeks, labeled carbon is detected in decomposer organisms growing on dead herbivore remains. 4) The herbivores moved faster when the room temperature increased. Which evidence best demonstrates matter cycling through organisms (carbon transfer through the food web)?
  20. Giraffes did not evolve long necks because individual giraffes stretched to reach higher leaves. Instead, neck length varied among giraffes in ancestral populations. During droughts, giraffes with slightly longer necks could reach more food and tended to leave more offspring. Over many generations, average neck length increased. Which statement best explains this change?

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