1. The Urey–Miller experiment:

  Hint

    a) showed that it was not possible for non-living matter to produce biological compounds on Earth.
    b) proved that before living cells could arise, living chemicals must be formed.
    c) showed that any source of energy such as ultraviolet light could be used instead of electricity to produce biological chemicals.
    d) proved that non-living matter produced biological compounds on Earth.
    e) proved that it is possible for non-living matter to produce biological chemicals (biochemicals).

2. The rock layers from each locality in the diagram have been shown by geologists to be undisturbed, i.e. not overturned.



What inference can be made about the rock layers?

  Hint

    a) Locality 1 contains the youngest rock layers.
    b) Locality 1 contains the oldest rock layers.
    c) Locality 3 contains the oldest rock layers.
    d) Locality 2 contains the oldest rock layers.
    e) Locality 3 contains the youngest rock layers.

3. The graph shows the breakdown of radioactive isotope (14C) within a rock.



From the graph it is clear that:

  Hint

    a) the point labelled A indicated on the graph represents a single half-life and is less than 10 000 years.
    b) the point labelled B indicated on the graph represents a single half-life and is less than 10 000 years.
    c) the breakdown of 14C is dependent upon how old the rock is.
    d) the point labelled B indicated on the graph represents the time at which there is only 14N remaining within the rock.
    e) the point labelled C indicated on the graph represents the time at which there is no more 14N remaining within the rock.

4. The lithosphere consists of:

  Hint

    a) landforms, rocks and soil.
    b) a blanket of gases surrounding the Earth.
    c) oceans, lakes, rivers, rain and mist.
    d) oceans, lakes, rocks and soil.
    e) partially molten rock.

5. Evidence for seafloor spreading comes from:

  Hint

    a) the study of landforms, rocks and soil.
    b) remains of living organisms embedded in rocks (fossils).
    c) composition of meteorites.
    d) magnetic surveys of ocean ridges.
    e) the jigsaw fit of the oceans.

6. The table represents a partially completed summary of the structure of the Earth, showing a distribution of the elements and the principal geophysical or geochemical processes.

Structural, geophysical or geochemical	Elements
Meteorite impacts	Si, Fe, Ni, etc.
1	Si, Fe, Al, O, Mg
2	H2, H2O, CO2, N2, H2S
Escape to space	H, He
3	Fe, Ni, U

The parts labelled 1, 2 and 3 would most probably represent in order:

  Hint

    a) volcanic emissions, molten inner core and liquid outer core.
    b) volcanic emissions, liquid outer core and molten inner core.
    c) liquid outer core, volcanic emissions and molten inner core.
    d) solid outer core, volcanic emissions and liquid inner core.
    e) liquid inner core, volcanic emissions and molten outer core.

7. Which of the following choices represents the correct sequence of stages in the early evolution of living things?

  Hint

    a) Organic molecules, biological membranes, procaryotic heterotrophic cells, procaryotic autotrophic cells, eucaryotic cells, colonial organisms,                multicellular organisms
    b) Organic molecules, biological membranes, eucaryotic cells, procaryotic heterotrophic cells, procaryotic autotrophic cells, colonial organisms,                multicellular organisms
    c) Biological membranes, organic molecules, procaryotic heterotrophic cells, colonial organisms, procaryotic autotrophic cells, multicellular organisms
    d) Biological membranes, procaryotic heterotrophic cells, colonial organisms, organic molecules, procaryotic autotrophic cells
    d) Organic molecules, eucaryotic cells, procaryotic heterotrophic cells, biological membranes, procaryotic autotrophic cells, colonial organisms,                multicellular organisms

8. The endosymbiotic hypothesis states that:

  Hint

    a) procaryotic organisms occupied anaerobic environments such as marshes, swamps and the sea floor, and then evolved into eucaryotic cells.
    b) the procaryotic cell is the result of the symbiotic relationship between small groups of eucaryotic cells that became the organelles inside                procaryotic cells.
    c) the eucaryotic cell is the result of the symbiotic relationship between small groups of procaryotic cells that became the organelles inside                eucaryotic cells.
    d) eucaryotic cells evolved from chloroplasts to become specialised in procaryotic cells.
    e) eucaryotic organisms descended from specialised bacteria.

9. Thermophilic procaryotes (members of the domain Archaea) survive in hot springs at temperatures close to 100°C, while other organisms can withstand extremely cold temperatures. The fact that different organisms can survive in a wide range of environments is a function of:

  Hint

    a) access to sufficient water, resulting in species survival.
    b) change in environments, and climates, resulting in dispersal.
    c) natural selection, so that the organisms least suited to each other survived.
    d) the random nature of reproductive strategies.
    e) the special adaptations they possess that suit them to their environment.

10. Many procaryotes use fermentation as an energy source. A reaction showing fermentation is shown below:

glucose pyruvate ethanol + carbon dioxide (or lactic acid)

This reaction involves:

    Hint

    a) the creation of energy using oxygen.
    b) the use of enzymes that enable energy breakdown.
    c) the manufacture of glucose as energy using oxygen.
    d) the breakdown of glucose for energy without using oxygen.
    e) the breakdown of glucose for energy using oxygen.

11. Nitrogen fixation involves:

    Hint

    a) the use of a special group of enzymes called nitrogenases to produce nitrogen gas.
    b) the use of ammonia, ammonium ions or nitrate ions by a species.
    c) the conversion of nitrogen from the air into forms usable by other species.
    d) the breakdown of nitrogen without using oxygen.
    e) the development of aerobic respiration in more recent species.

12. Another group of procaryotes are the Archaea. The Archaea’s metabolism involves the extraction of energy from inorganic chemicals. This chemosynthetic process is suited to an anoxic environment and the Archaea still living today are often called:

    Hint

    a) heterocysts.
    b) heterotrophs.
    c) chemotrophs.
    d) aerobics.
    e) eucaryotes.

13. Procaryotic cells are the oldest and the smallest on Earth. Their successful survival is due to a number of factors including:

    Hint

    a) their fast rate of reproduction.
    b) their varied metabolism.
    c) their use of nutrients that are inaccessible to other organisms.
    d) their ability to live in environments with varied oxygen content.
    e) all of the above.

14. A group of primitive organisms that have cell walls built from polysaccharides and proteins, and possess a lipid membrane consisting of glycerol (a hydrocarbon) with an ether linkage, would be classified as:

     Hint

    a) Archaea.
    b) Bacteria.
    c) Eucarya.
    d) Monera.
    e) none of the above.

15. The purpose of classification is to divide organisms (or any objects) into groups on the basis of certain characteristics. All the organisms within a group have these characteristics in common. The branch of science concerned with the classification of living things is called:

    Hint

    a) morphology.
    b) dichotomy.
    c) taxonomy.
    d) phylogeny.
    e) keying.

16. Palaeontologists have studied fossils in different rock strata and have found more primitive cells and marine species at lower levels. What trends were identified from these discoveries?

     Hint

    a) Primitive cells evolved into more complex cells.
    b) Simple organisms evolved into more complex organisms.
    c) Marine life preceded terrestrial life;
    d) Organisms evolved in the sea before evolving on land.
    e) All of the above.

17. Approximately 225 million years ago in the early Mesozoic era, the Triassic period was characterised by which major events in the history of life?

     Hint

    a) Early dinosaur radiation; diversification of flowering plants and mammals
    b) Diversification of fishes; first insects and amphibians
    c) Continents begin to drift; early dinosaurs, first mammals; diversification of marine invertebrates.
    d) Radiation of birds, mammals, flowering plants and pollinating insects
    e) Diversification of jawless fishes; first bony fishes; invasion of land by plants and animals

18. In the geological timescale, different eras and periods have been identified on the basis of significant events in the history of life such as:

   Hint

    a) evolution/extinction of all types of plant life.
    b) mass extinction events of organisms only.
    c) radiation (the increased diversity) of animals only.
    d) radiation of a particular group of animals or plants and/or mass extinction events.
    e) movements of landmasses and diversification of organisms.

19. The Cambrian rock strata of the Palaeozoic era contained abundant marine plant and animal fossils as well as sponges, molluscs and worms. The most characteristic fossils of the period were the trilobites, which were of significance in this period because:

    Hint

    a) the fossilised remains of their eyes represent the oldest preserved visual system.
    b) their suitability as index fossils to date the rock layers in which they are found.
    c) Darwin could not understand how life could have suddenly come into existence with the trilobites and put this forward as a reason not to believe                his own theory.
    d) they were the early arthropods.
    e) all of the above.

20. The Oparin theory about the origin of life:

  Hint

    a) was based on a biochemical study in which biological compounds were combined together to form drops in which other biological molecules                were surrounded by lipids.
    b) showed that it is possible for primitive RNA to be built from nucleotides using an enzyme.
    c) was based on biochemical experiments in which a solution of nucleotides produced a polymer of RNA built on a template (model) of RNA in the                presence of a polymerase enzyme.
    d) stated that mineral crystals in clays could have replicated prior to nucleic acid replication.
    e) that clay-based life was eventually replaced by nucleic acid-based life.

21. The oxygen requirements of procaryote aerobes are:

    Hint

    a) they must have anaerobic conditions; they cannot live in the presence of oxygen.
    b) they can tolerate oxygen but can also survive in its absence.
    c) they can only live in low concentrations of oxygen.
    d) they cannot survive in the absence of oxygen.
    e) they revert to anaerobic metabolism (by producing lactate) when oxygen levels in the cells are low.

22. The oxygen requirements of obligate anaerobes are:

     Hint

    a) they must have anaerobic conditions; they cannot live in the presence of oxygen.
    b) they can tolerate oxygen but can also survive in its absence.
    c) they can only live in low concentrations of oxygen.
    d) they cannot survive in the absence of oxygen.
    e) they revert to anaerobic metabolism (by producing lactate) when oxygen levels in the cells are low.

23. The most primitive life forms – heterotrophic procaryotes – derived their energy by fermentation of biological chemicals that were present in their environment. The next stage of evolution of these life forms was:

    Hint

    a) the formation of mat-like communities that may have built the first stromatolites.
    b) the development of eucaryotes capable of sexual reproduction.
    c) the emergence of multicellular forms of life.
    d) the emergence of modern photosynthetic bacteria.
    e) the development of cyanobacteria, which photosynthesised and produced oxygen.

24. The Precambrian is marked by:

    Hint

    a) the dominant form of life consisting of microscopic, procaryotic organisms.
    b) biochemical and metabolic changes rather than changes in structure.
    c) the change from an anoxic to an oxic environment caused by photosynthesis in cyanobacteria.
    d) the change from procaryotic to eucaryotic organisms towards the end of the Precambrian.
    e) all of the above.

25. Examine the dichotomous key carefully before answering the question:



A non-aquatic plant with vascular tissue and fruit would be a/an:

    Hint

    a) gymnosperm.
    b) alga.
    c) lichen.
    d) angiosperm.
    e) moss.

26. Examine the dichotomous key carefully before answering the question:



The steps to identify a liverwort in order would be:

    Hint

    a) 1b, 3b, 8b, 9b, 10a
    b) 1b, 3b, 8b, 9a
    c) 1b, 3b, 8b, 9b, 10b
    d) 1b, 3b, 8a, 9b, 10b
    e) 1b, 3b, 7a

27. A taxonomist is classifying a group of fossils found at a site. Two of the fossils appear to be very closely related. The most closely related possibility for these organisms would be that they are:

    Hint

    a) two species in the same genus.
    b) two species in different phyla.
    c) two species in different families in the same order.
    d) two species in different genera in the same family.
    e) two species in different genera in the same class.

28. A taxonomist is classifying a group of protozoa and uses the following key:

1a locomotor structures………………go to…….2
1b no locomotor structures…………………………….Sporozoa
2a flagella or cilia………………………go to……3
2b no flagella or cilia……………………………………Sarcodinia
3a flagella………………………………go to…….4
3b no flagella…………………………………………….Ciliophora
4a all species parasitic………………………………….Opalinida
4b species parasitic or free living………………….Mastigophora

The characteristic used to separate Ciliophora from Opalinida would be:

    Hint

    a) free-living nature.
    b) parasitic nature.
    c) the presence of flagella.
    d) the absence of locomotive structures.
    e) the presence of cilia.

29. Flow diagrams are a convenient way to display ideas simply and clearly. They are also used in classification because they:

    Hint

    a) allow any existing relationships to be observed easily.
    b) increase the complexity of ideas.
    c) join groups of unrelated animals together.
    d) compare dissimilar forms of life.
    e) none of the above.