Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that
best completes the statement or answers the question.
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1.
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Sediment is composed of a. | the soft parts of organisms. | b. | the hard parts of organisms. | c. | small particles of rock. | d. | wood, shell, and bone. | | |
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2.
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Why
did oceans not exist on Earth nearly 4 billion years ago? a. | No water was present. | b. | Water remained a gas because Earth was very
hot. | c. | Water existed as
ice because Earth was very cold. | d. | none of the above | | |
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3.
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How
would you date a sample of rock that you suspect as being one of the earliest on
Earth? a. | Use a radioactive
isotope with a short half-life. | b. | Use a radioactive isotope with a long
half-life. | c. | Use an index
fossil. | d. | It is impossible
to date very early rocks. | | |
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4.
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What
proportion of all species that ever lived has become extinct? a. | less than 1 percent | b. | approximate one-half | c. | more than 99 percent | d. | It is impossible to estimate. | | |
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5.
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Most
fossils form in a. | peat
bogs. | b. | tar
pits. | c. | sedimentary
rock. | d. | the sap of
ancient trees. | | |
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6.
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The
first organisms were a. | prokaryotes. | b. | eukaryotes. | c. | proteinoid microspheres. | d. | microfossils | | |
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7.
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Which
of these statements about mitochondria and chloroplasts constitutes support for the endosymbiont
theory as articulated by Lynn Margulis? a. | Their RNA resembles bacterial
RNA. | b. | Their ribosomes
resemble bacterial ribosomes. | c. | They reproduce by mitosis. | d. | all of the above | | |
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8.
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Examples of fossils include preserved a. | eggs. | b. | footprints. | c. | body parts. | d. | all of the above | | |
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9.
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Two
poisonous gases that probably existed in Earth's early atmosphere are a. | oxygen and water vapor. | b. | water vapor and nitrogen. | c. | oxygen and carbon monoxide. | d. | hydrogen cyanide and carbon
monoxide. | | |
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10.
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Fossilized evidence of Earth's first forms of life would consist of a. | invertebrates from the
Paleozoic. | b. | invertebrates
from the Precambrian. | c. | eukaryotes from the Precambrian. | d. | prokaryotes from the
Precambrian. | | |
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11.
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Miller
and Urey's experiments attempted to simulate the conditions a. | of Earth's early seas. | b. | of Earth's early atmosphere. | c. | of Earth before liquid water
existed. | d. | deep inside
Earth. | | |
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12.
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A mass
extinction would encourage the rapid evolution of surviving species a. | by changing developmental genes. | b. | by opening ecological niches. | c. | because it killed all organisms that had
coevolved. | d. | because it spared
all organisms that had evolved convergently. | | |
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13.
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The
length of time required for half of the radioactive atoms in a sample to decay is
its a. | half-life. | b. | relative date. | c. | radioactive date. | d. | none of the above | | |
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14.
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The
levels of division of the geologic time scale, from smallest to largest are a. | eras, periods, and epochs. | b. | epochs, periods, and eras. | c. | periods, eras, and epochs. | d. | periods, epochs, and eras. | | |
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15.
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One
hypothesis about the origin of life holds that a. | RNA replaced DNA as the most stable information-storing
molecule. | b. | RNA nucleotides
were formed from simple organic molecules in an abiotic stew. | c. | auto-replicating DNA functioned in information
storage. | d. | RNA came to
direct protein synthesis as cells evolved. | | |
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16.
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The
Mesozoic is often called the Age of a. | Invertebrates. | b. | Vertebrates. | c. | Dinosaurs. | d. | Mammals. | | |
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17.
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The
endosymbiont theory proposes that eukaryotic cells arose from a. | single prokaryotic cells. | b. | multicellular prokaryotes. | c. | communities of prokaryotes inside a larger
cell. | d. | communities of
eukaryotes inside a larger cell. | | |
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18.
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A
single species that has evolved into several different forms that live in different ways has
undergone a. | adaptive
radiation. | b. | coevolution. | c. | punctuated equilibrium. | d. | mass extinction. | | |
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19.
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What
do proteinoid microspheres have in common with cells? a. | They can store and release
energy. | b. | They contain
DNA. | c. | They contain
RNA. | d. | They are
communities of organisms. | | |
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20.
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Which
is an important reason that organic molecules do not form on their own and remain intact
today? a. | Earth is too
hot. | b. | Atmospheric
oxygen is too reactive. | c. | The building blocks of organic molecules no longer
exist. | d. | There is no
energy source for the formation of organic molecules. | | |
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21.
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The
fossil record shows that a. | most organisms that ever lived on Earth are now
extinct. | b. | fossils occur in
a particular order. | c. | modern organisms have unicellular
ancestors. | d. | all of the
above | | |
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22.
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Which
of the following characterizes Earth before the oceans formed? a. | volcanic activity | b. | bombardment by comets and
asteroids | c. | an atmosphere of
poisonous gases | d. | all of the above | | |
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23.
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Earth's most recent era is the a. | Paleozoic. | b. | Mesozoic. | c. | Cenozoic. | d. | Precambrian. | | |
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24.
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A
necessary condition for the evolution of life on Earth was a. | the existence of DNA. | b. | free oxygen. | c. | the formation of the ozone
layer. | d. | liquid
water. | | |
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25.
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Two
patterns of macroevolution that involve very rapid response to environmental pressures
are a. | convergent evolution and changes in
developmental genes. | b. | coevolution and convergent
evolution. | c. | adaptive
radiation and changes in developmental genes. | d. | punctuated equilibrium and mass
extinction. | | |
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