BSCI 1511-01 – Organisms and Ecosystems – Spring 2025 – Hillyer – FIRST PRACTICE EXAM
PRACTICE EXAM 1
Name:
Write your first and last name clearly in the box
VUNet ID:
Write your VUNet ID clearly in the box
READ THIS BEFORE YOU START THE EXAM:
1.Write your name and VUNet ID in the boxes above.
2.Place all your answers within the boxes provided. Only answers contained within the boxes will be
graded. Blank boxes will be marked as incorrect.
3.You may write anything anywhere outside the boxes (your thoughts, for example), but what you
write outside the boxes will not be graded.
4.Write your name at the top of every exam page (on the line).
5.Sign the honor code pledge that is below (not in a box).
I pledge on my honor that I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this examination.
Honor code signature: ___________________________________
, Name: _________________________________ Page 2 of 11
I. Multiple choice (3 points each): Read each of the following questions carefully. Each question has only
one best answer.
1. Morphological structures in different species can appear to be similar because of “homology,” but
someAmes structures in different species can appear to be similar and have equivalent funcAons by
“analogy”. An example of analogous structures is the wings of birds vs. the wings of insects. These
analogous structures arise in evoluAon by:
a. Punctuated equilibria
b. Convergent evoluAon
c. EvoluAon of anAbioAc resistance
d. FormaAon of vesAgial organs
e. EpigeneAc landscape
f. Biogeography
2. All of the following are correct about evoluAon by natural selecAon EXCEPT:
a. AMributes the unity of life to the descent of all organisms from a single ancestral cell that
lived in the remote past
b. Requires individuals in a populaAon to vary in their heritable characterisAcs
c. Requires organisms in a populaAon to produce more offspring than the environment can
support
d. Requires that individual organisms pass on characterisAcs that they acquire through use or
disuse during their lifeAme to their offspring
e. AMributes the diversity of life to ancestral organisms that lived in various habitats, with
those populaAons gradually acquiring modificaAons, or adaptaAons, that fit them to their
specific ways of life
f. All of the above (a-e) are correct
3. All of these are necessary for terminaAng the effect of epinephrine on liver cells EXCEPT:
a. Phosphatase acAvity
b. Phosphodiesterase acAvity
c. Synthesis of cGMP by guanylyl cyclase
d. Regulatory subunit of protein kinase A
e. Hydrolysis of GTP by the alpha subunit of the G-protein
f. All of the above (a-e) are necessary
4. Imagine a cell whose Ras protein has mutated so that it cannot hydrolyze GTP. This cell begins to
divide uncontrollably, creaAng a tumor. Which of the following drugs might be applied to prevent
further growth of this tumor?
a. An inhibitor of protein kinase A (PKA)
b. An inhibitor of phospholipase C (PLC)
c. An inhibitor of glycogen synthase
d. An inhibitor of MAPK/ERK Kinase (MEK)
e. An inhibitor of IP3
f. More than of the above drugs (a-e) would prevent further growth of this tumor
PRACTICE EXAM 1
Name:
Write your first and last name clearly in the box
VUNet ID:
Write your VUNet ID clearly in the box
READ THIS BEFORE YOU START THE EXAM:
1.Write your name and VUNet ID in the boxes above.
2.Place all your answers within the boxes provided. Only answers contained within the boxes will be
graded. Blank boxes will be marked as incorrect.
3.You may write anything anywhere outside the boxes (your thoughts, for example), but what you
write outside the boxes will not be graded.
4.Write your name at the top of every exam page (on the line).
5.Sign the honor code pledge that is below (not in a box).
I pledge on my honor that I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this examination.
Honor code signature: ___________________________________
, Name: _________________________________ Page 2 of 11
I. Multiple choice (3 points each): Read each of the following questions carefully. Each question has only
one best answer.
1. Morphological structures in different species can appear to be similar because of “homology,” but
someAmes structures in different species can appear to be similar and have equivalent funcAons by
“analogy”. An example of analogous structures is the wings of birds vs. the wings of insects. These
analogous structures arise in evoluAon by:
a. Punctuated equilibria
b. Convergent evoluAon
c. EvoluAon of anAbioAc resistance
d. FormaAon of vesAgial organs
e. EpigeneAc landscape
f. Biogeography
2. All of the following are correct about evoluAon by natural selecAon EXCEPT:
a. AMributes the unity of life to the descent of all organisms from a single ancestral cell that
lived in the remote past
b. Requires individuals in a populaAon to vary in their heritable characterisAcs
c. Requires organisms in a populaAon to produce more offspring than the environment can
support
d. Requires that individual organisms pass on characterisAcs that they acquire through use or
disuse during their lifeAme to their offspring
e. AMributes the diversity of life to ancestral organisms that lived in various habitats, with
those populaAons gradually acquiring modificaAons, or adaptaAons, that fit them to their
specific ways of life
f. All of the above (a-e) are correct
3. All of these are necessary for terminaAng the effect of epinephrine on liver cells EXCEPT:
a. Phosphatase acAvity
b. Phosphodiesterase acAvity
c. Synthesis of cGMP by guanylyl cyclase
d. Regulatory subunit of protein kinase A
e. Hydrolysis of GTP by the alpha subunit of the G-protein
f. All of the above (a-e) are necessary
4. Imagine a cell whose Ras protein has mutated so that it cannot hydrolyze GTP. This cell begins to
divide uncontrollably, creaAng a tumor. Which of the following drugs might be applied to prevent
further growth of this tumor?
a. An inhibitor of protein kinase A (PKA)
b. An inhibitor of phospholipase C (PLC)
c. An inhibitor of glycogen synthase
d. An inhibitor of MAPK/ERK Kinase (MEK)
e. An inhibitor of IP3
f. More than of the above drugs (a-e) would prevent further growth of this tumor
