03120 A4 BIO FOR LIFE MINI – 150 Practice Questions with Answers &
Rationales1
Course Section 03120 A4 BIO FOR LIFE MINI Carnegie mellon university
Date: Monday, May 4, 2026 | Time: 1:00pm – 4:00pm | Location: HH B131
Instructors: JONATHAN MINDEN (minden) & STEPHANIE WONG-NOONAN
(sawong)
EXAM OVERVIEW
This comprehensive practice exam is designed for the BIO FOR LIFE MINI course at
the University of British Columbia. The questions cover core topics in evolutionary
biology, population genetics, selection experiments, and physiological adaptation.
Each question includes a detailed rationale to reinforce understanding of key
concepts.
SECTION 1: EVOLUTION & NATURAL SELECTION (Questions 1-30)
Question 1
True or False: "Evolution by natural selection requires variation in fitness among
individuals, but evolution itself does not."
A) True
B) False
,Answer: A
Rationale: Evolutionary change is correct—natural selection requires variation in
fitness, but evolution can also occur through mutation, genetic drift, and
segregation distortion, which do not require differences in fitness among
individuals .
Question 2
True or False: "The Chain of Being describes the modern evolutionary perspective
on the relationships among species."
A) True
B) False
Answer: B
Rationale: The Chain of Being refers to Aristotle's linear hierarchy of organisms.
The modern evolutionary perspective on relationships among species is not a
linear hierarchy but a tree shape, with all living species on the tips of this tree of
life .
,Question 3
Which of the following people did NOT support the concept of biological
evolution?
A) Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
B) Charles Lyell
C) Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon
D) Erasmus Darwin
Answer: B
Rationale: Charles Lyell was a geologist whose work on uniformitarianism
influenced Darwin, but he did not actively support the concept of biological
evolution itself .
Question 4
Lamarck's view that organic progression occurred along a hierarchy of more
advanced forms led him to believe in which of the following concepts?
, A) Mutation
B) All organisms are related
C) A struggle for existence
D) Spontaneous generation
Answer: D
Rationale: Lamarck believed that simple organisms arise spontaneously and then
progressively become more complex along a linear chain of being .
Question 5
A researcher performs a selection experiment on thorax length in Drosophila. The
selected lines appear to reach a selection limit. When the direction of selection
was reversed, thorax length did not increase rapidly. This provides evidence that
the selection limit was reached because:
A) There was opposing natural selection
B) Measuring thorax length is difficult
C) There was a lack of additive genetic variation
D) There is a minimum viable thorax length
Rationales1
Course Section 03120 A4 BIO FOR LIFE MINI Carnegie mellon university
Date: Monday, May 4, 2026 | Time: 1:00pm – 4:00pm | Location: HH B131
Instructors: JONATHAN MINDEN (minden) & STEPHANIE WONG-NOONAN
(sawong)
EXAM OVERVIEW
This comprehensive practice exam is designed for the BIO FOR LIFE MINI course at
the University of British Columbia. The questions cover core topics in evolutionary
biology, population genetics, selection experiments, and physiological adaptation.
Each question includes a detailed rationale to reinforce understanding of key
concepts.
SECTION 1: EVOLUTION & NATURAL SELECTION (Questions 1-30)
Question 1
True or False: "Evolution by natural selection requires variation in fitness among
individuals, but evolution itself does not."
A) True
B) False
,Answer: A
Rationale: Evolutionary change is correct—natural selection requires variation in
fitness, but evolution can also occur through mutation, genetic drift, and
segregation distortion, which do not require differences in fitness among
individuals .
Question 2
True or False: "The Chain of Being describes the modern evolutionary perspective
on the relationships among species."
A) True
B) False
Answer: B
Rationale: The Chain of Being refers to Aristotle's linear hierarchy of organisms.
The modern evolutionary perspective on relationships among species is not a
linear hierarchy but a tree shape, with all living species on the tips of this tree of
life .
,Question 3
Which of the following people did NOT support the concept of biological
evolution?
A) Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
B) Charles Lyell
C) Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon
D) Erasmus Darwin
Answer: B
Rationale: Charles Lyell was a geologist whose work on uniformitarianism
influenced Darwin, but he did not actively support the concept of biological
evolution itself .
Question 4
Lamarck's view that organic progression occurred along a hierarchy of more
advanced forms led him to believe in which of the following concepts?
, A) Mutation
B) All organisms are related
C) A struggle for existence
D) Spontaneous generation
Answer: D
Rationale: Lamarck believed that simple organisms arise spontaneously and then
progressively become more complex along a linear chain of being .
Question 5
A researcher performs a selection experiment on thorax length in Drosophila. The
selected lines appear to reach a selection limit. When the direction of selection
was reversed, thorax length did not increase rapidly. This provides evidence that
the selection limit was reached because:
A) There was opposing natural selection
B) Measuring thorax length is difficult
C) There was a lack of additive genetic variation
D) There is a minimum viable thorax length
