Practice questions

BMS1021 Additional practice questions for the mid-sem

1. The amount of energy required to change the temperature of a body of water
without changing state or phase is called the:

(A) Latent heat capacity

(B) Specific heat capacity
(C) Heating temperature
(D) Thermal inertia capacity

2. Which of the following statements about pH buffers is correct?

(A) Buffers are unable to resist pH changes

(B) Biological buffers are made of a weak acid and conjugate base
(C) Proteins function is independent of solute pH
(D) Biological buffer systems include the sulphuric and hydrochloric systems

3. Which of the following is true about glycoproteins?

(A) They are composed of a peptide chain with covalently bound sugars
(B) They consist of homo- and hetero-dimers
(C) They readily serve as an energy source within the cell
(D) They include glycogen and starch

4. Glycogen is a large carbohydrate polymer that:

(A) Is made of glucose and sucrose monomers

(B) Contains many branched chains
(C) Is found predominantly in plants
(D) Forms through many hydrolysis reactions

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5. What kind of molecules form characteristic micelle structures?

(A) Amphipathic molecules

(B) Nonpolar molecules
(C) Charged molecules
(D) Polar molecules

6. The molecule shown here is:

(A) Adeonsine triphosphate

(B) Deoxygunosine monophosphate
(C) dAMP
(D) GMP

7. Which of the following is true about cholesterol?

(A) Cholesterol derivatives include some vitamins

(B) Cholesterol is derived from steroid hormones within the body
(C) Cholesterol is detrimental to health and is predominantly used as an energy
source
(D) Cholesterol does not alter cell membrane fluidity

8. Which of the following could be present in a prokaryotic cell?

(A) A complex endomembrane system

(B) Ribosomes bound to the rough endoplasmic reticulum
(C) Internal involutions (foldings) of the cellular membrane
(D) A membrane enclosing the nucleoid region of the cell

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9. Which of the following is a key functional limitation on the upper size of a

cell?

(A) The surface area to volume ratio of large cells is too small to allow easy
diffusion of essential substances like O2
(B) The ATP requirement of large cells is too high
(C) Cytoplasmic streaming cannot function in large cells due to volumetric
scaling effects
(D) Large cells are vulnerable to mechanical damage from the environmental
(e.g. wave action in the ocean)

10. Which of the following is an important function of Smooth Endoplasmic

Reticulum?

(A) Production of the alpha and beta lumen filaments.

(B) Storage of potassium ions.
(C) Production of proteins.
(D) Detoxification of drugs or poisons.

11. What is the name for the gap that allows water and small solutes to pass
through cell walls in plants?

(A) Tight Junctions

(B) Plasmodesmata
(C) Desmosomes
(D) Gap Junctions

12. An amoeba (eukaryote protozoa) would need a contractile vacuole to expel

excess water under which condition?

(A) If the surrounding water is of higher solute concentration than the amoeba.
(B) If the surrounding water is of lower solute concentration than the amoeba.
(C) If the surrounding water is of exactly the same solute concentration as the
amoeba.
(D) If the amoeba is of lower solute concentration than the surrounding water

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13. The specific transport of water molecules across the plasma membrane is
carried out by proteins embedded in the membrane. These are:

(A) Channel proteins called nuclear pores

(B) Symporters
(C) Channel proteins called aquaporins
(D) Receptor proteins that carry out endocytosis

14. Which of the following statements about meiosis is correct?

(A) Homologous chromosomes separate during meiosis I

(B) Four diploid gametes are produced
(C) Sister chromatids separate during meiosis I
(D) Exchange of genetic material occurs during metaphase II

15. In female mammals, meiosis II is completed at what stage?

(A) During embryogenesis

(B) During ovulation
(C) At birth
(D) At fertilisation

16. In which of the following cells is the chromosome number diploid?

(A) Spermatozoon
(B) Ovulated oocyte
(C) First polar body
(D) Primary spermatocyte

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17. The image opposite depicts part of

a human embryo at day 16. The
tissue labelled with the arrow is:

(A) Epiblast
(B) Ectoderm
(C) Mesoderm
(D) Endoderm

18. A sensory neuron is derived from which of the following:

(A) Hypoblast
(B) Epiblast
(C) Endoderm
(D) Mesoderm

19. Among the somites of a developing mouse embryo, where might you expect
the Hoxd13 gene to be expressed?

(A) Somites at the posterior region of the embryo

(B) Somites at the anterior region of the embryo
(C) In all somites
(D) In none of the somites

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20. In the image opposite of the frog life

cycle, the BRACKETED process is:

(A) Blastoderm
(B) Gastrulation
(C) Cleavage
(D) Neurulation

21. The direct target of a Hox protein is most likely to be:

A) A morphogen
B) A gene
C) A signalling protein
D) A homeotic transformation

22. Which of the following is an example of a teratogen?

A) DES
B) Alcohol
C) Xenoestrogen
D) The Hes7 gene

23. Neural tube defects in babies can be minimised by maternal dietary intake
of:

(A) Thalidomide
(B) Vitamin A
(C) Folic Acid
(D) Retinoic Acid

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24. Cilia are surface specialisations that:

(A) Have a specific microtubule organisation often referred to as a 6+3

arrangement
(B) Are abundant in the fallopian tubes of the female reproductive tract
(C) Are approximately 1 micron (1 m) in length
(D) Help trap debris for reabsorption

25. The epithelium seen in the histomicrograph below is classified as:

(A) Simple squamous

(B) Pseudostratified
(C) Simple columnar
(D) Loose connective tissue

26. The tissue in the histomicrograph below is indicative of:

(A) Cardiac muscle with contractile

properties
(B) A tissue that is very flexible owing to
the low protein content in the
extracellular matrix
(C) Dense regular connective tissue of a
tendon
(D) A tissue with strength and flexibility,
due to different fibres and their
respective properties

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27. The electron micrograph below shows:

(A) A wandering macrophage in surrounding epithelial tissue

(B) Myofibrils within a muscle fibre and peripherally located nuclei
(C) A fibroblast cell making collagen which is assembling into fibres outside of
the cell
(D) A tissue that is dominated by cells with little fibre content

28. An example of dense irregular connective tissue is:

(A) Compact bone

(B) The spleen capsule
(C) The serosa of the small intestine
(D) Blood

29. In the adult, compact bone is arranged:

(A) As a cartilage model with embedded chondrocytes

(B) As osteons with a central canal for blood vessels and nerves
(C) In cellular rich layers, with little mineral and protein
(D) With parallel layers of collagen fibres made from embedded fibroblasts

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30. What are two main structures visible in the histomicrograph below?

(A) Skeletal muscle cells with nuclei located peripherally

(B) Adipocytes with a vascular supply
(C) Cross sections of cilia and fibroblast nuclei
(D) One medium-sized artery and many thin-walled veins

31. Skeletal muscle cells:

(A) Usually have one nucleus per fibre that is peripherally located
(B) Generally do not undergo hyperplasia in response to weight training
(C) Can turn into connective tissue if diet and exercise changes
(D) Have sarcomeres that contract as calcium (entering from the sarcoplasmic
reticulum), floods the myofibrils

32. Of the following functional characteristics, smooth muscle:

(A) Is quick to contract and relax compared to skeletal and cardiac muscle
(B) Is unresponsive to stimuli such as nerve signals and drugs as it is
involuntary muscle
(C) Cells are interconnected through intercalated discs
(D) Is important in peristalsis of the ureter

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33. Cardiac muscle :

(A) Has adjacent cells that attach for mechanical and electrical coupling
(B) Is directly supplied with capillaries from the pulmonary arteries
(C) Has relatively longer cells compared to that of skeletal muscle fibres
(D) Has few mitochondria in its sarcoplasm compared to smooth muscle

34. The endoneurium:

(A) Is the epithelium of blood vessels

(B) Is connective tissue that allows the transmission of a vascular supply
(C) Only surrounds unmyelinated axons
(D) Is smooth muscle of the nervous system

35. Cell membranes of Schwann cells:

(A) Wrap around one portion of multiple axons in the central nervous system
(B) Form a myelin sheath around small diameter axons only, allowing impulses
to travel at ~2 metres a second
(C) Wrap around one portion of multiple axon and will not associate with
unmyelinated axons
(D) Wrap around one portion of one axon and may support unmyelinated axons

36. If an endergonic reaction that converts one molecule of X to one molecule of

Y has a ∆G of +41.2 kJ/mol, what is the minimum number of ATP molecules
that need to be coupled to the endergonic reaction to produce one molecule
of Y?

(A) Three ATP

(B) Two ATP
(C) One ATP
(D) None. Endergonic reactions are spontaneous.

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37. One of the products of the complete oxidation of glucose is:

(A) Water
(B) Lactic acid
(C) Acetyl coenzyme A
(D) Pyruvic acid

38. Several important catabolic enzymes function in multi-subunits. These

enzymes have allosteric binding sites for ATP and ADP. The presence of
free ATP or ADP regulates the catabolic enzyme activity so that more ATP
will be produced when the cell's current available ATP reserves are low.
Look at the following diagram of a multi-subunit catabolic enzyme. Examine
the role of the activator molecule marked with an X and dashed circle. What
is X most likely to be?

(A) A catabolic enzyme

(B) ADP
(C) ATP
(D) It could be either ATP or ADP

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39. Temperature regulation in humans is controlled by temperature detection in

which part of the brain?

(A) The Pons

(B) Reticular activating system
(C) Hippocampus
(D) Hypothalamus

40. Which of the following has the LOWEST conductance (cal s-1 cm-1 oC-1) for
heat?

(A) Muscle
(B) Fat
(C) Water
(D) Air

41. The simplified Fick's equation is Q  A / L. Based on this equation we would

expect gas exchange tissue, such as gills or the inside of a lung, to most
likely have:

(A) A large surface area (A) and thick cell boundary (L)
(B) A small surface area (A) and thick cell boundary (L)
(C) A large surface area (A) and thin cell boundary (L)
(D) An extremely small value for Q

42. The complexity and sophistication of an animal's respiratory organ (gills,

lungs etc.) for a given species is most likely to correlate with the complexity
and sophistication of its:

(A) Digestive system

(B) Circulatory system
(C) Central Nervous system
(D) Excretory system

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