View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The author states that one scientist claimed there is less genetic diversity among the entire human population than there is among a:
(a) Clan of chimpanzees.
(b) Group of giraffes.
(c) Cluster of bacteria.
(d) School of fish.

2. A Swedish DNA study concludes that all modern humans descended from how many people in Africa?
(a) 2,000.
(b) 10,000.
(c) 500.
(d) 80,000.

3. What percentage of all existing water is fresh water?
(a) 3.
(b) 23.
(c) 17.
(d) 10.

4. Which body of water holds more than half of the planet's water?
(a) Pacific Ocean.
(b) Atlantic Ocean.
(c) Arctic Ocean.
(d) Indian Ocean.

5. How many chromosomes are there inside a human cell's nucleus?
(a) 46.
(b) 21.
(c) 15.
(d) 32.

6. The Burgess Shale Formation, containing tens of thousands of fossils of soft-bodied creatures preserved by a mudslide, was found where?
(a) Japan.
(b) Brazil.
(c) Canada.
(d) Kenya.

7. Gregor Mendel, who conducted research on transmittal of traits in pea plants, was a scientist and a:
(a) Blacksmith.
(b) Monk.
(c) Politician.
(d) Soldier.

8. What are eukarya?
(a) Carbon-trapping rocks.
(b) Bacteria that live on clouds.
(c) Organisms with nucleated cells.
(d) Salt-tolerant single-celled organisms.

9. Only one out of how many bones is ever fossilized?
(a) Five million.
(b) Fifty thousand.
(c) A hundred.
(d) A billion.

10. Which of the following is not one of the five major extinction episodes on Earth?
(a) Triassic.
(b) Cretaceous.
(c) Devonian.
(d) Toarcian.

11. In Chapter 23, the author discusses the battles that go on in the plant world regarding:
(a) What to name plants.
(b) Using plants for medicinal purposes.
(c) Who owns plant patents.
(d) Funding for plant research.

12. Compared to at sea level, oxygen at a few thousand feet above sea level is:
(a) Thinner.
(b) Heavier.
(c) More plentiful.
(d) Purer.

13. How deep is Earth's atmosphere?
(a) 30 miles.
(b) 120 miles.
(c) 5 miles.
(d) 800 miles.

14. Scientist Jean de Charpentier was a specialist on what?
(a) Glaciers.
(b) Evolution.
(c) Volcanoes.
(d) Tsunamis.

15. Most human traits, including eye color, are determined by:
(a) Groups of genes.
(b) The father's genes.
(c) The mother's genes.
(d) A single gene.

Short Answer Questions

1. What percentage of the human body consists of water?

2. The KT meteor caused dinosaurs to become extinct but paved the way for what to become the new dominant species?

3. When was the last dodo killed in Mauritius?

4. How many elements occur naturally on Earth?

5. The last chapter of the book is a cautionary analysis of man's irresponsibility with regards to the:

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 368 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample