Multiple Choice Review – Cells
1. Various materials are transported into and out of cells by simple diffusion. The rate at which
these materials diffuse is related to the surface area to volume ratio of the cell. Which of the
following cube-shaped cells would be most efficient at removing waste by diffusion?
a. L = 0.02 mm
b. L = 0.04 mm
c. L = 0.03 mm x W = 0.02 mm
d. L = 0.06 mm x W = 0.04 mm
2. All cells have some similar cellular components. Which of the following is not found in all cells?
a. Membrane
b. Nucleus
c. Ribosomes
d. Cytoplasm
3. Halobacteria are a type of bacteria that lives in water with high salt concentrations. Sargassum
are brown macroalgae (a type of plant), some of which are known to float freely in the surface
waters of the ocean. Which of the following statements does not describe a difference between
halobacteria and sargassum?
a. Sargassum are larger than halobacteria.
b. The cells of sargassum have organelles while the cells of halobacteria do not.
c. Halobacteria contain chromosomes in a nucleus while sargassum contain chromosomes
in a nucleoid region.
d. Sargassum are multicellular while halobacteria are unicellular.
4. Which of the following organelles do not have a double membrane?
a. Mitochondria
b. Chloroplast
c. Golgi apparatus
d. Nucleus
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Cells: The Basis of Life
5. HIV is a retrovirus that causes AIDS and ultimately results in the failure of the immune system.
Smallpox is a DNA virus that results in severe rash and blisters. What is an important difference
between the two viruses?
a. HIV uses the host RNA while smallpox uses the host DNA.
b. HIV uses the lytic cycle while smallpox uses the lysogenic cycle.
c. HIV utilizes reverse transcriptase while smallpox does not.
d. HIV has evolved antibiotic resistance while smallpox has not.
6. When a physician orders a complete blood count, which of the following is not accounted for in
the results?
a. Erythrocytes
b. Leucocytes
c. Thrombocytes
d. Endocytes
7. The bacteria shown below grow in chains and is responsible for many types of infections,
including pneumonia in humans. Based on its shape, what type of bacteria is this?
Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peptostreptococcus_spp_01.jpg
a.
b.
c.
d.
Streptococcus
Bacillus
Spirochete
Coccus
8. The first time an animal is exposed to a pathogen, the immune system responds within 10-17
days. If an animal is exposed to the same pathogen again, the immune system responds within
2-7 days. This quick response time is due to what?
a. Immune velocity
b. Primary immune response
c. Immune memory
d. Innate immune response
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Cells: The Basis of Life
9. The liver is involved in the detoxification of drugs and poisons. One organelle, in particular, is
the main component of detoxification. One of the results of alcohol abuse is an increase of this
organelle in the liver cells, as the liver attempts to become more efficient at ridding the body of
the poison. This contributes to the increased tolerance of alcoholics. What organelle is used in
detoxification in the liver?
a. Smooth ER
b. Rough ER
c. Lysosomes
d. Peroxisomes
10. Bacterial cells have a variety of structures that help them to function. Which of the following is
not a structure found in bacterial cells?
a. Pili
b. Taxis
c. Flagella
d. Plasmids
11. In what way are the following structures related: chloroplasts, central vacuole, cell wall, and
plasmodesmata?
a. They all have double membranes.
b. They are structures that are found in plant cells but not in animal cells.
c. They are all involved in photosynthesis.
d. They connect adjacent cells.
12. If a patient has an impaired immune system, a complete blood count will show extreme
irregularities in what area?
a. Red blood cells
b. Hemoglobin
c. White blood cells
d. Platelets
13. In the immune system response, some pathogens are brought into the cell and then destroyed
via lysosomes. What type of process is this?
a. Phagocytosis
b. Pinocytosis
c. Exocytosis
d. Receptor-mediated endocytosis
14. The cells of animals are surrounded by extracellular matrix. Which of the following statements is
an inaccurate description of ECM?
a. It is composed of lipids and proteins.
b. It regulates cellular communication.
c. It provides structural support.
d. It aids in cellular healing.
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PSI AP Biology
Cells: The Basis of Life
15. What is the process illustrated below in Figure 1?
Figure 1
Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Endosymbiosis.svg
a.
b.
c.
d.
Endocytosis
Endosymbiosis
Exocytosis
Phagocytosis
16. Bacteria range from organisms that live in extreme temperatures to those that live in the
intestines of animals. Although diverse, this group shares several similarities. Which of the
following is not a characteristic of bacteria?
a. They reproduce via binary fusion.
b. They are all unicellular.
c. Some are able to move towards or away from certain stimuli.
d. They exist in a variety of shapes.
17. Cells are affected by a variety of biotic and abiotic factors. Which of the following is not an
example of an abiotic factor?
a. pH
b. Temperature
c. Pathogens
d. Water availability
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Cells: The Basis of Life
Questions #17-19 refer to the following:
I. Animals
II. Archaea
III. Bacteria
IV. Fungi
V. Plants
VI. Protists
18. Which of the above contain plasmids?
a. III
b. III and IV
c. II and III
d. II, III, and VI
19. Which groups are eukaryotic?
a. I and V
b. I, V, and VI
c. I, II, V, and VI
d. I, IV, V, and VI
20. Which groups contain plasma membranes?
a. I
b. II and III
c. I, IV, V, and VI
d. I, II, III, IV, V, and VI
21. There are a variety of different viruses. While they all have slightly different methods of
infection, they all follow the same basic pathway. Which of the following lists the proper
pathway?
a. Build and store a supply of viral components. Enter a host cell. Use host cell components
to assemble new viruses.
b. Build a supply of viral components. Assemble components into viruses. Enter a host cell
and release new viruses.
c. Enter a host cell. Use viral components to build new viral parts. Use host cell
components to assemble viral parts into new viruses.
d. Enter a host cell. Use host cell components to build viral parts. Assemble into new
viruses.
22. Cyanide binds with at least one of the molecules involved in the production of ATP. Following
exposure to cyanide, the cyanide would accumulate which part of the cell?
a. Mitochondria
b. Ribosomes
c. Lysosomes
d. Endoplasmic reticulum
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Cells: The Basis of Life
23. Bacterial cells contain a structure called a capsule. Which of the following is not true of
capsules?
a. It is composed of polysaccharide.
b. It replaces the plasma membrane.
c. It is found on the outside of the cell wall.
d. It is composed of protein.
24. As a cell increases in size, surface area grows at a different rate than volume. Which of the
following graphs accurately depicts the growth of surface area in relation to the growth of cell
size?
a.
b.
c.
d.
25. Serratia marcescens is a type of bacteria that causes respiratory and urinary tract infections. It
often grows in bathrooms and is visible as a pink film on surfaces. S. marcescens has the ability
to move in response to light. This is an example of what?
a. Binary fission
b. Lytic cycle
c. Phototaxis
d. Exocytosis
26. Which of the following is not an example of an outer plant defense against pathogens?
a. The thick cuticle of the agave plant.
b. The waxy coating of magnolia leaves.
c. Programmed cell death.
d. Sticky excretions of fruit trees.
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Cells: The Basis of Life
Questions #27-29 refer to the following illustration.
Cycle A
Cycle B
Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phage2.JPG
27. Viruses can follow different reproductive cycles within the host cell. Cycle B illustrates a
reproductive strategy in which the virus incorporates its DNA into the DNA of the host cell. What
is the name of this cycle?
a. Temperate cycle
b. Lytic cycle
c. Lysogenic cycle
d. Obligate intracellular cycle
28. What is the main difference between Cycle A and Cycle B?
a. Cycle A results in the death of the host cell while Cycle B does not.
b. Cycle A is a more successful reproductive pathway than Cycle B.
c. Cycle B requires reverse transcriptase in order to create DNA from RNA.
d. Cycle B is only used by retro viruses.
29. Some viruses are able to switch between Cycle A and Cycle B. These types of viruses are called
what?
a. Obligate phages
b. Retro viruses
c. DNA viruses
d. Temperate phages
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Cells: The Basis of Life
30. Mitochondria and chloroplasts are different from other organelles in several ways, indicating
that they were once their own entities. Which of the following is not an example of how they
are different?
a. They have their own DNA.
b. They have their own lysosomes.
c. They have a double membrane.
d. They have their own ribosomes.
31. When bacterial cells reproduce, they create identical copies of themselves. However, they also
have the ability to share genetic information with each other. On what does this process
depend?
a. Extracellular matrix
b. Taxis
c. F plasmids
d. R plasmids
32. The eye is constantly in direct contact with the outer environment. What is the initial defense
system to protect the eye from foreign particles?
a. Antibodies
b. Mucus
c. Specialized skin cells
d. Immunoglobulins
33. Chemotaxis is the movement of cells in response to chemicals in their environment. Which of
the following is not an example of this process?
a. Bacteria use flagella to move toward the highest concentration of glucose.
b. Sperm moving toward an egg during fertilization.
c. Cells moving away from poisons introduced to the system.
d. Leaves move in response to light sources.
34. Muscle cells that are constantly expending energy contain large numbers of which organelle?
a. Golgi apparatus
b. Extracellular matrix
c. Mitochondria
d. Lysosomes
35. Animal and plant cells differ in a variety of ways. Which of the following structures are found in
animal cells but not in plant cells?
a. Lysosomes
b. Plasma membrane
c. Peroxisomes
d. Cytoskeleton
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Cells: The Basis of Life
Questions #36-40 refer to the gel electrophoresis results below.
Direction of
movement
Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PCR_gel_electrophoresis.jpg
36. The first and last row are exactly the same with several more visible bands than the rows
between them. What are these two rows?
a. Buffer
b. DNA size standards
c. Dye source
d. Agar
37. Where will the smallest DNA fragment be located?
a. Closest to the loading well.
b. Farthest from the loading well.
c. It will sink to the bottom of the well and not be visible.
d. It will bond with other DNA fragments and be indiscernible.
38. An electrical current is used during the gel electrophoresis process. Based on the picture above,
where is the positive end located?
a. On the left
b. On the right
c. At the top
d. At the bottom
39. After the gel is run, it is treated and placed in a UV box. What is the purpose of this last step?
a. The UV destroys any non-DNA molecules.
b. The UV enables the DNA fragments to be visible.
c. The UV radiation creates additional energy to separate the DNA fragments.
d. The UV permanently sets the DNA fragments in place.
40. When a gel is run, DNA moves out of the loading well and separates from each other into
different locations on the gel. What characteristics of the DNA result in these movements?
a. Size
b. Charge
c. Absorption spectrum
d. Both (a) and (b)
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Cells: The Basis of Life
Quantitative Review – Cells
1. Animal cells, on average, have a diameter of 10µm. The typical T4 bacteriophage, on the
other hand, is 225 nm long. What is the length of a bacteriophage in µm?
2. A rectangle is 8 cm long, 19 cm wide, and 5 cm thick. The surface volume to ratio of the
rectangle is 1:x. Solve for x, rounding to one decimal place.
3. The illustration below shows the results from gel electrophoresis:
What is the approximate size of the DNA fragment in the unknown sample?
4. The tobacco mosaic virus is an RNA virus that is shaped like a rod and has a length of
250 nm. The plant cells that this virus infects have an average size of 100µm. What is the
size of the plant cells in nm?
5. A sphere with a diameter of 90 nm has a surface volume to ratio of 1:x. Solve for x.
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PSI AP Biology
Cells: The Basis of Life
6. The illustration below shows the results of running a DNA size standard through gel
electrophoresis. What is the mean for DNA size in this sample?
ANSWER KEY
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
A
B
C
C
C
D
A
C
A
B
B
C
A
A
B
A
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17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
C
C
D
D
D
A
B
D
C
C
C
A
D
B
C
B
PSI AP Biology
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
D
C
A
B
B
D
B
D
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
0.225 µm
1.3
2250 bp
100,000 nm
30
1000 bp
Cells: The Basis of Life