Microbiology
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1. Which best explains why bacteria are classified as living and viruses are classified as
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nonliving?
a. Bacteria contain cellular organelles, while viruses contain nucleic acids.
b. Bacteria require sunlight to survive, while viruses can live with or without sunlight.
c. Bacteria are heterotrophic, while viruses are autotrophic.
d. Bacteria are able to reproduce on their own, while viruses cannot.
The body reacts to HIV in the bloodstream by producing antibodies. Researchers have
developed blood tests to detect the presence of these antibodies.
In which way are the blood tests useful?
a. HIV infections are prevented using the blood tests.
b. Vaccinations against HIV infections are made using the blood tests.
c. HIV infections are diagnosed using the blood tests
d. Treatments for HIV infections are administered using the blood tests.
Which of the following statements explains why viruses are able to reproduce only inside host
cells instead of being able to reproduce on their own?
a. Viruses lack spindle fibers that correctly align chromosomes for division.
b. Viruses lack the cellular machinery needed to make copies of their genetic material.
c. Viruses are too small to effectively make copies of themselves on their own.
d. Viruses cannot function at temperatures other than 98.ºF.
When a virus infects a bacterium, what does the virus inject into the cell?
a. capsid proteins
c. viral nucleic acid
b. tail fibers
d. hormones
A variety of respiratory diseases in humans can be caused by adenoviruses. Which of the
following describes the structure of an adenovirus?
a. a nucleic acid core that is surrounded by a protein coat
b. a single cell that contains a plasma membrane and a circular chromosome
c. a set of ribosomes that is held together by microtubules
d. a prokaryotic cell that is propelled by a flagellum
How are viruses different from living organisms?
a. Viruses require host cell parts to reproduce.
c. Viruses have no DNA or RNA.
b. Viruses contain no proteins.
d. Viruses can be killed by antibiotics.
Which of the following is true of bacteria?
a. Bacteria are not considered true life forms because they rely on host cells for reproduction.
b. Evidence of the existence of bacteria extends back more than 3.5 billion years.
c. Bacteria can only live in extreme environments such as hot springs or the deep ocean.
d. Bacteria are the source of many diseases and only have a negative impact on human health.
Diseases that can spread from person to person are known as communicable diseases. Many
different types of organisms, including viruses, can cause communicable diseases. Which of
the following communicable diseases is caused by a virus and can be transmitted from an
infected mother to her baby during childbirth?
a. malaria
c. ringworm
b. herpes
d. tetanus
The following illustration is of an HIV particle.
What is the function of the glycoproteins on the
outside of the virus?
a. to protect the HIV particle from antibiotics
b. to help the virus invade cells
c. to propel the virus forward
d. to carry genetic material
____ 10. In the 1520s, the Spanish explorer Cortés and his armies carried the virus that causes small-
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pox to North America and South America. The death rate from smallpox in Europe at that time
was approximately 10%. However, the death rate among the American Indians who were
exposed to smallpox averaged 70%. Which of the following statements BEST explains the difference in death rates?
a. American Indians had never been exposed to the smallpox virus, so resistant individuals had
not yet become common.
b. The American Indians were exposed to a virus that was different from the virus for small- pox
in Europe.
c. People in Europe were healthier than American Indians.
d. Antibiotics were available in Europe but not in North America.
Lyme disease can be transmitted from ticks by a spirochete called Borrelia burgdorferi,
causing a rash followed by flu-like symptoms. Which of the following approaches is MOST
effective in the treatment of Lyme disease?
a. vaccinations in people that already have the disease
b. antibiotics to destroy the bacteria that cause the disease
c. pesticides that destroy the ticks that are infected
d. herbicides that destroy the grass where ticks live
In the late 1890s, scientists discovered that a certain disease in plants was caused by infective
agents that were smaller than any known bacteria. This was the beginning of the discovery of
a. eukaryotes
b. fungi
c. protists
d. virus
The germ theory of disease has been used to develop vaccines. Which statement best supports
this idea?
a. Vaccines are rarely effective against the target pathogen.
b. The flu vaccine is created using material from the virus that causes the flu.
c. A vaccine can be made from compounds unrelated to the pathogen it is controlling.
d. The vaccine for chicken pox is designed to protect an individual from related diseases.
Algae are commonly found in both fresh and saltwater. Under certain conditions, they may
undergo population explosions. When this happens with one particular type of algae, it causes
a red tide. Because of the toxins produced and released by these single-celled algae, many
fishes are killed. Which of the following organism responsible for red tides?
a. brown algae
c. green algae
b. dinoflagellates
d. zooplankton
How does a virus cause a person to develop a common cold?
a. protects the host cell from bacteria
c. produces toxins in the host cell
b. removes energy from the host cell
d. invades the host cell to reproduce
Two structures are characteristic of all viruses: nucleic acid and a capsid. What is the function
of the nucleic acid?
a. The nucleic acid contains the genetic information needed to avoid detection.
b. The nucleic acid contains the genetic information needed to reproduce itself.
c. The nucleic acid gives the virus the shape needed to invade a host cell.
d. The nucleic acid contains the genetic information needed to bind with a host cell.
____ 17. A process is illustrated in the diagram below.
Which process is illustrated in the diagram?
a. viral reproduction
c. gamete formation
b. facilitated diffusion
d. bacterial conjugation
____ 18. Which of the following factors would have a substantial effect on the results of an experiment
designed to determine which brand of bar soap MOST effectively kills bacteria?
a. the color of the soap
c. the shape of the soap
b. the time of day the soap was used
d. the ingredients found in the soap
____ 19. Which these organisms will most likely show a positive phototactic response?
a.
c.
b.
d.
____ 20. What is one way viruses are similar to all nonliving things?
a. They are not contagious.
c. They do not contain genetic material.
b. They do not reproduce on their own.
d. They are microscopic.
____ 21. Some viral diseases require only one vaccination, which lasts for years. For other diseases like
the flu, vaccinations last only one season. The flu vaccine lasts such a short time because the
flu virus
a. is much smaller
c. is less dangerous
b. is more easily transmitted
d. mutates much more rapidly
____ 22. Which protist causes malaria?
a. amoeba
c. plasmodium
b. paramecium
d. euglena
____ 23. Which statement describes the most common way a person becomes infected with the West
Nile virus?
a. A person from the West Nile region becomes infected, and then the person coughs or sneezes
on a visiting traveler.
b. A bird eats an infected mosquito, and then a person touches the dead bird or bird feces.
c. A mosquito feeds on an infected bird, and then the mosquito transmits the virus when it bites a
person.
d. A mosquito becomes infected in the West Nile region, and then the mosquito infects people
around the world as they migrate.
____ 24. Which of the following roles do nitrogen-fixing bacteria serve in the nitrogen cycle?
a. They release nitrogen from the bodies of decaying organisms.
b. They convert nitrogen into a form that plants can use.
c. They concentrate nitrogen in the atmosphere.
d. They absorb nitrogen from the wastes of animals.
____ 25. In 2005, infectious disease researchers recognized a new form of bird flu. The disease was
deadly to birds but not very infectious to humans. Health officials feared that the virus could
mutate to become highly infectious to humans. Diseases spread to new areas or a new host
when people come into contact with a pathogen in a new way. Changing environmental
conditions can cause a disease host to multiply rapidly. In this way, human behavior plays an
important role in emerging disease.
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According to the chart, how did the incidence of new cases of bird flu change between January
2006 and April 2006?
a. New cases of bird flu increased through March and then decreased.
b. New cases of bird flu decreased steadily.
c. New cases of bird flu increased exponentially, likely because the virus spread from person to person.
d. No new cases of bird flu were detected during these months.
Plants use nitrogen to make proteins. What is present in the soil that makes nitrogen directly
available to plants?
a. Water
c. Bacteria
b. Air
d. Sugars
A mutation occurred during replication. What type of mutation is shown?
Old DNA strand: ATG CGC GAT TCG
New DNA strand: ATG CGC AAT TCG
a. deletion mutation
c. frame shift mutation
b. point mutation
d. inversion mutation
Malaria is a tropical disease characterized by severe chills, headache, and fever. Malaria is
caused by protists in the genus Plasmodium. The disease is spread from human to human when
mosquitoes bite an infected person and transfer Plasmodium sporozoites to another person.
Hoping to develop a product that prevents malarial infection, a scientist researches chemicals
that kill different types of organisms. How might the scientist use a chemical to prevent the
transmission of malaria from person to person?
a. The scientist might design a study to evaluate whether a chemical can kill the protist after it
has been transmitted from one person to another.
b. The scientist might develop a chemical that kills all Plasmodium sporozoites found in water
sources.
c. The scientist might develop a chemical that kills either the mosquito that transfers the protist
or the protist itself.
d. The scientist might test a chemical to determine whether it treats the more severe symptoms
of malaria, such as chills, headache, and fever.
Which type of bacteria has a round or spherical shape and can be found in large clumps or long
chains?
a. spirillum
c. bacillus
b. coccus
d. polyhedral
____ 30. Joseph Lister, a British surgeon, was one of the first adherents to the germ theory of disease.
He hypothesized that disease did not spontaneously happen, but rather that
microorganisms caused disease. He tried to prevent disease by keeping his surgery germ
free.
Lister tested his hypothesis on patients in the hospital’s Male Accident Ward. Look at the
graph. Did data from the experiment lend support to Lister’s hypothesis?
a. The results were not conclusive, because it is impossible to determine what the
dependent variable was.
b. The data did not support the hypothesis, because death rate declines are not a good
mea- sure of the experiment’s success.
c. The data supported his hypothesis, because the death rate dropped from 45% to
15%.
d. It is not possible to tell, because more information on how he collected the data is
needed.