Evolution
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1. A population is a group of individuals of the same species. According to the theory of natural
selection, what is likely to happen to a population when a change occurs in its environment (for
example, the amount of rainfall decreases or the temperature increases)?
A. The individuals that have traits better suited to the change environment would be more
likely to survive and reproduce than those with less suitable traits.
B. All of the individuals would try to develop new traits so that they could survive and
reproduce in changed environment.
C. Some of the individuals would try to develop new traits so that they could survive and
reproduce, and the other individuals would die.
D. Because all individuals of the same species have the same traits, one individual would
never have an advantage over another in its population. They would either all survive or
all die.
2. According to the theory of natural selection, what would happen to a species of lizards when
a new predator is introduced into the environment where the lizards live?
A. The lizards that already have the physical traits needed to avoid the new predator would
be more likely to survive and reproduce, and the ones that do not would be less likely to
survive and reproduce.
B. All of the lizards would try to develop new physical traits to avoid the new predator.
C. Some of the lizards would try to develop new physical traits to avoid the new predator,
and the other lizards would die.
D. Because all lizards of the same species have the same physical traits, one lizard would
not have an advantage over another lizard. They would either all survive or all die.
3. Some of the individual members of a species of organism were moved to a new location that
had different environmental conditions than their original location. According to the theory of
natural selection, what could happen after many generations to the descendants of the
organisms that had been relocated?
A. The descendants would look the same as original individuals because species do not
change.
B. The descendants would look different from the original individuals in some ways, and
they would look the same in some ways.
C. The descendants would become a completely different species that would have no
similarities to the original individuals.
D. The descendants would look the same as the original individuals because the
environment does not affect how species look.
Evolution
4. A species of bird ate many types of
seeds, each type coming from a different
species of tree. The birds’ beaks varied in
size, with some individuals having slightly
smaller beaks and others having slightly
larger beaks. A few years went by without
much rain, and the only species of tree
that survived had large seeds. Many
generations later, almost all the birds had
the slightly larger beaks. How is the best explained?
A. The birds with larger beaks were better at eating the large seeds than those with
smaller beaks, so only the birds with larger beaks got enough food to survive,
reproduce, and pass the trait of large beaks to next generation.
B. The birds with smaller beaks had to work harder than those with larger beaks to crack
open the large seeds. The more they used their beaks, the larger their beaks became, so
they were able to get enough food to survive, reproduce, and pass the traits of large
beaks to the next generation.
C. The birds with smaller beaks grew their beaks so that they would be better able to eat
the large seeds and get enough food to survive, reproduce, and pass the trait of larger
beaks to the next generation.
D. It was chance occurrence that all the individual birds’ beaks in the next generation were
larger. They were therefore able to eat the large seeds and get enough food survive,
reproduce, and pass the trait of large beaks to the next generation.
5. A population is a group of individuals of the same species. Can the percent of individuals with
certain traits in a population change because the environment changes?
A. Yes, when the environment changes, individuals in a population can change their
inherited traits to better fit the environment, and this changes the percent of individuals
with certain traits in that population.
B. Yes, when the environment changes, individuals with certain inherited traits survive and
reproduce and other individuals with different inherited traits die, and this changes the
percent of individuals with certain traits in a population.
C. No, the percent of individuals with certain inherited traits in a population changes
randomly from one generation to the next, never as a result of changes to the
environment.
D. No, the percent of individuals with certain inherited traits in a population cannot change
because a population is all one species and so will always have the same inherited traits.
6. Which of the following is required for the process of natural selection to occur?
A. Numerous species must have recently become extinct.
B. A food source must disappear.
C. There must be a sudden environmental change.
D. Traits must be inherited from one generation to the next.
Evolution
7. A species lives in a particular environment. What is true about the environment that the
species lives in and about how the species will look over thousands of years?
A. The environment will stay the same, and the traits of the species will stay the same.
B. There will be changes to the environment, but the traits of the species will stay the
same.
C. There will be changes to the environment that could lead to changes in the traits of the
species.
D. There will be changes to the environment, and the traits of the species will changes, but
the changes in the environment could never lead to changes in the traits of species.
8. Some organisms, such as a chimpanzee and a human, have many similarities. Others, such as
a zebra and a worm, have fewer similarities. What do scientists think is true about the ancestors
of these organisms?
A. Chimpanzees and humans share a common ancestor with each other, but zebras and
worms do not share a common ancestor with each other.
B. Chimpanzees and humans share a common ancestor with each other, and zebras and
worms do not share a common ancestor with each other, but chimpanzees and humans
do not share a common ancestor with zebras and worms.
C. Because chimpanzees, humans, zebras and worms are separate species, none of them
shares a common ancestor with any other.
D. Chimpanzees, humans, zebras and worms all share an ancient common ancestor.
9. Fossils can be used for which of the following?
A. To study the anatomical features of extinct species and to compare the features of the
extinct species with those of existing species.
B. To study the anatomical features of extinct species, but not to compare the features of
the extinct species with those of existing species.
C. To compare the features of extinct species with those of extinct species, but not to
study to anatomical features of extinct species.
D. Neither to compare the features of extinct species with those of extinct species nor to
study to anatomical features of extinct species.
10. Which of the following do scientist think is true about the species that are living on earth
today?
A. All species living today have existed since the time life began.
B. Most species living today have existed since the time life began, but a few have
appeared more recently.
C. Most species living today did not exist at the time life began.
D. There is no way of finding out whether all, most, or only a few species living today
existed since the time life began.
Answer key : 1.A 2.A 3.B 4.A 5.B 6.D 7.C 8.D 9.A 10.C