GENETICS TEST – 2006 – ANSWER KEY
In Correcting Your Test:
 For each multiple choice question that you got wrong,
1. Write out the question with the correct answer.
2. Write an explanation of why that is the correct answer.
 For the BCR, if you lost more than 2 points,
Study the sample given and write one of your own that
matches. Use your own words, but use the ideas of the
correct BCR.
 Answer the other BCR that you did not do. Then compare
your answer to the sample to get it up to an A level.
 Turn this in for a classwork grade, not a retest grade. You
will take a retest next Friday.
GENETICS TEST – 2006
Use the following information in answering questions: (T – tall, dominant; t – short,
recessive)
1. A characteristic passed on from generation to generation is a(n)
A) DNA.
B) gene
C) adaptation
D) trait
2. DNA is arranged in small units called
A) traits
B) genes
C) proteins.
D) alleles
3. In a monohybrid cross between a heterozygous tall plant and a short plant,
predict how many of the young will be short.
A. all
B. ¼
C. ½
D. ¾
4. An organism with a tall phenotype would have what possible genotypes?
A) TT
B) Tt
C) either TT or tt
D) either TT or Tt
5. Which statement is correct?
A. A boy is male because he gets a Y chromosome from his mother and an X
chromosome from his father.
B. A boy is male because he gets an X chromosome from his mother and a Y
chromosome from his father.
C. A girl is female because she gets a Y chromosome from her mother and an
X chromosome from her father.
D. A girl is female because she gets an X chromosome from her mother and a
Y chromosome from her father.
6. The passing of information from parent to offspring is called
A. adaptation
B. heredity
C. diversity
D. fertilization
7. An organism that passes genes from a single parent to its (identical) offspring
does so by a process called
A. asexual reproduction
B. cellular respiration
C. meiosis
D. sexual reproduction
8. Organisms that reproduce sexually receive half of their genes from their
mother and half from their father through a process called
A. asexual reproduction
B. cellular respiration
C. mitosis
D. sexual reproduction.
9. Sexual reproduction involves an egg (a specialized cell from the female) and a
sperm (a specialized cell from a male) that join together in a process called
A. adaptation
B. heredity
C. fertilization
D. meiosis
10. Which of the following is NOT related to sexual reproduction?
A. meiosis
B. fertilization
C. pollen
D. binary fission
11. If both parents have one recessive allele, what percentage of the offspring
would we predict to have the recessive trait?
A. 0%
B. 25%
C. 50%
D. 75%
12. Traits are passed from parents to offspring. What part of the cell stores the
genetic traits?
A. chromosomes
B. vacuole
C. mitochondria
D. chloroplast
13. Which statement about meiosis is most accurate?
A. It creates sex cells with identical chromosome numbers to the parent cells.
B. It is the most common form of cell division.
C. It creates cells with one half the number of chromosomes as the parent
cells.
D. It is the opposite of mitosis.
14. Which type of characteristics can be inherited?
A. Those controlled by genes
B. Those caused by mitosis
C. Those produced by exercise
D. Those produced by diet
15. Many cells and simple organisms reproduce by mitosis. Which of these best
describes the results of mitosis? Mitosis produces:
A. new cells that carry different traits
B. eggs and pollen
C. new cells that look just like the mother cell
D. flowers and seeds.
16. When Mendel crossed a pure breeding tall plant with a pure breeding short
plant, all the offspring were tall. When he crossed the two of these hybrid tall
plants, most of the offspring were tall, but some were short. What did Mendel
conclude from these results?
A. There is 1 factor for plant height
B. The allele for tallness can mask the allele for shortness
C. Shortness is a dominant trait
D. These plants come in only two sizes
17. Which best describes the genetic information passed on by sexual
reproduction?
A. 100% of the genetic information passed on comes from the mother.
B. 100% of the genetic information passed on comes from the father.
C. 50% of the genetic information comes from the father and 50% comes from
the mother.
D. 25% of the genetic information comes from the recessive parent, and 75%
comes from the dominant parent.
BCRs – Answer one (1) of the following BCR questions.
BCR # 1 – One advantage of sexual reproduction over asexual reproduction is that
it creates diversity. Look at the diversity of butterflies and birds. Sexual
reproduction makes this possible. Explain how sexual reproduction does increase
diversity by comparing it to asexual reproduction. Be sure to include:
 A comparison of sexual and asexual reproduction
 Meiosis and mitosis and the number of chromosomes that each produces
 Using this information to explain why sexual reproduction promotes
diversity.
“A” Answer: Sexual reproduction has been a reason why there is so much diversity
on Earth. Before that life reproduced by asexual reproduction. In asexual
reproduction there is only 1 parent and the offspring are identical to the parent.
Just like mitosis the new cells have the same DNA as the parents’ cells. In sexual
reproduction the new cell is made out of 2 half cells, one from a mother and one
from a father. These half cells are made by meiosis, where half the DNA goes into
the new cell. Because the new cell comes from both parents, it doesn’t look like the
parents’ cells. So sexual reproduction makes the new life different.
BCR # 2 – SpongeBob Squarepants and his wife Wilma Squarepants are upset
after the birth of their child Egbert. When they walk into the nursery, it is clear
that Egbert is a RoundPants. They go immediately to the doctor to say that a
mistake has been made and that Egbert is not their child. Squarepants (S) is the
dominant allele for body shape while RoundPants (s) is the recessive allele.
SpongeBob is homozygous for his SquarePants while Wilma is heterozygous. Could
Egbert be their child or has the hospital made an error? In answering the question:
 Give the genotype for each of the parents.
 Give the possible genotypes for their children.
 Explain based on this information why or why not a mistake was made.
“A” Answer”: SpongeBob Squarepants has homozygous SS genes and his wife Wilma
Squarepants has heterozygous Ss genes. If you use a Punnett Square, you will see
that all their children have to have SS or Ss genes and are all Squarepants. So
Egbert cannot be their child. Egbert is a Roundpants and must have ss genes since
s is recessive. Egbert would need to get a recessive s allele from each parent, and
SpongeBob doesn’t have one, So the hospital; has definitely made a mistake.