Origins of Life, Classification, and Phylogenetics

One of the accepted scientific theories describing the origin of life on Earth is known as chemical evolution. According to this theory, which of the following events would need to occur first for life to evolve?

• A. onset of photosynthesis

• B. origin of genetic material

• C. Synthesis of organic molecules

• D. formation of the plasma membrane

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Which types of organisms developed first due to the early environmental conditions on Earth?

• A. prokaryotic and aerobic

• B. prokaryotic and anaerobic

• C. eukaryotic and aerobic

• D. eukaryotic and anaerobic

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he Miller-Urey experiment of 1953 was designed to test the hypothesis that lightning supplied the energy needed to turn atmospheric gases into organic molecules such as amino acids. Which of the following describes why the Miller-Urey theory is widely accepted today?

• A. Amino acids spontaneously form from molecules in the atmosphere today.

• B. Organic molecules are present today in extremely high concentrations.

• C. The process of synthesizing organic molecules from a mixture of gases has been successfully modeled in the laboratory.

• D. No other alternative hypotheses have been introduced.

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The diagram shows a proposed theory of the origin of eukaryotic cells, called endosymbiosis.

Which of the following explains why cells that contained mitochondria-like organelles had an evolutionary advantage?

• A. They were able to photosynthesize

• B. They had more DNA

• C. They were able to make more use of available energy

• D. They were immune to bacterial invasion.

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Assume a group of scientists has managed to set up an experiment simulating the conditions of early Earth that resulted in a cell with DNA using RNA to produce proteins from amino acids as modern cells do. What conclusion could they draw from this experiment?

• A. It is possible for a cell similar to a modern cell to form under the conditions of the experiment.

• B. Modern cells developed from inorganic compounds in the conditions that existed on early Earth.

• C. The conditions of their experiment exactly replicated the conditions found on early Earth.

• D. The way modern cells function is the only way a cell could be constructed and survive.

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Since all scientists do not speak English, the scientific name for an organism is written in latin or greek.  It is composed of which two parts of the taxonomic tree?

• class and family 

• genus and species 

• domain and kingdom 

• 
  kingdom and phylum 

The 8 levels of classification, most broad to most specific.

• 
  Domain, Genus, Family, Order, Class, Phylum, Kingdom, Species

• Domain, Species, Kingdom, Genus, Phylum, Family, Class, Order

• Order, Kingdom, Species, Domain, Phylum, Family, Class, Genus

• Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species

Organisms classified as fungi have unique characteristics. Which of the following characteristics is found only in organisms classified in the kingdom fungi?

• A. single cells without a nucleus

• B. multicellular with chloroplasts

• C. multicellular filaments that absorb nutrients

• D. colonies of single, photosynthetic cells that reproduce asexually

Which kingdoms have photosynthetic organisms?

• A. fungi and plants

• B. fungi and protists

• C. protists and plants

• D. plants and animals

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All bacteria are...

• Unicellular

• Multicellular

• Many cells

• Eukaryotic

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