GED Science Test

1. Which of the following statements about bacteria is correct?

 a) All bacteria require a host organism to infect
b) Bacteria lack the necessary organelles to be considered alive
c) Bacteria cells have the same general structures and organelles as animal cells
d) Bacteria are considered by scientists to be alive
e) Bacteria are neither alive nor dead

2. The pigments in chloroplasts absorb red light and reflect green light. During
photosynthesis, the absorbed light is used as energy to convert carbohydrates to ATP for
the plant to use.

Under what color light would a plant grow the slowest?

a) Blue
b) Purple
c) Red
d) Yellow
e) Green

3. What polysaccharide is used to construct the cell walls of fungi?

a) Peptidoglycan
b) Amylose
c) Chitin
d) Cellulose

4. Which of the following statements about meiosis is correct?

a) Meiosis occurs in all of the body's cells

b) Meiosis increases genetic diversity through crossing over and independent assortment
c) Meiosis produces four daughter cells that are genetically identical to the original parent
cell
d) Meiosis produces diploid cells
e) Meiosis supports asexual reproductive strategies

5.Mitosis and meiosis are both processes by which cells reproduce.

Which of the following is not true about meiosis?
 a) Meiosis produces gametes.
b) Meiosis produces 4 unique daughter cells.
c) Meiosis produces identical somatic cells.
d) Meiosis produces haploid cells.
e) Cells undergoing meiosis divide twice.

6.Which step in cellular respiration results in the most ATP being produced?

a) Oxidative phosphorylation
b) Glycolysis
c) The citric acid cycle
d) Fermentation

7.If a cell is placed into a hypertonic (concentrated) solution, in which direction will water
flow?

a) Water will flow out of the cell

b) Water will flow into the cell
c) Water will flow into the cell at the same rate it flows out of the cell (steady state
equilibrium)
d) Ions will flow out of the cell, but water will not move into or out of the cell
e) Ions will flow into the cell, but water will not move into or out of the cell

8. Water will diffuse across a cell membrane in an attempt to equalize concentrations of

certain molecules inside and outside of the cell. Which type of cell membrane transport is it
when water moves across the cell membrane?

a) All of these are correct

b) Osmosis
c) Passive transport
d) Diffusion

9.How many la.yers comprise the plasma membrane of a living cell?

a) Two
b) Four
 c) Three
d) Five
e) One

10.Which of the following types of transport across a cell plasma membrane requires
energy?

a) Facilitated diffusion
b) Osmosis
c) Passive transport
d) Simple diffusion
e) Active transport

11.What is osmosis?

a) The movement of water against its concentration gradient (from low concentration of
water to high concentration of water)
b) The diffusion of small molecules and ions across a plasma membrane
c) The diffusion of water across a selectively permeable membrane
d) The transport of large molecules in vesicles
e) The pumping of water through carrier proteins

12.Cell membranes are selectively permeable—they regulate the flow of materials into and
out of the cell via transport. What is true about active transport?

a) Energy is required.
b) No energy is required.
c) It includes diffusion and osmosis.
d) Molecules always move from high to low concentrations.
e) Only fat-soluble molecules can undergo active transport.

13.If a cell is placed in a hypertonic solution, water will move __________.

a) into the cell

b) nowhere, the water will not move at all
c) into the cell membrane
d) out of the cell
e) in and out of the cell at the same rate

14. Which of the following correctly gives the function of an organelle found within an
eukaryotic cell

a) Lysosomes are responsible for protein synthesis

b) Ribosomes are responsible for the disposal and breakdown of used and unwanted proteins
 c) The smooth endoplasmic reticulum is responsible for breaking down of unwanted
proteins
d) The Golgi body provides structural support to the cell
e) Mitochondria produce vast stores of ATP (energy) for the cell to use

15. Which RNA-based organelle is the site of protein synthesis within the cell?

a) Mitochondria
b) Lysosomes
c) Nucleus
d) Ribosomes
e) Vacuole

16. Which of the following is not a membranous organelle?

f) Possible Answers:
g) Endoplasmic reticulum
h) Golgi apparatus
i) Mitochondria
j) Lysosome
k) Ribosomes

17. A microscopic examination of a cell reveals that it contains many mitochondria. What
does this observation imply about the cell?

a) The cell has a high demand for storage of genetic information

b) The cell has a high demand for neutralization of toxic compounds
c) The cell has a very low energy requirement
d) The cell has a very high energy requirement
e) The cell has a high demand for the removal of damaged organelles or pathogens

18. Which is not a major function of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)?

a) Synthesis
b) Storage
c) Phagocytosis
d) Transport
e) Detoxification

19. There are tiny structures found inside every Eukaryotic cell called organelles. Each
organelle carries out specific functions.

Which organelle is responsible for converting the chemical energy found in food into ATP
(molecules that cells use for energy)?

a) Ribosomes
 b) Nucleus
c) Chloroplast
d) Endoplasmic reticulum
e) Mitochondria

20. Which of these cell transportation processes is the most selective?

a) Receptor-mediated endocytosis
b) Osmosis
c) Diffusion
d) Endocytosis
e) Pinocytosis

21. Which of the following is not one of the three cell theory concepts?

a) Cells are produced by the division of preexisting cells

b) None of these are concepts of the cell theory
c) Cells are the structural "building blocks" of all plants and animals
d) Cells must have a nucleus
e) Cells are the smallest structural units that perform all vital functions

22. Bacteria are examples of prokaryotic cells. Which of the following cell structures are
found in prokaryotic cells?

a) Nucleus, cytoplasm, ribosomes, cell membranes, and cell walls

b) Nucleus, mitochondria, chromosomes, vacuoles, and flagella
c) Chromosomes, lysosomes, cell walls, cilia, and endoplasmic reticulum
d) Ribosomes, nucleus, cytoplasm, cell membranes, and flagella
e) Ribosomes, chromosomes, cytoplasm, cell membranes, and cell walls

23.Which of the following is NOT common to both DNA and RNA?

a) Both have a sugar phosphate backbone

b) Both use thymine as a nitrogenous base
c) Both are composed of nucleotides
d) Both use adenine as a nitrogenous base

25. Which of the following is not a result of natural selection?

a) Changing colors of a chameleon

b) Thorns on a rose bush
c) Dogs with hypoallergenic fur
d) The long neck of a giraffe
26. What type of mutation is the least dangerous to an organism?

a) Nonsense mutation
b) Frameshift mutation
c) Silent mutation
d) Missense mutation

27. Which era is referred to as "the age of the mammals?"

a) Precambrian
b) Mesozoic
c) Cenozoic
d) Paleozoic

28. Which statement about the heart is true?

a) The heart can beat without being stimulated by nerves

b) The left side of the heart pumps faster than the right side of the heart
c) A healthy resting heart rate is around 120 beats per minute
d) The heart is made of smooth muscle tissue

29. What blood cells are responsible for protecting the body from pathogens and other
foreign organisms?

a) Platelets
b) Red blood cells
c) Megakaryocytes
d) White blood cells

30. Which of the following is a steroid hormone?

a) Human growth hormone

b) Oxytocin
c) Insulin
d) Testosterone

31. Diffusion is a process by which particles move from an area of higher concentration to
an area of lower concentration. For example, oxygen diffuses through the cell membrane of
a unicellular pond organism from the water, where there is lots of oxygen, into the cell,
where there is less oxygen. Eventually, the concentration of oxygen inside and outside the
unicellular organism is the same.
What would happen if the concentration of oxygen were greater in the unicellular
organism than in its watery environment?
 a) Water would diffuse from the unicellular organism into the pond
water.
b) Oxygen would diffuse from the unicellular organism into the pond
water.
c) Oxygen would diffuse from the pond water into the unicellular
organism.
d) Diffusion of oxygen between the organism and the pond water would stop entirely.
32. Carbon dioxide is one of the “greenhouse gases” that help keep Earth warm by
trapping radiated heat in the atmosphere. Global warming is thought to be caused in part
by increased amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Which of the following would help reduce the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
and thus perhaps slow the global warming trend?
A. increasing the population of domestic animals
B. increasing the number of green plants
C. increasing the harvest of trees

D. increasing the amount of glucose in our food

33. Chloroplasts are structures found within some of the cells in a leaf. They help in the
process of photosynthesis. In the diagram, they are represented by small gray spots on the
cells.
Which of the following statements is supported by the information in the diagram?
A. Palisade cells provide a means of transporting water through a plant.
B. Most of a leaf’s chloroplasts are found in its palisade cells.
C. The spongy cells are soft, like a sponge.
D. The epidermis blocks light from reaching the palisade cells

34.A urologist is a doctor who specializes in disorders of the urinary system.

Which of the following patients is most likely to be treated by a urologist?
A. a patient with low levels of iron in her blood
B. a patient with a painful kidney stone
C. a patient with swollen veins in the anus, called hemorrhoids
D. a patient with chronic indigestion
35. Each evening, Sara has a glass of wine. If there is no wine in the house, she feels a
strong urge to get some, although she feels no ill effects if she does not.
What is Sara’s relationship to alcohol?
A. addiction
B. physical dependence
C. habituation
D. withdrawal