YORK UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
NATURAL SCIENCE 1730.06
Scientific Change
Sample Multiple-Choice Questions for the Final Examination
These are examples of questions that might be asked on the final examination. In fact many of
these questions will be asked on the final examination. This examination will consist of a section
with essay-type questions of the sort you are familiar with from previous tests, and multiplechoice questions. There will be no calculation questions on the final exam, and calculators are
not permitted.
These questions are for guidance to help students study. It might be useful not only to come up
with what you believe to be the correct answer, but also to think of incorrect but plausible answers
to test yourself and make sure that you have not missed some detail. Often students who know
the material very well will nevertheless pick incorrect answers because they have misread the
question or have doubted their own knowledge. If you are part of a study group, propose different
answers to each other and then discuss why one answer is better than another.
Sample Multiple-choice questions
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1.
An ovist believes what?
2.
The paper “On the Nature of Gene Mutation
and Gene Structure” was written by whom?
3.
William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) calculated
that the Earth was less than 50 million years
old. This was especially troublesome for
whom?
4.
A long and thorough study of barnacles was
undertaken by whom?
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5.
Nucleic acids are found where?
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6.
A vitalist believes what?
7.
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8.
9.
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Wilkins and Crick were both influenced to
study DNA by reading what work?
Who was Darwin’s “bulldog”?
Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater, died in 1829 leaving a bequest of £8,000
for works which advanced what point of view?
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10.
11.
The Scottish engineer Fleeming Jenkin
criticised which tenet of Darwin’s theory?
12.
In the Epilogue to the Double Helix, Watson
admitted that he was often wrong in his assessment of whom?
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The thin dark objects pictured are what?
Natural Science 1730.06, Science as Discovery, Examples of Final Examination Questions
2.
16.
The medieval idea that all living beings
could be placed in a single ordering from
lowest to highest was called what?
17.
William Smith identified and dated the
geological strata that
he dug through by
means of what technique?
18.
The figure in the
picture at right is
called what?
19.
The person in the
portrait below is
whom?
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20. Charles Lyell in-
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vestigated long-term
geological processes by
studying what?
21. According to Mendelian genetics, dominant characteristics appear how many times
more often than recessive characteristics?
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22.
In the normal course of cell functions (excluding mutations), how does the cell nucleus and its contents affect the code imbedded in the DNA molecules?
23.
The cell nucleus was discovered by.whom?
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13.
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14.
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15.
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The explanation exemplified by the cartoon
shown is called what?
The two German scientists Schleiden and
Schwann were known for what theory?
In 1900, Hugo de Vries and others rediscovered the forgotten work of whom?
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24.
The voyage of the Beagle surveyed what
coast?
25.
The teeth of sabre-tooth cats exemplifies
what principle?
26.
The system of binomial classification was
created by whom?
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Natural Science 1730.06, Science as Discovery, Examples of Final Examination Questions
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27.
The “letters” of the DNA alphabet are what?
28.
Which one of the following was a member of
the Phage Group?
29.
A unit of a nucleic acid consisting of a sugar,
a phosphate, and a base is called what?
30.
The regularity of the parts of animals exhibit
the effect of choice according to whom?
31.
Preformation theories of inheritance postulate
what?
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32.
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33.
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34.
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35.
The model of protein structure conceived by
Linus Pauling was called what?
The Origin of Species was first published in
what year?
Mendel’s experiment on peas tested for how
many different pairs of characteristics?
The device pictured is what?
39.
This “Palaeotherium” skeleton was reconstructed by whom?
40.
Darwin first studied for what profession?
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41.
The paper that galvanized Darwin into publishing his extensive research on evolution
was written by whom?
42.
What was one feature that distinguished
germplasm from idioplasm?
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43.
Aristotle argued that events in nature which
happen regularly happen by necessity,
whereas those which happen by accident do
not happen regularly and therefore can be
disregarded. In arguing this he was refuting
Empedocles’ statement of what principle?
45.
The proposition that “the power of population is indefinitely greater than the power of
the earth to produce subsistence for man”
was argued by whom?
46.
When was the structure of the DNA molecule discovered?
47.
One of the founders of X-ray crystallography was whom?
48.
In order to study molecular structure using
X-ray diffraction techniques, a substance
must have what property?
49.
On the voyage of the Beagle, Darwin took
with him what book?
50.
Chromatic aberration was a special problem for what device?
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36.
Rudolf Virchow’s principle could be summarized by what phrase?
37.
A bush pruned by a drunken gardener is a
description that has been applied to what theory?
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38.
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If T represents a dominant tall factor and s
represents a recessive short factor, what is the
expected distribution in the first generation of
Ts mated with ss?
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A reductionist believes what?
44.
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3.
Natural Science 1730.06, Science as Discovery, Examples of Final Examination Questions
51.
What event was purported to have occurred
on October 23, 4004 B.C.?
52.
Who did Watson and Crick most fear would
beat them to the discovery of the structure of
DNA?
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53.
The American William Sumner believed that
the highest form of human evolution was exemplified by whom?
55.
Karl Marx wished to dedicate Das Kapital to
whom?
56.
The best X-ray diffraction photographs of
DNA at the time of the discovery of its structure were taken by whom?
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57.
58.
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?
59.
68.
The principle that accounts for the motion
of a jet airplane is expressed in Newton’s
Principia where?
69.
In Euclid’s proof of the Pythagorean theorem, what triangles can be drawn (and labelled by their endpoints) that are equal in
area?
70.
The term “autocatalytic function” refers to
what?
71.
The term “heterocatalytic function” refers to
what?
72.
In Hugh Kearney’s analysis of the three traditions in the history of science, which of the
following best fits the Organic tradition? (A
list follows.)
73.
In Hugh Kearney’s analysis of the three traditions in the history of science, which of the
following best fits the Magical tradition? (A
list follows.)
74.
In Hugh Kearney’s analysis of the three traditions in the history of science, which of the
following best fits the Mechanist tradition? (A
list follows.)
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The DNA molecule reproduces exact replicas
of itself during cell division by doing what?
A spermist believes what?
The first law of thermodynamics asserts
what?
61.
The second law of thermodynamics asserts
what?
62.
The third law of thermodynamics asserts
what?
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All square numbers have what property?
Chargaff’s Rule states what?
60.
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67.
Plant cells were first discovered where?
54.
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63.
In Newton’s Principia, the principle of inertia
is assumed in which axiom of motion?
64.
How many DNA “letters” are necessary to
spell a “word” designating one of the 20 amino
acids?
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65.
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66.
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4.
In Newton’s Principia, the relationship between force and acceleration is stated in which
axiom of motion?
Consider the following argument: “If you
know a great deal about science, then you will
pass this course. You did pass this course.
Therefore, you know a great deal about science.” This reasoning is an example of what
principle?
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Natural Science 1730.06, Science as Discovery, Examples of Final Examination Questions
75.
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76.
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Which of the following quantities are incommensurable? (A list of pairs of quantities is provided.)
78.
The height to which a column of water can be
raised by a suction pump is a function of what?
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79.
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80.
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81.
85.
Gutenberg’s 42-line Bible was printed in
which year?
86.
The nineteenth century botanist Robert
Brown discovered sudden, apparently random motions of particles in suspensions that
he studied under the microscope. The motions were finally explained by whom?
87.
The diagram shown above represents
what?
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Which of the following is a triangular
number? (A list of possible numbers is provided.)
77.
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The proposition that planets sweep out equal
areas in equal times was made by whom?
?
Newton’s compared the falling of an apple to
the earth to the motion of the moon. The apple
actually hits the earth, but, he maintained, the
moon did not because of what?
The belief that the fundamental “stuff” of the
world was water is attributed to whom?
Photo “51” was taken by whom?
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88.
The five regular solids, described by Euclid,
play an important explanatory role in whose
theory?
89.
Which one of the following was not a presocratic philosopher? (A list is provided.)
90.
Copernicus did not make use of which one
of the following concepts in his system? (A
list is provided.)
91.
Pierre and Marie Curie discovered that all
elements heavier than ______________ are
radioactive.
92.
The chemist Kekulé had a famous dream in
which he conceived the structure of what?
93.
When lead is heated until it turns to a calx,
the calx has what property?
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82.
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83.
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10
84.
5.
The men represented in this painting are:
The astronomical system of Ptolemy featured
the use of what device?
Who was Aristotle’s teacher?
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Natural Science 1730.06, Science as Discovery, Examples of Final Examination Questions
94.
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95.
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96.
The “spyglass,” invented in 1609, was made
into a more viable instrument, the telescope,
by whom?
Newton did his experiment on light through
prisms, worked out the basic principles of the
calculus, and conceived the notion of universal
gravitation in what year?
99.
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The formula E=mc expresses a general
relationship between what two entities?
100. The Julian calendar introduced what new
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feature?
101. James Joule and Julius Mayer proposed
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The man in this painting is:
that there existed in the world a fixed and unchanging quantity of what?
102. The farther a planet is from the sun, the
longer it takes to make one complete revolution. This insight was put into a precise
mathematical formula by whom?
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97.
6.
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“On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies”
was written by whom?
103. The explanation exemplified by the cartoon
shown above is called
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104. What would Aristotle consider to be the effi2 new 4/96
98.
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The diagram above of the universe depicts
the world as conceived by whom?
cient cause of a bronze statue of the goddess Venus?
105. The “Fertile Crescent” refers to land lying
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between what two rivers?
Natural Science 1730.06, Science as Discovery, Examples of Final Examination Questions
106. What was the major crop of the First Agricul-
117. The phrase “no vestige of a beginning, no
tural Revolution?
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107. Euclid’s Elements dates from what year?
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108. The ancient Egyptian scribes responsible for
accounting were required to know how to perform what calculation?
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109. Ancient Mesopotamia is mostly located in
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what present day country?
110. The end of the Dark Age in Greece is marked
by the careers of whom?
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111. Which one of the following was not one of the
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seven liberal arts? (A list is provided.)
112. A serious outbreak of bubonic plague, often
called “The Black Death” devastated the population of Europe in what year?
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113. The work Relics of the Flood is a statement
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of the theory known as what?
114. Farming began to displace hunting and gath5
ering as a means of subsistence about
_______________ years ago.
115. For Plato, true knowledge had what prop34
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erty?
116. The word “fossil” originally meant what?
7.
prospect of an end,” comes from the writings
of whom?
118. Eratosthenes of Cyrene devised an ingen5
ious method to estimate what?
119. The woman in this picture is: