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Descriptive Statements:
- Demonstrate knowledge of basic chemistry, including the characteristics of atoms and molecules, and of the physical and chemical properties of water and carbon and the biological significance of these properties.
- Analyze biological phenomena at the cellular level in terms of the basic principles of thermodynamics and the properties of chemical reactions and covalent, ionic, and hydrogen bonds.
- Analyze the structure and function of macromolecules (e.g., carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, proteins) and their monomers, including metabolic pathways involving their synthesis and breakdown.
- Analyze the role of enzymatic molecules in metabolic pathways involving the synthesis and breakdown of macromolecules.
Sample Item:
Which of the following best explains carbon's central role in the composition of
biomolecules?
- Carbon exists as a solid at room temperature.
- Carbon's four valence electrons allow it to bond with other atoms in a wide variety
of ways.
- Carbon is the element with the greatest electronegativity.
- Carbon's six protons make it easy for it to achieve an octet by reacting with the
alkaline Earth metals.
Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)
B. This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of basic
chemistry, including the characteristics of atoms and molecules, and of the physical and
chemical properties of water and carbon and the biological significance of these properties. Carbon has four electrons in its valence shell and by sharing electrons forms stable single and double covalent bonds with a number of other elements, including oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen. It is thus capable of forming large, complex molecules with skeletons that differ in their length, degree of branching, or arrangement in closed rings. This diversity in molecular structures makes possible the diversity of living organisms.
Descriptive Statements:
- Analyze the structures and functions of membranes, organelles, and other cellular components in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and the mechanisms by which cells maintain homeostasis.
- Analyze the process of photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
- Analyze the specializations of cells and differentiate cell types.
- Demonstrate knowledge of binary fission, mitosis, the stages of the cell cycle, and factors affecting the growth and division of cells.
Sample Item:
Which of the following is most likely to occur when yeast cells have exhausted the supply
of oxygen present in their growth medium?
- Lactic acid will accumulate in the lysosomes of the yeast cells.
- Fermentation will regenerate NAD+ positive, and glycolysis will continue.
- Carbon dioxide production will increase and acidify the medium.
- ATP production will cease, and the yeast cells will die.
Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)
B. This question requires the examinee to analyze the process of
photosynthesis and cellular respiration. In the absence of oxygen that can serve as
the final electron receptor, the end product of glycolysis, pyruvate, is converted to
ethanol. This is accomplished by the reduction of acetaldehyde by NADH, thus regenerating
a supply of NAD+ positive that can accept electrons during the oxidation step of glycolysis, and
allowing that process to continue.
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