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Test InformationGuide:College-LevelExaminationProgram®

2011-12

Biology

© 2011 The College Board. All rights reserved. College Board, College-Level ExaminationProgram, CLEP, and the acorn logo are registered trademarks of the College Board.

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CLEP TEST INFORMATIONGUIDE FOR BIOLOGY

History of CLEP

Since 1967, the College-Level Examination Program(CLEP®) has provided over six million people withthe opportunity to reach their educational goals.CLEP participants have received college credit forknowledge and expertise they have gained throughprior course work, independent study or work andlife experience.

Over the years, the CLEP examinations have evolvedto keep pace with changing curricula and pedagogy.Typically, the examinations represent material taughtin introductory college-level courses from all areasof the college curriculum. Students may choose from33 different subject areas in which to demonstratetheir mastery of college-level material.

Today, more than 2,900 colleges and universitiesrecognize and grant credit for CLEP.

Philosophy of CLEP

Promoting access to higher education is CLEP’sfoundation. CLEP offers students an opportunity todemonstrate and receive validation of theircollege-level skills and knowledge. Students whoachieve an appropriate score on a CLEP exam canenrich their college experience with higher-levelcourses in their major field of study, expand theirhorizons by taking a wider array of electives andavoid repetition of material that they already know.

CLEP Participants

CLEP’s test-taking population includes people of allages and walks of life. Traditional 18- to 22-year-oldstudents, adults just entering or returning to school,homeschoolers and international students who needto quantify their knowledge have all been assisted byCLEP in earning their college degrees. Currently,58 percent of CLEP’s test-takers are women and52 percent are 23 years of age or older.

For over 30 years, the College Board has worked toprovide government-funded credit-by-examopportunities to the military through CLEP. Militaryservice members are fully funded for their CLEP examfees. Exams are administered at military installations

worldwide through computer-based testing programsand also — in forward-deployed areas — throughpaper-based testing. Approximately one-third of allCLEP candidates are military service members.

2010-11 National CLEP Candidates by Age*

These data are based on 100% of CLEP test-takers who responded to this survey question during their examinations.

*

Under 189%

18-22 years39%

23-29 years22%

30 years and older30%

2010-11 National CLEP Candidates by Gender

41%

58%

Computer-Based CLEP Testing

The computer-based format of CLEP exams allowsfor a number of key features. These include:

• a variety of question formats that ensure effectiveassessment

• real-time score reporting that gives students andcolleges the ability to make immediate credit-granting decisions (except College Composition,which requires faculty scoring of essays twice amonth)

• a uniform recommended credit-granting score of50 for all exams

• “rights-only” scoring, which awards one point percorrect answer

• pretest questions that are not scored but providecurrent candidate population data and allow forrapid expansion of question pools

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CLEP Exam Development

Content development for each of the CLEP examsis directed by a test development committee. Eachcommittee is composed of faculty from a widevariety of institutions who are currently teachingthe relevant college undergraduate courses. Thecommittee members establish the test specificationsbased on feedback from a national curriculumsurvey; recommend credit-granting scores andstandards; develop and select test questions; reviewstatistical data and prepare descriptive material foruse by faculty (Test Information Guides) and studentsplanning to take the tests (CLEP Official Study Guide).

College faculty also participate in CLEP in otherways: they convene periodically as part ofstandard-setting panels to determine therecommended level of student competency for thegranting of college credit; they are called upon towrite exam questions and to review forms and theyhelp to ensure the continuing relevance of the CLEPexaminations through the curriculum surveys.

The Curriculum Survey

The first step in the construction of a CLEP exam isa curriculum survey. Its main purpose is to obtaininformation needed to develop test-contentspecifications that reflect the current collegecurriculum and to recognize anticipated changes inthe field. The surveys of college faculty areconducted in each subject every three to five yearsdepending on the discipline. Specifically, the surveygathers information on:

• the major content and skill areas covered in theequivalent course and the proportion of the coursedevoted to each area

• specific topics taught and the emphasis given toeach topic

• specific skills students are expected to acquire andthe relative emphasis given to them

• recent and anticipated changes in course content,skills and topics

• the primary textbooks and supplementary learningresources used

• titles and lengths of college courses thatcorrespond to the CLEP exam

The Committee

The College Board appoints standing committees ofcollege faculty for each test title in the CLEP battery.Committee members usually serve a term of up tofour years. Each committee works with contentspecialists at Educational Testing Service to establishtest specifications and develop the tests. Listedbelow are the current committee members and theirinstitutional affiliations.

Elizabeth Cowles,Chair

Eastern Connecticut StateUniversity

LaJoyce Debro Jacksonville StateUniversity

Douglas Ure Chemeketa CommunityCollege

The primary objective of the committee is to producetests with good content validity. CLEP tests must berigorous and relevant to the discipline and theappropriate courses. While the consensus of thecommittee members is that this test has high contentvalidity for a typical introductory Biology course orcurriculum, the validity of the content for a specificcourse or curriculum is best determined locallythrough careful review and comparison of testcontent, with instructional content covered in aparticular course or curriculum.

The Committee Meeting

The exam is developed from a pool of questionswritten by committee members and outside questionwriters. All questions that will be scored on a CLEPexam have been pretested; those that pass a rigorousstatistical analysis for content relevance, difficulty,fairness and correlation with assessment criteria areadded to the pool. These questions are compiled bytest development specialists according to the testspecifications, and are presented to all the committeemembers for a final review. Before convening at atwo- or three-day committee meeting, the membershave a chance to review the test specifications andthe pool of questions available for possible inclusionin the exam.

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At the meeting, the committee determines whetherthe questions are appropriate for the test and, if not,whether they need to be reworked and pretestedagain to ensure that they are accurate andunambiguous. Finally, draft forms of the exam arereviewed to ensure comparable levels of difficulty andcontent specifications on the various test forms. Thecommittee is also responsible for writing anddeveloping pretest questions. These questions areadministered to candidates who take the examinationand provide valuable statistical feedback on studentperformance under operational conditions.

Once the questions are developed and pretested,tests are assembled in one of two ways. In somecases, test forms are assembled in their entirety.These forms are of comparable difficulty and aretherefore interchangeable. More commonly,questions are assembled into smaller,content-specific units called testlets, which can thenbe combined in different ways to create multiple testforms. This method allows many different forms tobe assembled from a pool of questions.

Test Specifications

Test content specifications are determined primarilythrough the curriculum survey, the expertise of thecommittee and test development specialists, therecommendations of appropriate councils andconferences, textbook reviews and other appropriatesources of information. Content specifications takeinto account:

• the purpose of the test

• the intended test-taker population

• the titles and descriptions of courses the test isdesigned to reflect

• the specific subject matter and abilities to be tested

• the length of the test, types of questions andinstructions to be used

Recommendation of the AmericanCouncil on Education (ACE)

The American Council on Education’s CollegeCredit Recommendation Service (ACE CREDIT)has evaluated CLEP processes and procedures for

developing, administering and scoring the exams.Effective July 2001, ACE recommended a uniformcredit-granting score of 50 across all subjects, withthe exception of four-semester language exams,which represents the performance of students whoearn a grade of C in the corresponding collegecourse.

The American Council on Education, the majorcoordinating body for all the nation’s higher educationinstitutions, seeks to provide leadership and a unifyingvoice on key higher education issues and to influencepublic policy through advocacy, research and programinitiatives. For more information, visit the ACECREDIT website at www.acenet.edu/acecredit.

CLEP Credit Granting

CLEP uses a common recommended credit-grantingscore of 50 for all CLEP exams.

This common credit-granting score does not mean,however, that the standards for all CLEP exams arethe same. When a new or revised version of a test isintroduced, the program conducts a standard settingto determine the recommended credit-granting score(“cut score”).

A standard-setting panel, consisting of 15–20 facultymembers from colleges and universities across thecountry who are currently teaching the course, isappointed to give its expert judgment on the level ofstudent performance that would be necessary toreceive college credit in the course. The panelreviews the test and test specifications and definesthe capabilities of the typical A student, as well asthose of the typical B, C and D students.* Expectedindividual student performance is rated by eachpanelist on each question. The combined average ofthe ratings is used to determine a recommendednumber of examination questions that must beanswered correctly to mirror classroom performanceof typical B and C students in the related course. Thepanel’s findings are given to members of the testdevelopment committee who, with the help ofEducational Testing Service and College Boardpsychometric specialists, make a final determinationon which raw scores are equivalent to B and C levelsof performance.

*Student performance for the language exams (French, German and Spanish)is defined only at the B and C levels.

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Biology

Description of the Examination

The Biology examination covers material that isusually taught in a one-year college general biologycourse. The subject matter tested covers the broadfield of the biological sciences, organized intothree major areas: molecular and cellular biology,organismal biology and population biology. Theexamination gives approximately equal weight tothese three areas.

The examination contains approximately115 questions to be answered in 90 minutes.Some of these are pretest questions that will notbe scored. Any time candidates spend on tutorialsand providing personal information is in additionto the actual testing time.

Knowledge and Skills Required

Questions on the Biology examination requirecandidates to demonstrate one or more of thefollowing abilities.

• Knowledge of facts, principles and processesof biology

• Understanding the means by which informationis collected, how it is interpreted, how onehypothesizes from available information, howone draws conclusions and makes furtherpredictions

• Understanding that science is a humanendeavor with social consequences

The subject matter of the Biology examination isdrawn from the following topics. The percentagesnext to the main topics indicate the approximatepercentage of exam questions on that topic.

33% Molecular and Cellular BiologyChemical composition of organisms• Simple chemical reactions and bonds• Properties of water• Chemical structure of carbohydrates,

lipids, proteins, nucleic acids• Origin of life

Cells• Structure and function of cell organelles• Properties of cell membranes• Comparison of prokaryotic and

eukaryotic cells

Enzymes• Enzyme-substrate complex• Roles of coenzymes• Inorganic cofactors• Inhibition and regulation

Energy transformations• Glycolysis, respiration, anaerobic

pathways• Photosynthesis

Cell division• Structure of chromosomes• Mitosis, meiosis and cytokinesis in

plants and animals

Chemical nature of the gene• Watson-Crick model of nucleic acids• DNA replication• Mutations• Control of protein synthesis:

transcription, translation,post-transcriptional processing

• Structural and regulatory genes• Transformation• Viruses

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B I O L O G Y

34% Organismal BiologyStructure and function in plants with

emphasis on angiosperms• Root, stem, leaf, flower, seed, fruit• Water and mineral absorption and

transport• Food translocation and storage

Plant reproduction and development• Alternation of generations in ferns,

conifers and flowering plants• Gamete formation and fertilization• Growth and development: hormonal

control• Tropisms and photoperiodicity

Structure and function in animals withemphasis on vertebrates

• Major systems (e.g., digestive, gasexchange, skeletal, nervous, circulatory,excretory, immune)

• Homeostatic mechanisms• Hormonal control in homeostasis and

reproduction

Animal reproduction and development• Gamete formation, fertilization• Cleavage, gastrulation, germ layer

formation, differentiation of organsystems

• Experimental analysis of vertebratedevelopment

• Extraembryonic membranes ofvertebrates

• Formation and function of themammalian placenta

• Blood circulation in the human embryo

Principles of heredity• Mendelian inheritance (dominance,

segregation, independent assortment)• Chromosomal basis of inheritance• Linkage, including sex-linked• Polygenic inheritance (height, skin color)• Multiple alleles (human blood groups)

33% Population BiologyPrinciples of ecology• Energy flow and productivity

in ecosystems• Biogeochemical cycles• Population growth and regulation

(natality, mortality, competition,migration, density, r- and K-selection)

• Community structure, growth, regulation(major biomes and succession)

• Habitat (biotic and abiotic factors)• Concept of niche• Island biogeography• Evolutionary ecology (life history

strategies, altruism, kin selection)

Principles of evolution• History of evolutionary concepts• Concepts of natural selection

(differential reproduction, mutation,Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, speciation,punctuated equilibrium)

• Adaptive radiation• Major features of plant and

animal evolution• Concepts of homology and analogy• Convergence, extinction, balanced

polymorphism, genetic drift• Classification of living organisms• Evolutionary history of humans

Principles of behavior• Stereotyped, learned social behavior• Societies (insects, birds, primates)

Social biology• Human population growth (age

composition, birth and fertility rates,theory of demographic transition)

• Human intervention in the naturalworld (management of resources,environmental pollution)

• Biomedical progress (control of humanreproduction, genetic engineering)

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Sample Test Questions

The following sample questions do not appear onan actual CLEP examination. They are intended togive potential test-takers an indication of the formatand difficulty level of the examination and toprovide content for practice and review. Knowingthe correct answers to all of the sample questionsis not a guarantee of satisfactory performance onthe exam.

Directions: Each of the questions or incompletestatements below is followed by five suggestedanswers or completions. Select the one that is bestin each case.

1. In which of the following ways do social insectsbenefit most from having several types or casteswithin the species?

(A) Each colony is able to include a largenumber of individuals.

(B) The secretions or odors produced by theprotective caste are an effective defense.

(C) The division of the species into castesensures the survival of the fittest.

(D) Large numbers of the worker caste canmigrate to start new colonies.

(E) The specialized structure of each castepermits division of labor and greaterefficiency.

2. The greatest diversity of structure and ofmethods of locomotion is exhibited in theindividuals of

(A) a class(B) a family(C) an order(D) a species(E) a phylum

3. Of the following, which is an example of amutualistic relationship?

(A) The protozoan Trichonympha digestingwood in the gut of a termite

(B) The sporozoan Plasmodium reproducing inhuman blood cells and liberating toxins intothe human body

(C) Two species of Paramecium deriving foodfrom a common laboratory culture

(D) Rabbits being eaten by foxes(E) Humans inadvertently providing food

for cockroaches

4. Evidence that multicellular green plants mayhave evolved from green algae is best suppliedby the fact that in both

(A) the gametophyte generation is dominant(B) the sporophyte generation is dominant(C) chlorophylls a and b are photosynthetic

pigments(D) xylem vessels are pitted and spiraled(E) male gametes are nonflagellated

5. All of the following statements concerning thelight-capturing reactions of photosynthesis aretrue EXCEPT

(A) An initial event is the excitation of electronsfrom chlorophyll by light energy.

(B) The excited electrons are raised to a higherenergy level.

(C) If not captured, the excited electrons dropback to their initial energy levels.

(D) If captured, some of the energy of theexcited electrons is used to split carbondioxide into carbon and oxygen.

(E) Light is absorbed by pigments that areembedded in membranes.

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B I O L O G Y

6. Which of the following statements best explainsthe hypothesis that the development of sexualreproduction has resulted in acceleration of therate of evolution?

(A) Mutations are more likely to occur inspermatogenesis and oogenesis than inmitotically dividing cells.

(B) Sexual reproduction results in moreoffspring than does asexual reproduction.

(C) Those members of a species that are bestadapted to their environment are most likelyto be successful in sexual reproduction.

(D) Mutations usually do not occur in theproduction of spores or in cells dividing byfission.

(E) Sexual reproduction is more likely to resultin genetic recombination than is asexualreproduction.

7. A frog skeletal muscle contracts in response toan electrical stimulus. Increase of the stimulusintensity by 50 percent will increase the strengthof response nearly 50 percent. If the intensity isagain increased 50 percent, the response willincrease only about another 25 percent. Furtherincrease in the stimulus intensity produces nofurther increase in response.

The observations above are best explained bywhich of the following?

(A) A muscle functions with an all-or-nonemechanism.

(B) Muscle-fiber sarcolemma is electricallyresistant.

(C) The fibers of a muscle do not all contract atthe same rate.

(D) The fibers of a muscle fatigue at varyingrates.

(E) The fibers of a muscle have varyingthresholds for response.

8. In amphibian gastrulas, transplantationexperiments that involve moving the dorsallip of the blastopore of one embryo to the ventralsurface of another embryo indicate that thistissue

(A) is destined to be ectoderm(B) does not differ from other tissues of the

blastula in any significant manner(C) will cause a concentration of yolk in

adjacent cells(D) has the ability to organize the body axes of

the embryo(E) is so sensitive that the dorsal lip will develop

into any embryonic structure, depending onits surroundings

9. Deposits of coal in Greenland and the Antarcticindicate that

(A) these regions once contained numerousmollusks that deposited carbohydrates intheir shells

(B) the Earth’s crust in these regions containsvast amounts of limestone

(C) these regions were once thickly vegetated(D) there is a rich store of dissolved carbon

dioxide in the seas surrounding these regions(E) a geologic uplift of coral rock and ocean bed

has recently occurred in these regions

10. Thirst, loss of weight, and sugar in the urineresult from the undersecretion of a hormone bywhich of the following glands?

(A) Thyroid(B) Parathyroid(C) Pancreas(D) Adrenal(E) Thymus

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B I O L O G Y

11. Considering the role of mitochondria in cells,mitochondria would likely be most abundant inwhich of the following?

(A) Mature red blood cells(B) Callous cells of the skin(C) Cells of the heart muscle(D) Epithelial cells of the cheek lining(E) Fat cells

12. All of the following statements about enzymesare true EXCEPT

(A) A single enzyme molecule can be used overand over again.

(B) Most enzymes are highly specific withregard to the reactions they catalyze.

(C) Some enzymes contain an essentialnonprotein component.

(D) Enzymes can function only withinliving cells.

(E) Most enzymes are denatured by hightemperatures.

13. Which of the following is critical in limiting thesize to which an animal cell may grow?

(A) The ratio of cell surface to cell volume(B) The abundance of mitochondria in

the cytoplasm(C) The chemical composition of the

cell membrane(D) The presence of an inelastic cell wall(E) The relative number of nucleoli

14. Which of the following best describes theeffect on heart action of the stimulation of theparasympathetic nerve fibers of the vagus nerve?

(A) There is a decrease in the volume ofblood pumped and an increase in theheartbeat rate.

(B) There is an increase in the volume ofblood pumped without a decrease in theheartbeat rate.

(C) There is a prolonged acceleration in theheartbeat rate.

(D) There is a decrease in the heartbeat rate.(E) There is an increase in the blood pressure.

15. If poorly drained soils encourage the growthof bacteria that convert nitrate to nitrogen, theeffect on higher plants will be to

(A) increase lipid production(B) decrease protein production(C) increase carbohydrate production(D) produce unusually large fruits(E) stimulate chlorophyll production

16. A patient is placed on a restricted diet of water,pure cooked starch, olive oil, adequate minerals,and vitamins. If a urinalysis several weeks laterreveals the presence of relatively normal amountsof urea, the urea probably came from the

(A) food eaten during the restricted diet(B) withdrawal of reserve urea stored in

the liver(C) chemical combination of water, carbon

dioxide, and free nitrogen(D) deamination of cellular proteins(E) urea synthesized by kidney tubule cells

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B I O L O G Y

17. Shown above is the absorption spectrum of acompound of biological importance. If a personwith normal human color vision viewed thiscompound under ordinary white light, whatcolor would it appear to be?

(A) Red(B) Blue(C) Green(D) Black(E) White

18. The codon for a particular amino acid is5'CAU3'. The DNA sequence that complementsthis codon is

(A) 3'CAU5'(B) 3'GTA5'(C) 3'GTT5'(D) 3'GUA5'(E) 3'GUT5'

19. Viral DNA would be most likely to containgenes that code for

(A) regulatory hormones(B) viral-coat protein(C) viral-ribosome proteins(D) glycolytic enzymes(E) restriction enzymes

20. Which of the following statements aboutimprinting is NOT true?

(A) The capacity for imprinting may be limitedto a specific and brief period in the early lifeof the organism.

(B) The behavior pattern associated withimprinting is the result of reward orpunishment.

(C) The learned behavior resulting fromimprinting is difficult to reverse in later life.

(D) A gosling imprinted by a moving woodendecoy may exhibit courting behavior to thedecoy in later life.

(E) Odors and sounds may serve as stimulifor imprinting.

21. Which of the graphs below illustrates the effectof substrate concentration on the initial rate ofreaction when a limited amount of enzyme ispresent?

(A)

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(B)

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(C)

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(D)

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22. Which of the following is the final electronacceptor in the mitochondrial electron transportsystem?

(A) ADP + Pi(B) ATP(C) NAD or FAD(D) H2O(E) O2

23. In a eukaryotic cell, glycolysis occurs in whichof the following parts of the cell?

(A) Chloroplast(B) Cytosol(C) Nucleolus(D) Mitochondrion(E) Ribosome

24. The clotting process in blood is initiated by

(A) erythrocytes(B) lymphocytes(C) hemoglobins(D) platelets(E) neutrophils

25. Which of the following membranes is correctlymatched to its function?

(A) Allantois .. food absorption(B) Yolk sac .. embryonic bladder(C) Amnion .. gas exchange(D) Dura mater .. brain protection(E) Peritoneum .. heart protection

26. Which of the following statements best describesthe movement of energy in an ecosystem?

(A) Radiant energy is converted into chemicalenergy in plant photosynthesis and thenreleased as heat energy during cellularrespiration.

(B) Energy cycles within an ecosystem.(C) Plants get energy from the nutrients

in the soil.(D) The animals in an ecosystem absorb the

radiant energy of the Sun and use it to makeorganic molecules such as proteins.

(E) Some chemoautotrophic bacteria releaseenergy that can then be used by soil animalsto make food.

27. Which of the following elements is correctlylinked to its role in a living organism?

(A) Calcium .. component of proteins(B) Carbon .. component of lipids(C) Magnesium .. neuron action potential(D) Potassium .. component of ATP(E) Zinc .. component of carbohydrates

28. Mistletoe is attached to the branches of treessuch as sweet gum, from which it obtains waterand some nutrients. Due to this association,tree growth may be diminished. Which of thefollowing terms describes the relationshipbetween the two plants?

(A) Commensalism(B) Competition(C) Mutualism(D) Parasitism(E) Predation

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29. ATP is which type of molecule?

(A) A nucleotide(B) A peptide(C) A phospholipid(D) A disaccharide(E) A tripeptide

30. Which of the following is generally true aboutbacterial viruses?

(A) They infect animal cells only.(B) They have a protective capsid made of

chitin.(C) They inject their nucleic acids into the cells

that they infect.(D) They produce haploid gametes in meiosis.(E) They carry out glycolysis but not the Krebs

cycle.

31. A typical photosynthetic eukaryotic cellcontains which of the following?

I. RibosomesII. Chloroplasts

III. Mitochondria

(A) II only(B) I and II only(C) II and III only(D) I and III only(E) I, II, and III

32. Which of the following pairs of organisms aremost closely related?

(A) Mus bufo and Bufo americanus(B) Lynx lynx and Alces alces(C) Panthera leo and Felis concolor(D) Odocoileus virginianus and Colinus

virginianus

(E) Canis latrans and Canis lupus

33. Which of the following is an example of atestcross?

(A) AA x Aa(B) A? x AA(C) A? x Aa(D) A? x aa(E) aa x aa

Directions: The following group of questionsconsists of five lettered headings followed by a listof numbered phrases. For each numbered phraseselect the one heading that is most closely related toit. A heading may be used once, more than once, ornot at all.

Questions 34–36 refer to the following.

(A) Fertilization(B) Meiosis(C) Mitosis(D) Pollination(E) Nondisjunction

34. The process by which a zygote is formed

35. The process by which the nuclei of somatic(body) cells divide

36. The process by which haploid cells are formedfrom diploid cells

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Questions 37–41 refer to the following classes ofvertebrates.

(A) Amphibians(B) Bony fish(C) Cartilaginous fish(D) Mammals(E) Reptiles

37. Birds are most closely related to which class?

38. Which class includes animals that have a moistskin as the primary organ for gas exchange?

39. Which class includes whales?

40. Members of which class produce milk for theiryoung in specialized skin glands?

41. Which class includes snakes?

Directions: Each group of questions below concernsan experimental situation. In each case, first studythe description of the situation. Then choose the bestanswer to each question following it.

Questions 42–44

Expenditures of solar energy, calculated by C. Judayfor Lake Mendota in southern Wisconsin, appear inthe table below.

Reflected or otherwise lost . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49.5%Absorbed in evaporation of water . . . . . . 25.0%Raised temperatures in the lake . . . . . . . .21.7%Melted ice in the spring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.0%Used directly by organisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.8%

The pyramid of biomass for this same lake isrepresented by the following diagram.

42. The most probable explanation for the relativemasses of the first- and second-order consumersis that

(A) each link in the food chain of an ecosystemhas less available energy than the previouslink has

(B) only a small fraction of sunlight that reachesthe Earth is transformed into chemicalenergy by photosynthesis

(C) the total energy of the decomposers isgreater than that of the rest of the organismsput together

(D) seasonal fluctuations in weather limit thenumber of consumers

(E) second-order consumers require more totalenergy than first-order consumers do

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B I O L O G Y

43. The energy incorporated into this ecosystem ismost dependent on the

(A) photoperiod(B) total amount of photosynthesis(C) predator-prey relationships(D) length of the food chains(E) total amount of respiration

44. If the lake is assumed to be a typical ecosystem,the percent of radiant energy from the Sunreaching the lake that is trapped inphotosynthesis is about

(A) 100%(B) 10%(C) 1%(D) 0.1%(E) 0.01%

Questions 45–47

Inheritance of certain characteristics of the fruit fly,Drosophila, is as indicated by the table below.

Characteristic Dominant Recessive

Body color . . . . . . . Gray Black

Eye color . . . . . . . . Red White

A female fruit fly had a gray body and white eyes.After being mated with a male fruit fly, she laid112 eggs that developed into the following kindsof offspring.

Number Body Eyes

28 Gray Red

29 Gray White

28 Black Red

27 Black White

45. With respect to body color, the male parent ofthe 112 offspring was most probably

(A) homozygous gray(B) heterozygous gray(C) homozygous black(D) heterozygous black(E) hemizygous gray

46. Examination revealed that all of the 56 red-eyedoffspring were females and all of the 56 white-eyed offspring were males. This observationindicates that

(A) red and white eye colors segregateindependently of sex

(B) all of the red-eyed offspring inheritedtheir eye color from their female parent

(C) all of the red-eyed offspring werehomozygous

(D) the gene for eye color is linked to the genefor body color

(E) the gene for red or for white eye color iscarried on the X chromosome

47. In this experiment, the number of offspring thatexhibit both recessive characters is

(A) 1(B) 27(C) 28(D) 55(E) 56

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B I O L O G Y

48. Carbon dioxide is produced by which of thefollowing?

I. A mesophyll cell in a flowering plant duringthe night

II. A muscle cell in a mammalian heart duringcontraction

III. A yeast cell growing under anaerobicconditions

(A) I only(B) II only(C) III only(D) I and II only(E) I, II, and III

49. Which of the following is a function of ATP?

(A) It creates energy.(B) It transports energy.(C) It is a building block of proteins.(D) It stores amino acids.(E) It gives the cells shape.

50. Protein synthesis is the main function of whichof the following structures?

(A) Nucleus(B) Ribosome(C) Chromosome(D) Mitochondrion(E) Vacuole

Questions 51–55

Several different samples of DNA were digestedwith different restriction enzymes (endonucleases)and separated by gel electrophoresis, as shown below.

51. The terms “EcoRI,” “HaeIII,” and “HindIII”refer to which of the following?

(A) The voltage intensity used to prepare theelectrophoresis medium

(B) The restriction enzymes used(C) The organisms from which the original

DNA sample was obtained(D) The types of buffers used to maintain a

constant pH in the preparation as the samplewas processed

(E) The types of proteins encoded by eachfragment

52. The patterns of bands in the different lanes resultfrom which of the following?

(A) Different voltages applied to different lanes(B) Different buffers applied to different lanes(C) Different sizes of fragments in the samples

in different lanes(D) Different terminal configurations of the

fragments, with some having blunt endswhile others have sticky ends

(E) Mutations produced by the electrophoresis

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B I O L O G Y

53. In this gel, the smallest fragments are

(A) at the top of the gel, near the wells(B) at the bottom of the gel, furthest from

the wells(C) at the left side of the gel(D) at the right side of the gel(E) randomly scattered from top to bottom in

each lane

54. Restriction enzymes cut samples of DNA intofragments by first

(A) binding to specific sequences of nucleotides(B) oxidizing the DNA(C) heating the DNA to its denaturation point(D) breaking peptide bonds(E) unwinding the DNA

55. Which of the following is the most probableexplanation for the different numbers offragments in the different lanes?

(A) There were more EcoRI cut sites thanHaeIII or HindIII cut sites.

(B) There were more HaeIII cut sites thanEcoRI or HindIII cut sites.

(C) There were more HindIII cut sites thanHaeIII or EcoRI cut sites.

(D) A stronger voltage was applied to thefirst lane.

(E) Different buffers were used in thedifferent lanes.

56. Which of the following best explains why apictorial presentation of the biomass at eachtrophic level of an ecosystem is a pyramid?

(A) The loss of iron from an ecosystem(B) The amount of energy passed from one

trophic level to the next(C) The number of predators in the ecosystem(D) The chemical compounds in an ecosystem

are recycled(E) The average size of the individuals in each

species

57. The original description of the pathway shownabove is attributed to

(A) Louis Pasteur(B) James Watson and Francis Crick(C) Hans Krebs(D) Robert Hooke(E) Melvin Calvin and Andrew Benson

58. A diet with insufficient iodine will most likelylead to which of the following symptoms in anindividual?

(A) Bleeding gums(B) Decreased metabolic rate(C) Increased body temperature(D) Increased respiratory rate(E) Weight loss

59. Which of the following structures is correctlypaired with its function?

(A) Alveolus . . locomotion(B) Cilium . . impulse transmission(C) Sarcomere . . nutrient uptake(D) Neuron . . gas exchange(E) Nephron . . filtration

INPUT

OUTPUT

Rubisco

ADPATP

ATP

NADPHNADP+

P i

ADPRibulose bisphosphate (RuBP)

(G3P)

(G3P)

Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (G3P)

3-Phosphoglycerate

1, 3-Bisphosphoglycerate

CO2

Other organic compounds

17

B I O L O G Y

60. Based on the information in the table, which ofthe following substitutions is synonymous?

(A) AGU to AGA(B) GUU to GCU(C) UUG to CUG(D) UGA to GGA(E) CAA to CCA

61. Excess sewage can lead to the death of aquaticanimals in a lake because sewage pollutionpromotes

(A) mineral starvation(B) erosion(C) thermal stratification(D) oxygen depletion(E) a temperature decrease

62. The aerobic cellular respiration of glucose isdifferent from the simple burning of glucose inthat the aerobic respiration of glucose

(A) releases no heat(B) requires no oxygen(C) releases more energy(D) releases hydrocarbons(E) occurs at a lower temperature

63. A given trait occurs in two alternative types, Mand m, in a population at Hardy-Weinbergequilibrium. If 49 percent of the population hasonly type M alleles, what percentage of thepopulation is expected to be heterozygous forthe trait?

(A) 9%(B) 14%(C) 21%(D) 42%(E) 51%

64. The forelimbs of horses and frogs are consideredto be homologous structures. The best evidencefor this homology is that the forelimbs have

(A) a similar appearance in both species(B) a similar function in both species(C) a common embryological origin(D) the same chemical composition(E) the same number of bones

65. Which of the following types of plant cells isdead at functional maturity?

(A) Phloem companion cell(B) Xylem vessel element(C) Root endodermal cell(D) Stem cortex cell(E) Mesophyll cell

SECOND BASE

U

U C A G

C

G

A

UUU

UUCPhe

UUA

CUU

CUC

CUA

CUG

AUU

AUC

AUA

GUU

GUC

GUA

GUG

UUGLeu

Leu

CCU

CCC

CCA

CCG

Pro

ACU

ACC

ACA

ACG

Thr

UCU UAU

UACUCC

UCA

UCG

Ser

Tyr

His

Ile

AUG Met or Start

Val

GCU

GCC

GCA

GCG

Ala

UAA Stop

UAG Stop

UGU

UGCCys

UGA Stop

UGG Trp

CAU

CAC

GlnCAA

CAG

CGU

CGC

CGA

CGG

AsnAAU

AACSer

Arg

AGU

AGC

LysAAA

AAGArg

AGA

AGG

AspGAU

GACGly

GGU

GGC

GGALys

GAA

GAG GGG

TH

IRD

BA

SE

FIR

ST B

ASE

U

C

A

G

U

C

A

G

U

C

A

G

U

C

A

G

18

B I O L O G Y

66. In a particular plant species, the allele for tallplants is dominant and the allele for dwarfing isrecessive. Which of the following is the expectedphenotypic ratio of the offspring from a crossbetween a heterozygous plant and a dwarf plant?

(A) 1 tall plant : 3 dwarf plants(B) 1 tall plant : 9 dwarf plants(C) 1 tall plant : 1 dwarf plant(D) 3 tall plants : 1 dwarf plant(E) 9 tall plants : 3 dwarf plants

67. Which of the following best describes thedecomposers in an ecological community?

(A) They are the top predators.(B) They do not occur in early successional

stages.(C) They are the main contributors to the gross

primary productivity.(D) They fix carbon for plant respiration.(E) They are heterotrophic.

68. The nearly universal nature of the genetic codesupports the view that

(A) all living organisms on Earth share acommon ancestor

(B) nucleic acids were the first living things(C) proteins are of secondary importance to

living systems(D) the protein composition of all living

organisms is the same(E) there is redundancy in the genetic code

Questions 69–70

The pedigree below shows the occurrence of a rare,sex-linked genetic condition in a family. Shadedsymbols indicate the presence of the condition.Circles indicate females, and squares indicate males.

69. Individual I most likely has the same genotypefor the condition as

(A) her father(B) her grandfather(C) Individual III(D) Individual IV(E) Individual V

70. If the parents of Individuals I, II, and III have asecond daughter, what is the probability that thedaughter will exhibit the condition?

(A) 0%(B) 25%(C) 33%(D) 50%(E) 100%

I II III IV V

19

B I O L O G Y

Study Resources

Most textbooks used in college-level biology coursescover the topics in the outline given earlier, but theapproaches to certain topics and the emphases givento them may differ. To prepare for the Biologyexam, it is advisable to study one or more collegetextbooks, which can be found in most collegebookstores. When selecting a textbook, check thetable of contents against the knowledge and skillsrequired for this test.

Candidates would do well to consult pertinentarticles from magazines such as Scientific American,Science News and Natural History.

Visit www.collegeboard.org/clepprep for additionalbiology resources. You can also find suggestions forexam preparation in Chapter IV of the Official StudyGuide. In addition, many college faculty post theircourse materials on their schools’ websites.

Answer Key

1. E 2. E 3. A 4. C 5. D 6. E 7. E 8. D 9. C 10. C 11. C 12. D 13. A 14. D 15. B 16. D 17. C 18. B 19. B 20. B 21. D 22. E 23. B 24. D 25. D 26. A 27. B 28. D 29. A 30. C 31. E 32. E 33. D 34. A 35. C

36. B 37. E 38. A 39. D 40. D 41. E 42. A 43. B 44. C 45. C 46. E 47. B 48. E 49. B 50. B 51. B 52. C 53. B 54. A 55. C 56. B 57. E 58. B 59. E60. C61. D62. E63. D64. C65. B66. C67. E68. A69. D70. D

20

B I O L O G Y

Test Measurement Overview

Format

There are multiple forms of the computer-based test,each containing a predetermined set of scoredquestions. The examinations are not adaptive. Theremay be some overlap between different forms of atest: any of the forms may have a few questions,many questions, or no questions in common. Someoverlap may be necessary for statistical reasons.

In the computer-based test, not all questionscontribute to the candidate’s score. Some of thequestions presented to the candidate are beingpretested for use in future editions of the tests andwill not count toward his or her score.

Scoring Information

CLEP examinations are scored without a penalty forincorrect guessing. The candidate’s raw score issimply the number of questions answered correctly.However, this raw score is not reported; the rawscores are translated into a scaled score by a processthat adjusts for differences in the difficulty of thequestions on the various forms of the test.

Scaled Scores

The scaled scores are reported on a scale of 20–80.Because the different forms of the tests are notalways exactly equal in difficulty, raw-to-scaleconversions may in some cases differ from form toform. The easier a form is judged to be, the higherthe raw score required to attain a given scaled score.Table 1 indicates the relationship between numbercorrect (raw score) and scaled score across all forms.

The Recommended Credit-GrantingScore

Table 1 also indicates the recommendedcredit-granting score, which represents theperformance of students earning a grade of C in thecorresponding course. The recommended B-levelscore represents B-level performance in equivalentcourse work. These scores were established as theresult of a Standard Setting Study, the most recenthaving been conducted in 2001. The recommended

credit-granting scores are based upon the judgmentsof a panel of experts currently teaching equivalentcourses at various colleges and universities. Theseexperts evaluate each question in order to determinethe raw scores that would correspond to B and Clevels of performance. Their judgments are thenreviewed by a test development committee, which, inconsultation with test content and psychometricspecialists, makes a final determination. Thestandard-setting study is described more fully in theearlier section entitled “CLEP Credit Granting” onpage 4.

Panel members participating in the most recent studywere:

Deborah Anderson Saint Norbert CollegeSarah Barlow Middle Tennessee State

UniversityMiriam Del Campo Miami Dade Community

CollegeDennis Des Roches Southeastern Louisiana

UniversityLynelle Golden Kennesaw State UniversityKarl Joplin East Tennessee State UniversityLloyd Kahn Hudson County Community

CollegeArnold Karpoff University of LouisvilleMichael Kunz Fresno Pacific UniversityHeather Kuruvilla Cedarville CollegeMadeline Logan North Shore Community

CollegePhillip Mason Fairmont State CollegeJames Rooney Lincoln University — MissouriFred Tone Central Piedmont Community

CollegeCarolyn Wetzel East Tennessee State University

To establish the exact correspondences between rawand scaled scores, a scaled score of 50 is assigned tothe raw score that corresponds to the recommendedcredit-granting score for C-level performance. Thena high (but in some cases, possibly less than perfect)raw score will be selected and assigned a scaledscore of 80. These two points — 50 and 80 —determine a linear raw-to-scale conversion forthe test.

21

Table 1: Biology Interpretive Score Data

American Council on Education (ACE) Recommended Number of Semester Hours of Credit: 6

Course Grade Scaled Score Number Correct80 97-10079 95-9678 93-9477 91-9276 89-9075 87-8874 85-8673 84-8572 82-8371 80-8170 78-7969 77-7868 75-7667 73-7466 7265 70-7164 68-6963 6762 65-6661 63-6460 62-6359 60-6158 58-59

B 57 57-5856 55-5655 54-5554 52-5353 51-5252 49-5051 48-49

C 50* 46-4749 45-4648 43-4447 42-4346 40-4145 39-4044 37-3843 36-3742 34-3541 33-3440 3239 30-3138 29-3037 27-2836 26-2735 2534 23-2433 22-2332 20-2131 19-2030 1829 16-1728 15-1627 1426 12-1325 11-1224 1023 8- 922 7- 821 620 0- 5

*Credit-granting score recommended by ACE.Note: The number-correct scores for each scaled score on different forms may vary depending on form diffi culty.

22

B I O L O G Y

Validity

Validity is a characteristic of a particular use of thetest scores of a group of examinees. If the scores areused to make inferences about the examinees’knowledge of a particular subject, the validity of thescores for that purpose is the extent to which thoseinferences can be trusted to be accurate.

One type of evidence for the validity of test scores iscalled content-related evidence of validity. It isusually based upon the judgments of a set of expertswho evaluate the extent to which the content of thetest is appropriate for the inferences to be madeabout the examinees’ knowledge. The committeethat developed the CLEP Biology examinationselected the content of the test to reflect the contentof the general Biology curriculum and courses atmost colleges, as determined by a curriculum survey.Since colleges differ somewhat in the content of thecourses they offer, faculty members should, and areurged to, review the content outline and the samplequestions to ensure that the test covers core contentappropriate to the courses at their college.

Another type of evidence for test-score validity iscalled criterion-related evidence of validity. Itconsists of statistical evidence that examinees whoscore high on the test also do well on other measuresof the knowledge or skills the test is being used tomeasure. Criterion-related evidence for the validityof CLEP scores can be obtained by studiescomparing students’ CLEP scores with the gradesthey received in corresponding classes, or othermeasures of achievement or ability. At a college’srequest, CLEP and the College Board conduct thesestudies, called Admitted Class Evaluation Service, orACES, for individual colleges that meet certaincriteria. Please contact CLEP for more information.

Reliability

The reliability of the test scores of a group ofexaminees is commonly described by two statistics:the reliability coefficient and the standard error ofmeasurement (SEM). The reliability coefficient isthe correlation between the scores those examineesget (or would get) on two independent replicationsof the measurement process. The reliabilitycoefficient is intended to indicate thestability/consistency of the candidates’ test scores,and is often expressed as a number ranging from.00 to 1.00. A value of .00 indicates total lack ofstability, while a value of 1.00 indicates perfectstability. The reliability coefficient can be interpretedas the correlation between the scores examineeswould earn on two forms of the test that had noquestions in common.

Statisticians use an internal-consistency measure tocalculate the reliability coefficients for the CLEPexam. This involves looking at the statisticalrelationships among responses to individualmultiple-choice questions to estimate the reliabilityof the total test score. The formula used is known asKuder-Richardson 20, or KR-20, which is equivalentto a more general formula called coefficient alpha.The SEM is an index of the extent to which students’obtained scores tend to vary from their true scores.1

It is expressed in score units of the test. Intervalsextending one standard error above and below thetrue score (see below) for a test-taker will include68 percent of that test-taker’s obtained scores.Similarly, intervals extending two standard errorsabove and below the true score will include95 percent of the test-taker’s obtained scores. Thestandard error of measurement is inversely related tothe reliability coefficient. If the reliability of the testwere 1.00 (if it perfectly measured the candidate’sknowledge), the standard error of measurementwould be zero.

Scores on the CLEP examination in Biologyare estimated to have a reliability coefficient of0.91. The standard error of measurement is 2.92scaled-score points.1 True score is a hypothetical concept indicating what an individual’s score on

a test would be if there were no errors introduced by the measuring process.It is thought of as the hypothetical average of an infinite number of obtainedscores for a test-taker with the effect of practice removed.

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