Practice questions (20 marks)
1. Who proposed the theory of natural selection?
a) Gregor Mendel
b) Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
c) Charles Darwin
d) Alfred Wallace
Answer: c) Charles Darwin
2. According to Darwin, evolution occurs due to:
a) Mutations
b) Natural selection
c) Artificial selection
d) Genetic drift
Answer: b) Natural selection
3. The concept of ‘Use and Disuse of Organs’ was given by:
a) Charles Darwin
b) Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
c) Hugo de Vries
d) August Weismann
Answer: b) Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
4. The idea that ‘acquired characters are inherited’ was disproved by:
a) Charles Darwin
b) Hugo de Vries
c) August Weismann
d) Gregor Mendel
Answer: c) August Weismann
5. The theory of mutation as a mechanism of evolution was proposed by:
a) Hugo de Vries
b) Charles Darwin
c) Alfred Wallace
d) Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Answer: a) Hugo de Vries
6. Which of the following is an example of homologous organs?
a) Wings of birds and insects
b) Flippers of a whale and wings of a bat
c) Wings of bats and wings of butterflies
d) Eyes of octopus and eyes of mammals
Answer: b) Flippers of a whale and wings of a bat
7. Fossils found in deeper layers of Earth are:
a) Younger than those in upper layers
b) Older than those in upper layers
c) Always more complex
d) Unrelated to present-day organisms
Answer: b) Older than those in upper layers
8. Which scientist performed experiments to prove abiogenesis wrong?
a) Louis Pasteur
b) Charles Darwin
c) Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
d) Alfred Wallace
Answer: a) Louis Pasteur
9. The Hardy-Weinberg principle states that genetic equilibrium is maintained in
a population under:
a) Non-random mating
b) Large population size
c) High mutation rate
d) Natural selection
Answer: b) Large population size
10. Which gas was absent in the primitive atmosphere of Earth?
a) Hydrogen
b) Oxygen
c) Methane
d) Ammonia
Answer: b) Oxygen
11. Which of the following supports the idea of common ancestry?
a) Analogous organs
b) Fossil evidence
c) Artificial selection
d) Adaptation
Answer: b) Fossil evidence
12. Which scientist simulated early Earth conditions to test the origin of life?
a) Miller and Urey
b) Watson and Crick
c) Hugo de Vries
d) Gregor Mendel
Answer: a) Miller and Urey
13. Which of the following is an example of adaptive radiation?
a) Evolution of modern man
b) Evolution of different beak shapes in Darwin’s finches
c) Evolution of a horse from Eohippus
d) Evolution of a whale from land mammals
Answer: b) Evolution of different beak shapes in Darwin’s finches
14. The term “survival of the fittest” was coined by:
a) Charles Darwin
b) Herbert Spencer
c) Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
d) Alfred Wallace
Answer: b) Herbert Spencer
15. Which of the following best describes genetic drift?
a) Change in gene frequency due to selection
b) Sudden change in gene frequency due to chance events
c) Genetic changes due to migration
d) Change in genetic material due to mutations
Answer: b) Sudden change in gene frequency due to chance events
16. Evolutionary convergence results in:
a) Homologous structures
b) Analogous structures
c) Adaptive radiation
d) Genetic drift
Answer: b) Analogous structures
17. The first life forms on Earth were:
a) Eukaryotic
b) Prokaryotic
c) Multicellular
d) Aerobic
Answer: b) Prokaryotic
18. The first living organisms were most likely:
a) Photosynthetic
b) Chemoheterotrophs
c) Aerobic
d) Plants
Answer: b) Chemoheterotrophs
19. Which of the following is NOT a factor affecting Hardy-Weinberg
equilibrium?
a) Gene flow
b) Mutations
c) Natural selection
d) Large population size
Answer: d) Large population size
20. The study of embryos to determine evolutionary relationships is called:
a) Paleontology
b) Comparative anatomy
c) Embryology
d) Biogeography
Answer: c) Embryology
