Types of Reproduction Practice Quiz (7 questions)

1. Two members of the same species produce offspring. What is true of those offspring?

A. They can reproduce sexually as members of the same species.

B. They are infertile because their parents reproduced sexually.

C. They can reproduce only with organisms of another species.

D. They are hybrids because they have two parents.

Answer: (A)

Explanation

Offspring from members of the same species can also reproduce sexually. Infertility is associated with hybrids produced from organisms of different species, not ordinary offspring of the same species.

2. A horse and a donkey produce offspring. How is that offspring classified, and what is true of its fertility?

A. It is a zygote and is fertile as an adult.

B. It is a hybrid and cannot reproduce sexually.

C. It is a same-species offspring and can reproduce sexually.

D. It is a gamete and can develop into another organism.

Answer: (B)

Explanation

Offspring produced by organisms of different species are hybrids, which are not fertile and cannot reproduce sexually. Offspring of the same species are not classified as hybrids on that basis.

3. What does inherited variation describe?

A. Differences in characteristics that offspring inherit from their parents.

B. Changes in characteristics that occur when gametes join to form a zygote.

C. Differences in characteristics that offspring acquire independently of their parents.

D. Differences between organisms caused by belonging to separate species.

Answer: (A)

Explanation

Inherited variation refers to variation in characteristics that offspring receive from their parents. Differences acquired independently of parents do not fit the definition of inherited variation.

4. Which sequence forms a zygote?

A. A male gamete joins a female gamete to form a fertilised egg cell.

B. A zygote divides into male and female gametes to form an unfertilised egg.

C. A male gamete develops alone into a fertilised egg cell.

D. Two zygotes join to form a male and a female gamete.

Answer: (A)

Explanation

A male and a female gamete join to form a fertilised egg cell, also called a zygote. A gamete is a sex cell, not the fertilised egg cell itself.

5. Why can gametes from the same parent contribute different characteristics to offspring?

A. Gametes carry instructions from the other parent, which differ from the parent’s own instructions.

B. Each gamete carries identical instructions, while differences arise only after fertilisation.

C. Each gamete carries instructions for a different species of organism.

D. Each gamete carries instructions for a new organism, and those instructions vary slightly between gametes.

Answer: (D)

Explanation

Gametes carry instructions for making a new organism, and gametes made by the same parent contain slightly different instructions for characteristics. The idea that those gametes contain identical instructions contradicts this variation.

6. A researcher observes swimming male gametes in a sample of plants. Which group is consistent with that observation?

A. Ferns and conifers, whose male gametes are found inside pollen grains.

B. Flowering plants and conifers, whose male gametes swim inside pollen grains.

C. Mosses and ferns, whose male gametes are swimming sperm cells.

D. Mosses and flowering plants, whose male gametes cannot swim.

Answer: (C)

Explanation

Mosses and ferns have male gametes that are swimming sperm cells. Flowering plants and conifers have male gametes that cannot swim and are found inside pollen grains.

7. Where would male gametes be found in flowering plants and conifers?

A. As free cells outside pollen grains that swim to the female gamete.

B. Inside egg cells, where they swim toward the embryo.

C. Inside pollen grains, and they cannot swim.

D. As swimming sperm cells released into water.

Answer: (C)

Explanation

In flowering plants and conifers, male gametes cannot swim and are found inside pollen grains. Swimming sperm cells are characteristic of mosses and ferns.