Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System

MCAS Question Search

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The Question Search application is a searchable database that enables users to browse through released items from the 2018 MCAS administration. Released items from more recent MCAS tests are being posted in the following resources:

The MCAS Resource Center offers access to ePATs (electronic practice assessment tools) that contain released items from every MCAS computer-based test since 2018.
The MCAS Digital Item Library is a searchable database of all released items from the computer-based tests, 2018 to the present.
Released item documents display items from the paper-based tests (including legacy tests and retests) in PDF format.

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2018 Spring Release, Biology - High School

Question 1: Multiple-Choice

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Reporting Category: Anatomy and Physiology
2006 Standard: 4.6 - Recognize that the sexual reproductive system allows organisms to produce offspring that receive half of their genetic information from their mother and half from their father and that sexually produced offspring resemble, but are not identical to, either of their parents.

Which of the following statements describes how human traits are inherited?

Children receive half of their genes from each parent.

Only dominant traits are passed from parents to their children.

Traits skip a generation, passing directly from grandparents to their grandchildren.

Female children receive genes only from their mothers, and male children receive genes only from their fathers.

2018 Spring Release, Biology - High School

Question 2: Multiple-Choice

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Reporting Category: Biochemistry and Cell Biology
2006 Standard: 1.2 - Describe the basic molecular structures and primary functions of the four major categories of organic molecules (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids).

A cell membrane has a double layer of molecules. These molecules are made up of a phosphorus-containing “head” and two long, fatty acid “tails.”

Which of the following best explains why the molecules are classified as lipids?

They contain phosphorus.

They form a double layer.

They are made up of fatty acids.

They are found in the cell membrane.

2018 Spring Release, Biology - High School

Question 3: Multiple-Choice

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Reporting Category: Genetics
2006 Standard: 3.2 - Describe the basic process of DNA replication and how it relates to the transmission and conservation of the genetic code. Explain the basic processes of transcription and translation, and how they result in the expression of genes. Distinguish among the end products of replication, transcription, and translation.

All corn plants contain the ZmLA1 gene. Some corn plants contain a certain mutation in the ZmLA1 gene. The graph below shows the amount of ZmLA1 RNA produced in plants with the normal gene and in plants with the mutated gene.

Based on the graph, what most likely happens in corn plant cells as a direct result of the mutated gene?

DNA replication increases.

Lipid production decreases.

Glucose synthesis increases.

Protein production decreases.

2018 Spring Release, Biology - High School

Question 4: Multiple-Choice

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Reporting Category: Ecology
2006 Standard: 6.4 - Explain how water, carbon, and nitrogen cycle between abiotic resources and organic matter in an ecosystem, and how oxygen cycles through photosynthesis and respiration.

The growth of plants in many ecosystems is limited by the supply of nitrogen. Which of the following groups of organisms plays the largest role in moving nitrogen between the atmosphere and plants?

bacteria

earthworms

insects

protists

2018 Spring Release, Biology - High School

Question 5: Multiple-Choice

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Reporting Category: Biochemistry and Cell Biology
2006 Standard: 2.7 - Describe how the process of meiosis results in the formation of haploid cells. Explain the importance of this process in sexual reproduction, and how gametes form diploid zygotes in the process of fertilization.

An unfertilized egg cell has six chromosomes. After fertilization, how many chromosomes should the zygote have?

2018 Spring Release, Biology - High School

Question 6: Multiple-Choice

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Reporting Category: Biochemistry and Cell Biology
2006 Standard: 2.2 - Compare and contrast, at the cellular level, the general structures and degrees of complexity of prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

The diagram below shows the structure of a bacterial cell.

Which of the following distinguishes this bacterial cell from eukaryotes?

The bacterial cell is a unicellular organism, and all eukaryotes are multicellular.

Ribosomes are found in the cytoplasm of the bacterial cell, and eukaryotes do not have ribosomes.

The bacterial cell has both a cell membrane and a cell wall, and eukaryotes have only cell membranes.

DNA in the bacterial cell is always in contact with the cytoplasm, and all eukaryotes have DNA located inside a nucleus.

2018 Spring Release, Biology - High School

Question 7: Multiple-Choice

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Reporting Category: Biochemistry and Cell Biology
2006 Standard: 2.3 - Use cellular evidence (e.g., cell structure, cell number, and cell reproduction) and modes of nutrition to describe six kingdoms (Archaebacteria, Eubacteria, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, Animalia).

Lithops are multicellular organisms found in sandy soil in deserts. They have large, central vacuoles in their cells that store water.

Which of the following best classifies lithops?

They are bacteria because they store water.

They are animals because they are multicellular.

They are fungi because they are found in sandy soil.

They are plants because they have large, central vacuoles.

2018 Spring Release, Biology - High School

Question 8: Multiple-Choice

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Reporting Category: Ecology
2006 Standard: 6.3 - Use a food web to identify and distinguish producers, consumers, and decomposers, and explain the transfer of energy through trophic levels. Describe how relationships among organisms (predation, parasitism, competition, commensalism, mutualism) add to the complexity of biological communities.

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According to the finch diagram, which of the following finches is a secondary consumer?

small insectivorous tree finch

cactus finch

sharp-beaked finch

medium ground finch

2018 Spring Release, Biology - High School

Question 9: Multiple-Choice

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When living on the same island, which of the following finches most likely competes for food with the large insectivorous tree finch?

vegetarian tree finch

woodpecker finch

cactus finch

medium ground finch

2018 Spring Release, Biology - High School

Question 10: Multiple-Choice

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Reporting Category: Evolution and Biodiversity
2006 Standard: 5.2 - Describe species as reproductively distinct groups of organisms. Recognize that species are further classified into a hierarchical taxonomic system (kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species) based on morphological, behavioral, and molecular similarities. Describe the role that geographic isolation can play in speciation.

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Which of the following questions would a scientist most likely ask to determine whether various finch populations belong to one species?

Do the various finches have similar average life spans?

Do the various finches often eat the same types of food?

Do the various finches have a wide range of average body sizes?

Do the various finches often mate and produce fertile offspring together?

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Last Updated: January 19, 2021