Sample Questions: Natural Sciences

The following Natural Sciences sample questions aren't used in actual CLEP exams and aren’t presented here as they will be on the test. Use them to get a sense of question format and difficulty level.

Directions

Each of the questions or incomplete statements below is followed by five suggested answers or completions. Select the one that is best in each case.

Questions

1. All of the following are true about air EXCEPT:
   1. It is mostly oxygen and carbon dioxide.
   2. Air is a mixture of different gases.
   3. Air density varies with temperature.
   4. Air contains water vapor.
   5. Air has a low heat capacity.
2. Which of the following is true about prokaryotic cells?
   1. They are generally larger than eukaryotic cells.
   2. Their DNA is single stranded rather than double stranded.
   3. They have a cell wall instead of a plasma membrane.
   4. Their chromosomes are typically circular rather than linear.
   5. They are multinucleated.
3. Which of the following is a primary function of the kidney?
   1. Producing reproductive cells
   2. Secreting insulin
   3. Destroying pathogens
   4. Synthesizing cholesterol
   5. Regulating water balance
4. Which of the following is true about the temperature of liquid water in a lake that has frozen over during the winter?
   1. The coldest water can be found at the lake bottom.
   2. The coldest water can be found at middle depths.
   3. The warmest water can be found at the lake bottom.
   4. The warmest water can be found at middle depths.
   5. The warmest water can be found just beneath the ice.

5. A population of seed-eating birds exhibits variation in the size of their beaks, with a mean beak size of 12 mm. Beak size is a heritable character that affects the size of seeds a bird may consume (e.g., larger beaks can crack larger seeds). After a drought, plants that produce smaller seeds are rare, but plants that produce larger seeds are still common.

   Which of the following evolutionary mechanisms will most influence the beak size of the bird population after a drought?

   1. Genetic drift
   2. Gene flow
   3. Natural selection
   4. Sexual selection
   5. Mutation
6. A person drops a rock from a height of 12 meters above Earth’s surface. The rock starts at rest and falls to the ground. At what height does the rock achieve half of its maximum kinetic energy?
   1. 12 meters
   2. 9 meters
   3. 6 meters
   4. 3 meters
   5. 0 meters
7. Which of the following best describes the moon as it appears from Earth when the moon–Earth–sun angle is about 45 degrees?
   1. A full moon
   2. A crescent moon
   3. A gibbous moon
   4. A half moon
   5. A new moon
8. The atomic masses of carbon and oxygen are 12 and 16, respectively. What is the approximate percentage by mass of oxygen in carbon dioxide, CO₂?
   1. 25%
   2. 50%
   3. 66%
   4. 75%
   5. 85%

Answers

1) A   2) D   3) E   4) C   5) C   6) C   7) B   8) D