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ASVAB Practice Test · General Science

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ASVAB Practice Test Life Science Summary

Importance
★★★★☆ (4 / 5)
Weight
About 6 of 15 General Science questions (40%)

Cells, the human body, nutrition, genetics, and ecology.

📖 See Life Science concepts →

Life Science: must-know points

  • Mitochondria release energy for the cell.
  • Red blood cells carry oxygen.

Life Science: 7 sample questions

Practice questionReviewedGeneral Science › Life Science★★★★☆

Question 1. Which part of a cell releases energy from food so the cell can use it?

  1. ① Cell membrane
  2. ② Nucleus
  3. ③ Ribosome
  4. ④ Mitochondrion
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Answer: ④ Mitochondrion

Key point: Mitochondria release energy for the cell

The mitochondrion is often called the "powerhouse" of the cell. It breaks down sugar from food and releases energy the cell can use.

Wrong choices

  • (A) Cell membrane: The cell membrane controls what goes in and out of the cell.
  • (B) Nucleus: The nucleus holds the cell's DNA and controls the cell.
  • (C) Ribosome: Ribosomes build proteins; they do not release energy from food.
Practice questionReviewedGeneral Science › Life Science★★★★☆

Question 2. Which blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body?

  1. ① Red blood cells
  2. ② Nerve cells
  3. ③ Platelets
  4. ④ White blood cells
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Answer: ① Red blood cells

Key point: Red blood cells carry oxygen

Red blood cells contain hemoglobin, a protein that picks up oxygen in the lungs and drops it off in the body's tissues.

Wrong choices

  • (B) Nerve cells: Nerve cells carry signals, not oxygen, and they are not blood cells.
  • (C) Platelets: Platelets help blood clot to stop bleeding.
  • (D) White blood cells: White blood cells fight infection; they do not carry oxygen.
Practice questionReviewedGeneral Science › Life Science★★★★☆

Question 3. Green plants make their own food using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide. What is this process called?

  1. ① Digestion
  2. ② Transpiration
  3. ③ Photosynthesis
  4. ④ Respiration
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Answer: ③ Photosynthesis

Key point: Photosynthesis: plants make food from light

In photosynthesis, a plant uses light energy to turn water and carbon dioxide into sugar. Oxygen is given off as a by-product.

Wrong choices

  • (A) Digestion: Digestion breaks down food in animals; plants do not make food this way.
  • (B) Transpiration: Transpiration is water vapor leaving a plant through its leaves.
  • (D) Respiration: Respiration breaks food down to release energy; it does not make food.
Practice questionReviewedGeneral Science › Life Science★★★★☆

Question 4. In a meadow food chain, a rabbit eats grass and a fox eats the rabbit. What is the rabbit's role?

  1. ① Secondary consumer
  2. ② Decomposer
  3. ③ Producer
  4. ④ Primary consumer
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Answer: ④ Primary consumer

Key point: Plant-eaters are primary consumers

Grass is the producer because it makes its own food. An animal that eats the producer is the primary (first) consumer. The fox, which eats the rabbit, is the secondary consumer.

Wrong choices

  • (A) Secondary consumer: The secondary consumer is the fox, which eats the rabbit.
  • (B) Decomposer: Decomposers, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead matter.
  • (C) Producer: The producer is the grass, which makes its own food from sunlight.
Practice questionReviewedGeneral Science › Life Science★★★★☆

Question 5. Brown eyes (B) are dominant over blue eyes (b). If both parents are Bb, what is the chance that a child will have blue eyes?

  1. ① 50%
  2. ② 25%
  3. ③ 75%
  4. ④ 0%
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Answer: ② 25%

Key point: Bb x Bb gives bb one time in four

  1. Each parent can pass on B or b.
  2. The four equal combinations are BB, Bb, bB, and bb.
  3. Only bb gives blue eyes, so the chance is 1 out of 4, or 25%.

Check: 3 of the 4 combinations have at least one B (brown), and 1 of 4 is bb (blue).

Wrong choices

  • (A) 50%: 50% is the chance of a Bb child, not a bb child.
  • (C) 75%: 75% is the chance of brown eyes.
  • (D) 0%: 0% would be true only if one parent were BB.
Practice questionReviewedGeneral Science › Life Science★★★★☆

Question 6. In which organ are most nutrients from food absorbed into the blood?

  1. ① Small intestine
  2. ② Stomach
  3. ③ Esophagus
  4. ④ Large intestine
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Answer: ① Small intestine

Key point: Most nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine

The small intestine is long and lined with tiny finger-like villi. These give it a huge surface area, so most nutrients pass into the blood there.

Wrong choices

  • (B) Stomach: The large intestine mainly absorbs water and salts, not most nutrients.
  • (C) Esophagus: The esophagus is a tube that moves food to the stomach; it does not absorb nutrients.
  • (D) Large intestine: The stomach mixes and breaks down food but absorbs very little.
Practice questionReviewedGeneral Science › Life Science★★★★☆

Question 7. Which vitamin can the human body make when the skin is exposed to sunlight?

  1. ① Vitamin A
  2. ② Vitamin D
  3. ③ Vitamin C
  4. ④ Vitamin K
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Answer: ② Vitamin D

Key point: Sunlight on skin makes vitamin D

When sunlight hits the skin, the body makes vitamin D. Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium for strong bones.

Wrong choices

  • (A) Vitamin A: Vitamin A comes from food such as carrots and liver.
  • (C) Vitamin C: Vitamin C comes from food such as citrus fruit; the skin does not make it from sunlight.
  • (D) Vitamin K: Vitamin K comes mostly from leafy greens and gut bacteria, not sunlight.

Test yourself.

Life Science: 5 questions →General Science: 5 questions →