Multiple Choice
Identify the
choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
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1.
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All of the following conditions help preserve organisms as fossils EXCEPT
____.
a. | quick burial by sediments | c. | protection from
scavengers | b. | hard parts | d. | activities of microorganisms |
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2.
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What does a paleontologist study?
a. | dinosaurs | c. | plants | b. | fossils | d. | life |
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3.
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What kind of information have fossils provided for scientists?
a. | They have helped scientists determine when life first appeared on
Earth | c. | They have helped scientists determine when organisms became
extinct. | b. | they have helped scientists determine when plants and animals first lived on
land | d. | all of these are
correct |
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4.
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What determines whether or not an organism will become a fossil?
a. | how well it is protected from scavengers, decomposers, and physical agents that break
things down | c. | the weather conditions at the time of death | b. | its chemical
makeup | d. | the type of soil it
is buried in |
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5.
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Why do many organisms leave carbon films as evidence of their lives?
a. | because the bones and tissues of most organisms are made of carbon
compounds | c. | because the bones and tissues of most organisms do not contain
carbon | b. | because the tissues of most organisms are made of nitrogen
compounds | d. | most organisms
that change into fossils actually burn up leaving behind carbon |
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6.
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What is a carbon film?
a. | a mold of the orignal organism made of
carbon residue | c. | a silhoutte of the orignal organism made of a thin film of
nitrogen | b. | a cast of the orginal organism made of
carbon residue | d. | a silhouette
of the original organism made of a thin film of
carbon |
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7.
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How is sediment transformed into rock?
a. | compaction and cementation | c. | cementation | b. | compaction | d. | heat and pressure |
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8.
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What natural preservative have scientists discovered fossils inside of ?
a. | amber | c. | tar | b. | ice or frozen ground | d. | all of these |
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9.
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Trace fossils are
a. | fossils scientists use to determine the age of rocks around it | c. | silhouettes of the
orignal organism | b. | fossilized footprints, tail drags, or other evidence of an
organism | d. | fossils that are
traced in rock |
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10.
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What are index fossils?
a. | fossils that have tiny numbers engraved upon them | c. | the shape of a fossil found in
rocks | b. | fossils that we know when they existed and were found all over the
world | d. | the footprints of an
extinct organism |
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11.
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What kind of rock are most fossils found in?
a. | igneous | c. | gravel | b. | metamorphic | d. | sedimentary |
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12.
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When an organism gets buried, its body will disappear leaving behind its shape
inside the rock. This hollow shape is called..
a. | the cast | c. | carbon film | b. | the mold | d. | a trace fossil |
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