Real exam 2023/2024
* = Correct
answer
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following is not a property of a virus?
A. It is an infectious cellular pathogen.*
B. It is an obligate intracellular pathogen.
C. Its genome consists of DNA or RNA.
D. Its genome is surrounded by a protein capsid.
Difficulty: Easy
ASM Standard: 10, 13
2. Which of the following is the scientist responsible for first discovering viruses (specifically,
tobacco mosaic virus)?
A. Dimitri Ivanovski*
B. Edward Jenner
C. Henrietta Lacks
D. Stanley Prusiner
Difficulty: Easy
ASM Standard: N/A
3. The protein subunits that surround the nucleic acid of a virus are known as which of the
following?
A. amino acids
B. capsomeres*
C. chromatins
D. telomeres
Difficulty: Easy
ASM Standard: N/A
4. Arthropods typically serve as which mechanism of transmission for viruses?
A. biological vector*
B. fomite
C. mechanical vector
D. both as fomites and as vectors
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, Difficulty: Medium
ASM Standard: 10, 13, 23
5. Which unit of length best describes the average size of a virion?
A. mm
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, B. µm
C. nm*
D. pm
Difficulty: Easy
ASM Standard: 6
6. Viruses can be visualized using which method?
A. compound light microscope
B. electron microscope*
C. the naked eye
D. ultraviolet rays
Difficulty: Easy
ASM Standard: 6, 32, 36
7. The Baltimore Classification system describes viruses according to which characteristic?
A. capsid shape
B. host-cell susceptibility
C. the presence or absence of an envelope
D. the viral genome*
Difficulty: Easy
ASM Standard: 10
8. Which of the following properly lists (in order) the steps of viral replication?
A. Attachment → Lysis → Penetration → Biosynthesis → Maturation
B. Attachment → Penetration → Biosynthesis → Maturation → Lysis *
C. Biosynthesis → Attachment → Penetration → Lysis → Maturation
D. Penetration → Biosynthesis → Lysis → Attachment → Maturation
Difficulty: Easy
ASM Standard: 10
9. In the lysogenic cycle of bacteriophages, the integrated phage genome is known as which of
the following?
A. prophage*
B. provirus
C. virioid
D. virion
Difficulty: Easy
ASM Standard: 10
10. In retroviruses, the integrated phage genome is known as which of the following?
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