When smallpox raged in England in the 18th century, most of its victims were young children. Meanwhile, the people least likely to die from it were senior citizens. Why should this have been so?

An antigen is:

a. any immune system protein.

b. any substance that elicits an immune system response.

c. any cell that functions in the immune system response.

d. the ultimate product of a vaccination.

e. a particular land of lymphocyte.

Public health officials agree that, since the 1960s, asthma has been increasing among children in developed countries such as the United States. Among the tentative explanations for this increase is the “hygiene hypothesis,” which holds that the problem is that many children are growing up in environments that are “pristine”—very clean and devoid of household pets. What could the linkage be between an immune system condition such as asthma and growing up in a pristine environment?

The pathogens that the immune system fights generally are (select all that apply):

a. poisons.

b. living things.

c. microbes.

d. produced by the body itself.

e. fungi, bacteria, or viruses.

All T and B cells begin development in the ______, but T cells complete development in the ______.

a. lymphatic network; bone marrow

b. lungs; pancreas

c. pancreas; thymus

d. bone marrow; thymus

e. lymphatic network; thymus

The body’s adaptive immune response differs from its innate immune response in that the adaptive response (select all that apply):

a. targets specific pathogens.

b. is faster to ramp up.

c. has no memory of the pathogens it has faced.

d. works primarily through T and B cells.

e. is more powerful than the innate response.

Antibodies are seen in two forms in immune system functioning, as ______ and as ______.

a. a length of DNA in a macrophage; a hormone

b. an antigen receptor on a T cell; a free-standing protein exported by a T cell

c. an antigen receptor on a B cell; a free standing protein exported by a B cell

d. antigen receptors on macrophages; signaling proteins inside macrophages

e. proteins that can kill invaders directly; signaling proteins

Cell-mediated immunity works primarily against ___ and primarily through ____.

a. viruses; mast cells

b. bacteria; B cells

c. bacteria; T cells

d. fungi; B cells

e. viruses; T cells

In autoimmune disorders, the immune system (select all that apply):

a. attacks some microbes, but not others.

b. uses only its innate defenses.

c. fails to distinguish self from non-self.

d. fails to produce memory cells.

e. attacks the body’s own tissues.