Air enters the body through the nose or mouth, and is transferred to the pharynx (the upper portion of the throat located at the back of the mouth). The larynx is commonly called the "voice box," and is the lower portion of the throat connected to the pharynx. From there, air enters the trachea and flows into the chest. The trachea branches into two bronchi, which continue to branch and divide as the air is carried into the lungs.

The nasal passage's main function is to heat or cool air before it enters the lungs. The cilia, mucous and hair also help filter air since the respiratory system is very sensitive to allergens and infection. Also, the lungs need to be kept moist and lubricated, so dry air is damaging. No gas exchange occurs in the nasal passage, it is merely a conduction zone through which air must travel before it gets to the alveoli where gas exchange occurs with the pulmonary capillaries.

After entering the nose and mouth, air is passed into the pharynx. It then travels to the larynx, which houses the vocal cords, before entering the trachea. The trachea transports the air into the thoracic cavity before branching into the primary bronchi. The right bronchus carries air to the right lung; the left bronchus carries air to the left lung. Of the given answer options, air only passes through the pharynx before entering the lungs.

Alveoli are found in the lungs and the primary site of gas exchange; however, the question specifies a structure before the air enters the lungs. The esophagus transports food, and is not involved in respiration. Nephrons are the function units of the excretory system, and are located in the kidneys.

Anterior to the esophagus, the trachea begins at the larynx (voice box) and extends down towards the lungs where it splits into the bronchi. The trachea is a conducting structure, meaning no gas exchange occurs in the trachea. Instead, it is held open by "C" shaped rings of cartilage to allow maximum airflow between the lungs and the air in the environment. 

The nose is the primary passageway of air into the lungs. Before air can safely enter the body, it must be brought to body temperature, moisturized and cleansed of any particles that could damage the respiratory system or cause infection. Mucous is produced by goblet cells. Olfaction is carried out by specialized neurons in the nose that bind to certain molecules and send information to the brain.

The right lung has 3 lobes and left lung has only 2 lobes to allow room for the heart. The majority of the heart is on the left side of the body since the left ventricle is the largest and thickest-walled chamber of the heart.

The left atrium receives blood from the pulmonary veins, which carry blood that was freshly oxygenated from the lungs to the heart. The partial pressure of oxygen is always highest soon after oxygenation, thus blood returning from the lungs would have a high partial pressure.

The superior and inferior vena cavae return deoxygenated blood from the body to the heart, and would have very low oxygen partial pressures. The right atrium receives this deoxygenated blood from the vena cavae and transfers it to the right ventricle. From the ventricle, the deoxygenated blood is transported to the lungs via the pulmonary arteries. It only becomes oxygenated again after reaching the lungs, and then returns to the heart through the pulmonary veins.

This question requires a basic understanding of general chemistry and/or general physics. Remember that gas will only move from an area of high pressure to low pressure; thus, if air is moving out of the lungs, the pressure inside of the lungs must be greater than the pressure outside of the lungs. The point at which air does not move in or out of the lungs is a signal that the pressure of the gas inside of the lungs is equal to that of atmospheric pressure.

In a biological sense, remember that the diaphragm contracts to cause inhalation, which results from negative or decreased pressure in the lungs. When the diaphragm relaxes, the pressure in the lungs must increase again. The increase in pressure forces the air out of the lungs and back into the atmospheric environment.

Increasing the volume of a container (in this case, the lungs) while keeping the contents (air molecules) the same will decrease the pressure. If no barrier is present (as when holding your breath), pressure will tend to equalize between areas of differing pressure. In order to equalize the pressure, air molecules from outside the body rush into the expanded lungs. The concentration of oxygen does not impact inhalation, and cilia are not used to inhale.

Inhalation happens by making the pressure in the lungs lower relative to the pressure outside the body. When the diaphragm contracts, it increases the volume of the thoracic cavity. By Boyle's law, there is an inverse relationship between pressure and volume of a gas. Thus the pressure of the thoracic cavity decreases and since air will flow from high to low pressure, this pulls air into the lungs during inhalation.