Final answer:
When genes lie near each other on the same chromosome, violating Mendel's law of independent assortment, offspring are likely to inherit the same two alleles for these genes that were passed down together from a grandparent due to genetic linkage. The correct answer is C. Offspring will inherit the same two alleles passed down together from a grandparent.
Step-by-step explanation:
When genes lie near each other on the same chromosome, they do not follow Mendel's law of independent assortment. Instead, they exhibit genetic linkage, meaning that their alleles tend to be inherited together.
Because the genes are close together, they are less likely to be separated by recombination (or crossing over) during meiosis. The closer the genes are to each other on the chromosome, the higher the chance they will be passed down together, which sometimes results in parental genotypes appearing in offspring more often than recombinant genotypes. Only if the genes are far apart on the chromosome, is there a higher probability for recombination to occur, which can lead to independent assortment similar to what Mendel observed with unlinked genes.
Therefore, the correct prediction about the inheritance of two such genes would be:
C. Offspring will inherit the same two alleles that were passed down together from a grandparent.