60 questions · 60 marks · ≈ 60 min · spans 19 of 19 topics
Assembled from the topic question banks — not an official Cambridge International paperThe image below shows two molecules before and after chemical digestion by enzymes in the alimentary canal.
Which letter(s) identify the product(s) of complete starch digestion?
Choose your answer
G and F
H only
E only
E and H
Which of the following is not a characteristic seen in all living organisms?
Choose your answer
Reproduction
Respiration
Excretion
Photosynthesis
Which of the following statements would not be a correct example of negative feedback?
Choose your answer
An increase in core body temperature when cold.
Vasoconstriction.
The release of a neurotransmitter at a synapse.
The control of blood glucose levels.
Extended Tier Only
Components of the blood from a mammal are shown in the diagram below.
In which component would you expect to find the remains of the breakdown of bacterial cells.
Choose your answer
The graph shows the effect of an antibiotic on a population of bacteria in the blood.
What can be concluded from the data in the graph?
Choose your answer
Antibiotics take 9 days to kill all bacteria in the population.
Antibiotics cause a reduction in division of bacteria.
Antibiotics are effective against viral and bacterial infections.
Before the start of the antibiotic treatment the bacterial population was increasing.
Extended Tier Only
Which graph in the image below shows the correct effect of temperature on the activity of an enzyme?
Choose your answer
Extended Tier Only
Some amphibians, such as frogs, can use their skin as a gas exchange surface.
What are the most likely characteristics of the surface of the skin in these amphibians?
| surface area | type of skin | |
|---|---|---|
| A | small | thick |
| B | large | thick |
| C | small | thin |
| D | large | thin |
Choose your answer
Which of these describe a reason for conserving plant species?
Choose your answer
To obtain drugs for medicinal use.
To decrease rainfall.
To absorb oxygen from the air.
To release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
The diagram below shows part of the human digestive system.
In which structure is most of the water from food absorbed?
Choose your answer
A tall pea plant is crossed with a short pea plant. The tall gene is dominant over the short gene. The tall plant is heterozygous. The short plant is homozygous recessive
Which is the correct genetic diagram for this cross?
Choose your answer
ttTTtTtTTtTt
ttTTtTtttttt
TtTTTTttTttt
TTtTtTttTtTt
What causes the diffusion of carbon dioxide out of a living cell?
Choose your answer
Active transport
Random movement of molecules
Respiration
Photosynthesis
Extended Tier Only
An image of a leaf cross-section is printed in a biology textbook. The actual thickness of such a leaf is 450 µm, and the image in the textbook has a height of 83 mm.
What would be the correct magnification of the image?
Choose your answer
× 5
× 184
× 0.184
× 500
The graphs below show how the number of carnivores change over a period of time in a habitat.
At point X the herbivores in the habitat are removed.
Which graph correctly shows the effect of this on the number of carnivores?
Choose your answer
Extended Tier Only
In what form do glucose molecules store energy?
Choose your answer
Light
Heat
Chemical
Mechanical
HIV is an STI. The following statements are about changes that could occur in the body.
Which of these statements would be correct for HIV?
Choose your answer
1 and 2
2 and 4
3 and 4
1 and 3
Which of the following do humans require energy for?
Choose your answer
1 & 3
2, 3 & 4
4 only
All of the above
Which row of the table below shows the correct chambers of the heart, from those with the thinnest walls to those with the thickest?
| thinnest → thickest | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| A | left ventricle | right ventricle | left atrium |
| B | left atrium | left ventricle | right ventricle |
| C | right ventricle | left atrium | left ventricle |
| D | left atrium | right ventricle | left ventricle |
Choose your answer
Extended Tier Only
Which environmental factor is most likely to be responsible for a plant to wilt?
Choose your answer
A decrease in light intensity.
An increase in humidity.
A decrease in the amount of available water.
A decrease in wind speed.
Which of the following characteristics shows discontinuous variation?
Choose your answer
Length of foot
Body mass
Tongue rolling ability
Height
A student carried out two food tests on solution F to determine what food groups it contains.
What food molecules does solution F contain?
Choose your answer
Starch only
Starch and protein
Starch and Vitamin C
Protein only
The equation below represents a chemical process that occurs in the cells of living organisms.
glucose + oxygen → carbon dioxide + water
Which row correctly identifies the characteristic(s) of living organisms represented by this chemical process?
| nutrition | respiration | |
|---|---|---|
| A | ✓ | ✓ |
| B | X | ✓ |
| C | X | X |
| D | ✓ | X |
Choose your answer
Extended Tier Only
Which row of the following table correctly describes what happens in the body after a person consumes a can of sugary drink?
| role of the pancreas | role of the liver | effect | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | releases glucagon | converts glycogen into glucose | blood sugar levels rise |
| B | releases insulin | converts excess glucose into glycogen | blood sugar level falls |
| C | releases glucagon | converts excess glucose into glycogen | blood sugar level falls |
| D | releases insulin | converts glycogen into glucose | blood sugar levels rise |
Choose your answer
What is a pathogen?
Choose your answer
A transmissible disease
A phagocyte that engulfs bacteria
A disease-causing organism
A bacterial cell
Which of the following statements about antibiotics is not correct?
Choose your answer
Some antibiotics are produced by fungi.
Some bacteria are resistant to antibiotics.
Antibiotics are used to treat diseases caused by viruses.
Antibiotics should only be prescribed when they are needed.
Extended Tier Only
The diagrams below show an amylase enzyme catalysing the breakdown of part of a starch molecule into smaller molecules of maltose.
Which diagram has three correct labels?
Choose your answer
Extended Tier Only
The diagram below shows a cross-section through an alveolus and a capillary.
Why does oxygen move from P to Q?
Choose your answer
The concentration of carbon dioxide is lower in the alveolus than in the blood.
The concentration of oxygen in the blood is lower than in the air in the capillary.
Oxygen must replace carbon dioxide.
The concentration of oxygen in the blood is lower than the air in the alveolus.
Which of the following effects is least likely to be as a result of deforestation?
Choose your answer
A greater risk of flooding.
An increase in biodiversity.
An increase in soil erosion.
An increase in the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Which of the following descriptions are correctly matched to the different stages of food breakdown?
| absorption | assimilation | egestion | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | small soluble food molecules move into the bloodstream | small soluble food molecules cross the cell membrane of cells | excretion of undigested or unabsorbed food through the anus |
| B | small soluble food molecules move into the bloodstream | small soluble food molecules cross the cell membrane of cells | passing out of undigested or unabsorbed food through the anus |
| C | small soluble food molecules cross the cell membrane of cells | small soluble food molecules move into the bloodstream | passing out of undigested or unabsorbed food through the anus |
| D | small soluble food molecules cross the cell membrane of cells | small soluble food molecules move into the bloodstream | excretion of undigested or unabsorbed food through the anus |
Choose your answer
Extended Tier Only
New cells are formed by the division of existing cells.
The diagram below shows four different cells.
Which one is formed by meiosis?
Choose your answer
Extended Tier Only
The image below shows a leaf palisade cell:
What would the correct appearance of the leaf palisade cell be after it has been placed in a highly concentrated solution of sugar after an hour?
Choose your answer
The salivary glands contain cells which are responsible for producing salivary amylase, a digestive enzyme.
Which organelles would be present in large numbers in cells of the salivary glands?
Choose your answer
mitochondria and nuclei
nuclei and ribosomes
mitochondria and vacuoles
mitochondria and ribosomes
Extended Tier Only
Which statement gives the best explanation for why most food chains have no more than five trophic levels?
Choose your answer
Because 20% of the energy is transferred at each level and after 5 levels, all the energy is used up (5 × 20% = 100%).
The numbers of organisms are insufficient because the top predator has to have a count of 1 in a pyramid of numbers.
The biomass transferred from a consumer to the next-level consumer is too little.
There is a large amount of energy loss at each level so insufficient energy can be passed up to the sixth trophic level.
Extended Tier Only
The diagram below shows a section through a leaf.
Which cell type would have the highest concentration of oxygen on a bright, sunny day?
Choose your answer
The diagrams show 3 different species of pollen grains as they appear under a microscope. The diagrams are all to the same scale.
Which pollen grains are involved in insect pollination?
Choose your answer
1 and 2
2 and 3
2 only
All of them
Extended Tier Only
The diagram below shows an experiment set up by a group of students to investigate respiration in yeast.
Which row of the table below correctly describes the contents of the flask after 20 hours?
| new compound | gas produced | |
|---|---|---|
| A | ethanol (alcohol) | oxygen |
| B | ethanol (alcohol) | carbon dioxide |
| C | lactic acid | oxygen |
| D | lactic acid | carbon dioxide |
Choose your answer
Extended Tier Only
The diagram below shows a vertical section through a human heart.
Which row of the following table has the correct names for the structures labelled in the diagram?
| X | Y | Z | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | atrioventricular valve | semilunar valve | septum |
| B | semilunar valve | atrioventricular valve | septum |
| C | semilunar valve | semilunar valve | atrioventricular valve |
| D | atrioventricular valve | atrioventricular valve | septum |
Choose your answer
A decrease in which of the following factors would normally cause the transpiration rate to increase?
Choose your answer
Stomatal density
Light intensity
Temperature
Humidity
An island’s entire population of a butterfly species is descended from just two parents that were introduced from the mainland.
Which of the following statements about this butterfly population, compared with that of the mainland, is correct?
Choose your answer
The population shows more genetic variety.
The population will adapt more slowly to environmental changes.
The population shows more phenotypic variation.
The population is less in danger of collapsing from disease.
Four foods were tested for the following food molecules:
| colour of food test result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| brick-red/orange | purple/lilac | colourless | milky-white | |
| A | ✓ | ✘ | ✓ | ✘ |
| B | ✓ | ✘ | ✘ | ✓ |
| C | ✘ | ✓ | ✓ | ✘ |
| D | ✘ | ✘ | ✓ | ✓ |
Which food contains sugar and Vitamin C?
Choose your answer
The image below shows the events during and after seed germination in well-watered soil.
Which characteristics of living things are demonstrated by this sequence?
Choose your answer
Nutrition and reproduction
Reproduction and growth
Photosynthesis and sensitivity
Sensitivity and growth
Extended Tier Only
Which of the following statements about glucagon are false?
Choose your answer
1, 2, 5 and 6
1, 3, 4 and 6
1, 4, 5 and 6
5 and 6 only
Which of the following diseases can be transmitted by contact with contaminated surfaces?
Choose your answer
Athletes foot and malaria
Salmonella and typhoid
Influenza and dengue fever
Salmonella and athletes foot
Extended Tier Only
In 1945 Sir Alexander Fleming warned about the evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. There is currently an antibiotic resistance crisis.
Which of the following actions would worsen the situation?
Choose your answer
1 and 3 only
2 only
3 only
1, 2 and 3
A student decided to investigate the effect of pH on the activity of the enzyme lipase.
Five different test tubes are set up. Each test tube contains a mixture of the enzyme lipase and its substrate, a lipid.
Which condition should not be kept the same in each of the five test tubes?
Choose your answer
Temperature
Concentration of lipase
Volume of lipid solution
pH
Which of the following sequences show the correct path of oxygen as it enters the lungs?
Choose your answer
trachea → bronchiole → bronchus → alveolus
trachea → bronchus → bronchiole → alveolus
alveolus → bronchus → bronchiole → trachea
alveolus → bronchiole → bronchus → trachea
Extended Tier Only
Below is a list of chemical reactions that occur during digestion.
Which of the chemical reactions above might occur in the duodenum?
Choose your answer
1, 3 and 4
4 only
2, 3 and 4
All 4
Extended Tier Only
What does the term haploid mean?
Choose your answer
A nucleus containing two sets of chromosomes.
A nucleus containing a single set of chromosomes.
A person with only one X chromosome.
A person with XXY chromosomes.
Extended Tier Only
Osmosis is:
Choose your answer
The active movement of molecules from a region of their lower concentration to a region of their higher concentration.
The movement of water through a partially permeable membrane from a more concentrated to a more dilute solution.
Particles from a region of lower concentration to a region of higher concentration using energy from respiration.
The movement of water through a partially permeable membrane from a more dilute to a more concentrated solution.
Which of the following terms correctly describes a leaf, a root and a stem?
Choose your answer
Cell
Tissue
Organ
Organ system
Which letter shows the path of the energy from the sun?
Choose your answer
chemical energy in sugars → stored in plants → trapped in chlorophyll
trapped in chlorophyll → chemical energy in sugars → stored in plants
stored in plants → chemical energy in sugars → trapped in chlorophyll
stored in plants → trapped in chlorophyll → chemical energy in sugars
A student sets up a photosynthesis experiment.
A plant with striped leaves (similar to the one shown below) was kept in bright light for four hours.
A leaf was removed from the plant and treated with ethanol in hot water to remove chlorophyll before iodine was used to test for starch.
Which diagram shows the result of the test?
Choose your answer
Extended Tier Only
The table below shows some advantages and disadvantages of sexual and asexual reproduction.
Which row is correct?
| advantages of sexual reproduction | advantage of asexual reproduction | |
|---|---|---|
| A | less population growth | only one parent needed |
| B | more energy efficient | gametes can be transferred by the environment |
| C | no transfer of gametes | does not compete with parent for nutrients |
| D | more genetic variation | faster |
Choose your answer
In which conditions would the cells of a dicotyledonous green plant respire?
| mesophyll cell | root hair cell | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| darkness | bright light | darkness | bright light | |
| A | ✓ | X | ✓ | X |
| B | X | ✓ | X | X |
| C | X | X | X | X |
| D | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Choose your answer
Extended Tier Only
The blood contains lymphocytes.
What is their purpose?
Choose your answer
Transport of hormones
Phagocytosis
Antibody production
Blood clotting
The diagram below shows two shoots at the start of an experiment set up by a group of students.
What are the most likely readings on the spring balances after four days?
| Spring balance readings / g | ||
|---|---|---|
| shoot A | shoot B | |
| A | 40 | 40 |
| B | 40 | 34 |
| C | 34 | 40 |
| D | 34 | 34 |
Choose your answer
Extended Tier Only
A patient with a bacterial infection is treated with antibiotics, but some of the bacteria survive.
Which statement about the surviving bacteria is correct?
Choose your answer
The bacteria have an allele that provides resistance to all antibiotics.
The bacteria are the result of selective breeding.
The bacteria have an allele that provides resistance to the antibiotic used.
The offspring of the bacteria will be more susceptible to the antibiotic.
The drawing shows a food test being carried out in a laboratory.
Which food test is being shown and which food group is being tested for?
Choose your answer
Biuret test for proteins
DCPIP test for Vitamin C
Benedict's test for reducing sugars
Emulsion test for fats
Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), glucose and water are mixed in a test tube.
The diagrams show the test tube immediately after mixing and after one hour.
Which process causes this change?
Choose your answer
Reproduction
Respiration
Growth
Sensitivity
Which of the following statements are reasons for the evolution of reflex arcs in the mammalian nervous system?
Choose your answer
1 and 3 only
1 and 2 only
1, 2 and 3
2, 3 and 4
The human body has a number of barriers to prevent infection by pathogens some of which are listed below.
Which of these are examples of mechanical barriers?
Choose your answer
1 and 3
1, 2 and 4
2 and 4
1, 3 and 5