Cambridge Past Paper Questions
Browse 23,045questions from 25 years of O-Level & A-Level exams. Click any question to practice.
Why is it difficult to control the spread of measles? 1 Global air travel for commerce and tourism has increased. 2 The virus that causes measles r...
The following are all responses made by cells of the immune system to a pathogen. 1 mitosis 2 bind to infected cell 3 produce memory cells 4 secret...
What occurs when active immunity is artificially induced?
Which equation for calculating the actual size of a specimen, A, or image size, I, or magnification, M, is correct?
One of the smallest viruses is the polio virus, which has a diameter of approximately 30 nm. In 2003, the Mimivirus was discovered which has a diam...
Which cell components are present in all prokaryotic cells? [Figure 3.1 - table showing presence/absence of cell components in prokaryotic cells]
The electron micrograph shows part of an animal cell. [Figure 4.1] What will be synthesised in large quantities in this cell? 1 ATP, 2 glucose, 3 RNA
A student carried out four tests for biological molecules on a sample of milk. The tests and their results were as follows. • Heating to 80 °C with...
Two disaccharides are maltose and sucrose. Maltose is formed from two molecules of glucose, whilst sucrose is formed from fructose and glucose. Whi...
The diagram shows the structure of the polysaccharide chitin which is found in the cell wall of fungi. [Figure 10.1 - molecular diagram of chitin s...
Which row correctly matches the functional and structural features of cellulose, collagen, glycogen or triglyceride? [Figure 11.1 - table matching ...
A polypeptide has a number of amino acids (n). How many peptide bonds and R groups (side chains) does this polypeptide have?
What are the features of triglycerides? [Figure 13.1 - table of triglyceride features]
Which of these statements describe the action of an extracellular enzyme? 1 synthesis of a polynucleotide in the nucleus during DNA replication, 2 ...
An experiment was carried out in which the enzyme lipase was used to hydrolyse a triglyceride. The pH was recorded at regular intervals during the ...
Which statement about the effect of substrate concentration on the activity of an enzyme is correct?
Which row shows a correct function of the components of the cell surface membrane? [Figure 17.1 - table of cell surface membrane components and fun...
The graph shows how the rate of entry of substance X into a cell changes as the concentration of substance X outside the cell increases. [Figure 18...
The photomicrographs show cells in various stages of the cell cycle. In which stage does semi-conservative replication of DNA take place? [Figure 1...
The diagram shows the structure of one chromosome. [Figure 20.1 - chromosome diagram] Which row is correct? [Figure 20.2 - table describing parts o...
Cancer cells may divide by far more divisions than other cells found in humans. Which statement about cancer cells is correct?
Which statements concerning DNA and RNA are correct? 1 Adenine and guanine are bases that have a double ring structure; cytosine, thymine and uraci...
Two sets of bacteria were grown using different types of nitrogen-containing growth media. One set was grown in a medium containing the ‘heavy’ iso...
The diagram shows the nucleotide sequence of a small section of a gene which is transcribed. GCGCGCGGCGCG The table shows the amino acids coded for...
What contributes to the movement of water through the xylem vessel elements?
The diagram shows a xerophytic leaf in different conditions, P and Q. [Figure 27.1 - diagrams of xerophytic leaves in conditions P and Q] Which sta...
What are features that adapt root hair cells for efficient uptake of mineral ions? 1 a large number of mitochondria, 2 a large number of protein ca...
The transverse sections of two plant organs are shown. [Figure 29.1 - transverse sections of two plant organs with labelled tissues] Which pair of ...
Measurements of the stem of a young tree showed that the diameter varied slightly. It decreased during the day and increased during the night. Whic...
Which statement about the human circulatory system is correct?
The graph shows changes in the volume of the ventricles during the cardiac cycle. [Figure 32.1 - graph showing changes in ventricular volume during...
Haemoglobin can bind to carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and oxygen. 1 carbon dioxide, 2 carbon monoxide, 3 oxygen Which gases share a binding site?
A good gas exchange system maintains a steep diffusion gradient, has a large total surface area and a short diffusion distance. Which feature of th...
Which statement about bronchioles is correct?
In which regions of the human gas exchange system is the function of some types of cell directly affected by tar in cigarette smoke?
What is the causative agent and method of transmission of smallpox? [Figure 37.1 - table of causative agent and transmission method for smallpox]
A scientist investigated the effect of an antibiotic on the treatment of cholera. 320 people suffering with cholera were split into two groups. One...
Which sequence of events occurs during an immune response? 1 development of plasma cells, 2 mitosis of B-lymphocytes, 3 recognition of non-self ant...
An influenza vaccine can be made by growing the viruses in chicken eggs. The viruses are extracted in liquid from the eggs and inactivated. The pur...
Fig. 1.1 is a photomicrograph of plant cells showing stages in cell division.
Fig. 2.1 is a transmission electron micrograph of a section through a blood vessel. Fig. 2.2 is a graph showing how the blood pressure in the pulmo...
Cells of the immune system function to protect the body against infectious diseases.
Fig. 4.1 shows the structure of the R groups of three amino acids, aspartate (Asp), glutamine (Gln) and isoleucine (Ile).
Fig. 5.1 is a transmission electron micrograph of part of a cell.
Plants have two transport tissues, xylem and phloem. Fig. 6.1 shows root hair cells.
The root apical meristem is a region of undifferentiated cells in the root tips of plants. Mitosis occurs in this region.
Triglycerides and phospholipids are types of lipid. Fig. 2.1 shows the structure of one type of phospholipid known as phosphatidylcholine. F1 and F...
Hydrolytic enzymes can function within the cell or can be secreted by the cell, where they are able to catalyse reactions.
Fig. 4.1 is a transmission electron micrograph of the bacterium that causes cholera, Vibrio cholerae. The flagellum shown in Fig. 4.1 allows moveme...
Descriptions A, B and C relate to the movement of water from the soil to the xylem in roots.