Cambridge Past Paper Questions

(a) During a sporting event, an athlete carries out respiration in aerobic conditions.

One example of chemical control and co-ordination in plants is in the breakdown of food reserves during the germination of cereal grains, such as w...

(a) An investigation was carried out to measure the rate of photosynthesis at different concentrations of carbon dioxide. Two different plants, bar...

The foxglove, Digitalis purpurea, is a common plant in many parts of the world. Fig. 5.1 shows a foxglove. [Figure 5.1] Flower colour in foxgloves ...

The Hardy-Weinberg principle may be used to calculate allele and genotype frequencies for a gene, within a population. The Hardy-Weinberg principle...

(a) Most reflex arcs pass through the spinal cord and involve different types of neurones. Name and state the functions of the three types of neuro...

Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil that comes from the fruit of oil palm trees. • Palm oil is cheap. • It is the world's most widely used vegetabl...

Section B Answer one question. (a) Explain what is meant by the terms ecosystem and niche.

Section B Answer one question. (a) Describe the principles of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

(a) A group of students investigated the effects of glucose and ATP on the contraction of muscle fibres. Muscle tissue was cut into pieces along th...

Melanism (dark-coloured wings) in a species of moth is controlled by a gene with two alleles. The dominant allele codes for the melanic form and th...

The eyepiece lens of a microscope can be fitted with an eyepiece graticule. Which of these statements about eyepiece graticules are correct? 1 They...

A student was asked to use the scale bar shown to calculate the magnification of a cell on a photomicrograph. [Figure showing a scale bar: 2 μm] Wh...

Which eyepiece and objective lens combination of a light microscope allows the greatest number of cells in a field of view to be seen? [Table showi...

Which row correctly matches each cell structure with its function? [Table matching microtubules and rough endoplasmic reticulum with functions]

Which animal cells would have the most extensive Golgi bodies?

Which of these processes will require ATP? 1 transport of water in the xylem 2 semi-conservative replication of DNA 3 facilitated diffusion of amin...

Which concentrations could be produced by a serial dilution of an 8.00% glucose solution?

A student wrote these statements about polysaccharides. 1 Amylose is formed from condensation reactions between β-glucose monomers. 2 Branches in a...

Which diagram correctly shows the formation of a peptide bond between two amino acids?

Sugars with a ring structure can also have a linear structure. Which sugar molecules could be represented by the linear structure shown in the diag...

Which molecules are globular proteins? 1 amylase 2 haemoglobin 3 DNA polymerase

When hydrolysed, which molecules have products containing a carboxyl group? 1 phospholipids 2 polysaccharides 3 proteins

Lysosomes contain many different hydrolytic enzymes that may act within cells (intracellular enzymes) or outside cells (extracellular enzymes). Whi...

The diagram shows an enzyme, its substrate and an enzyme/substrate complex. [Figure showing enzyme, substrate, and enzyme/substrate complex] Which ...

What could be used to calculate the rate of an enzyme-catalysed reaction? 1 the appearance of product 2 the disappearance of substrate 3 the Michae...

Cholesterol is an integral component of the cell surface membrane. Which statement about cholesterol is correct?

Which type of bond in phospholipids has a role in increasing the fluidity of cell surface membranes?

Which of these substances can pass directly through cell surface membranes without using a carrier protein or a channel protein? 1 Ca²⁺ 2 CO₂ 3 C₆H...

Companion cells use ATP to move hydrogen ions out of the cell and co-transporter proteins to allow hydrogen ions to return with sucrose molecules. ...

How many copies of each different DNA molecule will be found in a cell at the start of each of these stages of the mitotic cell cycle? [Table showi...

Three parts of a chromosome and their functions are listed. part P1 centromere P2 histone proteins P3 telomere function F1 packages DNA into compac...

The graphs show various distance measurements taken from metaphase of mitosis onwards. The graphs are to scale when compared to one another. [Figur...

A culture of bacteria was allowed to reproduce using nucleotides containing the heavy isotope of nitrogen (¹⁵N). After several generations, all of ...

The diagram represents a molecule of ATP. [Figure showing ATP molecule with parts P, Q, R labelled] What are the components of ATP labelled P, Q an...

The table shows three anticodons for different amino acids. [Table showing amino acid and anticodon] Which DNA triplet on the DNA template strand c...

The photomicrograph shows a transport tissue in the stem of a grape vine. [Photomicrograph with T labelled] What is the structure labelled T?

The diagrams show transverse sections of parts of a plant. Transport tissues are labelled 1 to 6. [Figures showing transverse sections of leaf, ste...

What will increase the rate of transpiration? 1 increasing the humidity 2 increasing the light intensity 3 decreasing the temperature 4 decreasing ...

Which properties of water are important for transport in xylem? 1 cohesion 2 adhesion 3 high energy requirement for evaporation 4 good solvent prop...

Which statement about the blood flow in the cardiac cycle is correct?

Which of these statements about the formation of haemoglobinic acid are correct? 1 It depends on the formation of carbaminohaemoglobin. 2 It remove...

What can combine with the haem group of a haemoglobin molecule? 1 oxygen 2 carbon dioxide 3 carbon monoxide

Which factors would help a person to adjust from living at a low altitude to living at a high altitude? 1 formation of fewer red blood cells 2 an i...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) includes bronchitis and emphysema. Which symptom is specific to emphysema?

What identifies the structures present in a bronchus? [Figure showing a Venn diagram with circles for cartilage, cilia, goblet cells, and regions A...

Which of these terms can be used to describe the role of mosquitoes in the transmission of malaria? 1 malarial parasite 2 pathogen 3 vector

Bacteria that infect skin wounds can become resistant to the antibiotic commonly used to kill them. Which statement explains how these bacteria cou...

Some children are born with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). Children with this inherited disease do not normally have any T-lymphocytes an...

The hybridoma method is used for the production of monoclonal antibodies. Which two types of cell are used in this method?