HONG KONG EXAMINATIONS AUTHORITY

HONG KONG CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION EXAMINATION 1996

BIOLOGY PAPER I
1.Attempt THREE questions only
2.Each question consists of three parts.
3.All questions carrry equal marks .
4.In each question, 2 additional marks will be awarded for effective communecation.
5.The diagrams in this paper are NOT necessarity draw to scale.

1. (a) The diagrams below show three kinds of plants:

(i) Pine and bread mould belong to the same major plant group and marine belongs to
another group.
(1) State one feature that distinguishes these two major plant groups. (1 mark)
(2) Bread mould belongs to the sub-group fungi. Name the sub-group to which
belongs. (1 mark)
(ii) State the role of the following structures in the reproduction of the plants:
(1) P(1 mark)
(2) R(2 marks)
(iii) State one feature that is common to structures Q and R which enables them to be
carried by wind. (1 mark)
(iv) Referring to the diagram, explain how bread mould is adapted for obtaining
nutrients. (4 marks)
1. (b) The photographs below show the transverse sections of two blood vessels:
(i) What type of blood vessel is
(1) A
(2) B (2 marks)
(ii) Referring to one feature observed in each photograph, explain how each vessel is
adapted to its function. (4 marks)
(iii) What is the functional significance of the shape of the red blood cell? (2 marks)
(iv) Blood vessel A can be found in the heart wall. Explain the possible effect on the
heart if the vessel is partly blocked. (3 marks)
1. (c) A boy was standing by the roadside and saw a bus moving towards him. The
photographs below show what he saw when the bus was 10 m and 5m away him
respectively:
(i) (1) What kind of eye defect did the boy probably have? (1 mark)
(2) State two features of the eyeball that might have caused this eye defect.
(2 marks)
(ii) Draw a ray diagram to show the pathway of light entering the eye of the boy when
he was looking at the bus 10m away from him. (3 marks)
(iii) How could this eye defect be corrected? (1 mark)
(iv) The boy had normal colour vision, but when it was getting dark, he found it
difficult to distinguish the colour of the cars on the road. Explain this briefly.
(2 marks)
2. (a) The diagram below shows a set-up used to compare the rate of water loss from a
leafy shoot at different light intensities:
At each light intensity, the initial and final positions of the air bubble were recorded as
shown below:
Light intensity Initial position of bubble Position of bubble after 10
(arbitrary unit) (mm) minutes (mm)
10 0 15
20 2 22
30 1 26
40 3 33
(i) Explain why the air bubble moved during the experiment. (2 marks)
(ii) Calculate the rate of water loss at different light intensities in terms of the distance
traveled by the bubble per minute. Present your results in a table.(3 marks)
(iii) Based on the experimental results, explain the effect of light intensity on the rate
of water loss. (3 marks)
(iv) How would you adjust the position of the bubble before taking a new set of
reading? (1 mark)
2.(b) Explain the following:
(i) Leguminous plants can still grow well in soil deficient in nitrates. (4 marks)
(ii) Vaccination can protect our body against certain disease. (4 marks)
(iii) Birth control may contribute to the conservation of the environment. (3 marks)
2. (c) The diagram below shows the alimentary canal and the associated glands of a
man:
(i) What is the function of A? (1 mark)
(ii) Name the process by which food is moved along B. (1 mark)
(iii) Explain how the secretion from C helps the digestion of protein. (4 marks)
(iv) In an operation, a large part of D of the man was removed. Explain what change
will occur to his faeces. (2 marks)
(v) State two functions of E that are not related to digestion. (2 marks)
3. (a) Tomato plants produce fruits of two different shapes, spherical and pear-shaped.
The shape of the fruit is controlled by a pair of alleles. In a study, two separate crosses
were performed and the results are shown below:
Cross Parent plants with Number of daughter plants with
Pear-shaped fruits Spherical fruits
A Pear-shaped fruits x spherical fruits 48 42
B Pear-shaped fruits x spherical fruits 0 84
(i) Which fruit shape is controlled by the dominant allele? Explain how you arrived at
your answer.
(Marks will not be given for genetic diagrams.) (4 marks)
(ii) State the genotype of the parent plant with spherical fruits in
(1) cross A
(2) cross B
Define the symbols you use. (3 marks)
(iii) The parent plant with pear-shaped fruits in cross A is self-crossed. Use a genetic
diagram to show the result. (3 marks)
(iv) Explain whether the self-cross mentioned in (iii) is a kind of sexual or asexual
reproduction. (2 marks)
3. (b) Patients with kidney failure will die if they do not receive proper treatment. One
method of treatment is to use a kidney machine.
The diagram below shows the workings of a kidney machine:

(i) Urea is found in the solution passing out of the kidney machine.
Account for this. ( 2 marks)
(ii) Give a reason for each of the following:
(1) Each treatment takes a long time (about 6 hours) (1 mark)
(2) The treatment needs to be repeated at regular intervals (about 2-3 times a week)
(1 mark)
(iii) Both the human kidney and the kidney machine are able to retain useful
substances in the blood. Explain how this is achieved by
(1) the human kidney(1 mark)
(2) the kidney machine( 2 marks)
(iv) Another method of treatment kidney failure is to transplant a healthy kidney into
the patient . Suggest two reasons why only a small number of such patients can
receive this treatment in Hong Kong. ( 2 marks)
3. (c) The diagram below shows a set-up used to measure the rate of respiration of
grasshoppers:
(i) (1) Write a simple word equation of aerobic respiration. (1 mark)
(2) The set-up measures the change in the amount of a substance in the word
equation.
What is this substance? (1 mark)
(ii) What change will occur to the water level in the U-tube after 15 minutes? Explain
your answer. (4 marks)
(iii) What is the use of flask B? (1 mark)
(iv) How will the result be different if the experiment is repeated at a higher room
temperature? Explain your answer. (2 marks)
4. (a) In order to study the conditions for osmosis, a student prepared two set-up as
shown in the diagrams below. The skin of each potato was removed and a cavity was
made for holding the sucrose solution.

(i) Explain why the level of sucrose solution of set-up A rose after 12 hours.(3 marks)
(ii) What can you conclude from the results of the two set-ups? (2 marks)
(iii) Referring to set-up A, draw a labeled diagram to show the possible appearance of
a complete potato cell which is in contact with
(1) the sucrose solution
(2) the distilled water(4 marks)
(iv) At the end of the experiment, sucrose was found in the distilled water in set-up B.
 Explain why this occurred. (2 marks)
4. (b) The diagram below shows some organisms in a food web in the South Pole
region.

(i) Referring to the food web, state the relationship(s) between

(1) the blue whale and the seal (1 mark)
(2) the squid and the sea bird (1 mark)
(ii) In the South Pole region, the period of daylight becomes much shorter in winter.
Explain how this affects the algal population. (2 marks)
(iii) Although there is no farming activity in the South Pole, a pesticide, DDT, is
found accumulated in penguins. Explain why this occurs. (5 marks)
4. (c) An experiment was performed to study the effect of environmental temperature
on the skin temperature and the body temperature of a person. During the experiment,
the person was kept in a room with a constant relative humidity of 65%. He was
allowed to eat and move around freely but he was not allowed to change the amount
of clothing.
(i) (1) Describe the change in the skin temperature when the room temperature rose
from 18℃ to 28℃. (1 mark)
(2) What physiological change in the skin may cause this change in the skin
temperature? (2 marks)
(ii) When the room temperature rose from 38℃ to 40℃,
(1) describe the change in the body temperature. (1 mark)
(2) what was the main way by which body heat was lost to the environment?
Explain how you arrived at your answer. (3 marks)
(3) explain why the person’s life might be endangered if the relative humidity of the
room rose to 95%.(3 marks)