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Section A [15 marks]

Answer all questions in this section.

1. Which organism corresponds to its characteristic features?

Phylum Characteristic features
A Cnidaria Triploblastic with an outer layer containing cnidocytes
B Arthropoda Hard exoskeleton made up of cellulose
C Mollusca Body divided into a visceral mass and head-foot region
D Platyhelminthes Triploblasti, unsegmented with radially symmetry

2. Quadrat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Number of plants 4 8 10 0 8 10 6 0 6 8

A quadrat of size 50cm x 50cm is used to determine the frequency and the density of a plant in a
certain area. Based on the data shown above, calculate the density of the plant per square meter
for that area.
A. 6 B8 C 24 D 60

3. Phosphate-rich rock
A D
Soil Animals
B C
Plants

The diagram above shows a part of phosphorus cycle. Which process A, B, C and D shows
weathering process?

4. Which of the following are examples of directional selection?

I. Industrial melanism of peppered moth Biston betularia.
II. Babies with extreme body weights show higher mortality.
III. Bacteria population resistance to antibiotics will have better chance to survive.
IV. Africans that are heterozygous for sickle cell anaemia will be less affected by malaria.
A. I and II B. I and III C. II and IV D. III and IV

5. The genotype of a human zygote will differ from that of both parents. Which of the following does
NOT contributes to this variation?
A. Mutation of genes C. Random assortment of chromosomes
B. Presence of single dominant genes D. Crossing-over occurring during meiosis

6. Which statement is true of allopatric speciation?

A. Speciation produces hybrid species.
B. Individuals occupy an overlapping area.
C. Allopolyploidy happens in plants and produces new species.
D. Geographical barrier prevents gene flow between populations.
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7. Part of the amino acid sequences in normal and sickle cell haemoglobin are shown.
normal haemoglobin sickle cell haemoglobin
thr-pro-glu-glu thr-pro-val-glu

Possible mRNA codons for these amino acids are shown below.
glutamine (glu) : GAA GAG proline (pro) CCU CCC
threonine (thr) : ACU ACC valine (val) GUA GUG

Which tRNA molecule is involved in the formation of the mutated part of the sickle cell haemoglobin?

8. A culture of bacteria had all the DNA labelled with normal

nitrogen, 14N. The culture was allowed to reproduce using
nucleotides containing heavy isotope, 15N. The DNA was X
examined using a centrifuge after one generation and again
after two generations. Y
The diagram shows the position of the DNA band at X in the
centrifuge tube when the DNA was first labelled. Z
In which pattern would the DNA be found after the first and
after the second cell generations?
After first generation After second generation
A. All at Y Half at Y and half at Z
B. All at Y Half at Y and half at X
C. Half at Y and half at Z Quarter at X and Z, half at Y
D. Half at Y and half at X Quarter at X and Z, half at Y

9. A certain breed of mouse can have fur that is either brown or white. A mouse breeder performs a
cross two heterozygous brown mice and their offspring are examined. He is surprise to find the
number of brown mouse is almost twice the white mouse. What conclusions can be drawn from
the result?
A. Fur colour of mouse shows epistasis.
B. The ratio of offspring follows Mendelian ratio.
C. The allele for fur colour of mouse is codominant.
D. The gene for fur colour of mouse is a lethal gene.

10. At a plane crash site, which technique would be most useful to identify bodies of the victims?
A. DNA cloning C. DNA fingerprinting
B. DNA electrophoresis D. DNA gene probing

11. In a population of villagers, 9964 of them are normal while 36 suffer from a rare autosomal
recessive disease. What is the percentage of villagers that are carriers of the disease?
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A. 3.6% B. 6.0% C. 11.3% D. 88.4%

12. Which of the following statements are true about plasmids?

I. Single stranded circular DNA
II. Carry gene resistance to antibiotics
III. Can replicate independently without host organism
IV. Can be transformed from one bacterium to another bacterium
A. I and II B. I and III C. II and IV D. III and IV

13. The diagram shows a cross performed in a breeding experiment.

Brassica oleracea (cabbage) x Raphanus sativus (radish)

parents 2n = 18 2n = 18

gametes n=9 n=9

F1 generation 2n = 18

Which of the following statement explains why F1 hybrid plants were sterile?
A. Chromosomal duplication occurred in F1 hybrid.
B. There were an odd number of chromosomes in the gametes.
C. Chromosomes of F1 hybrid could not form homologous pairs during meiosis.
D. The F1 hybrid contained both double homozygous recessive genes from both parents.

14. Genes Q, R, S and T occur on the same chromosome. Investigation of a large population
produced the following cross-over values between pairs of genes.
Q and R 13%
S and T 20%
Q and T 42%
R and S 9%
Which one of the following sequences of letters represents the gene sequence on the
chromosome?
A. Q R T S B. T S R Q C. R S P Q D. Q S R T

15. What does the pyramid shown in the diagram

bacteria represent?
A. A pyramid of numbers illustrating a rapid
fleas rate of reproduction among consumers.
B. A pyramid of energy in which the secondary
monkeys and tertiary consumers are decomposers.
C. A pyramid of biomass in which fleas and
tree bacteria are living parasitically.
D. A pyramid of numbers in which fleas and
bacteria are living parasitically.

Section B [15 marks]

Answer all questions in this section.

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16. The diagram below shows a simple classification of Kingdom Plantae.

Plantae

Bryophyta R Coniferophyta S
(eg: ferns) (eg: Hibiscus sp.)

(a) Identify phyla R and S. [2]

R: _____________________________ S: _____________________________
(b) Some scientists consider Bryophyta as the most primitive plants on earth. Suggest two
reasons to support their view. [2]
1. _______________________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________________
(c) State one similarity and one difference between Coniferophyta and S. [2]

Similarity

Difference

(d) What will happen to the earth if all species from this kingdom continue to decrease in
population size? [1]
__________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

17. A genetic disorder in human is alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. The gene coding for alpha-1
antitrypsin undergoes mutation, causing the liver fails to manufacture this enzyme. The function
of alpha-1 antitrypsin is to destroy any unwanted protease enzymes in body tissues. If the
enzyme is missing, then the main symptom is degeneration of alveolar tissue in the lungs due to
attack by proteases. This leads to condition of “inherited emphysema”.

The disorder can be treated either by gene therapy or by dosage with alpha-1 antitrypsin. It is
possible to use transgenic sheep to provide adequate quantities of alpha-1 antitrypsin to enable
patients to be treated.

DNA from sheep mammary gland cells, human cDNA containing the alpha-1 antitrypsin gene
and DNA containing a gene for antibiotic neomycin resistance are combined as rDNA. This rDNA
is transferred into isolated sheep cells which are then cultured in large numbers. The cultured
sheep cells are then treated with neomycin. The surviving cells are used as nuclear donors to
transfer the human alpha-1 antitrypsin gene into transgenic sheep.

(a) How human cDNA is usually obtained in the gene technology? [2]
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____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
(b) Name two enzymes and their functions in producing rDNA from the sheep and human cDNA. [4]
Enzyme Function
1.

2.

(c) Why are the cells treated with neocycin? [2]

____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

Section C [30 marks]

Answer any two questions in this section.

18. (a) (i) With the aid of a graph, explain the three types of survivorship curves. [7]
(ii) Organism M is a type of small shrimp that lives in the ocean. Suggest the type of [2]
survivorship curve shown by organism M with suitable reason.
(b) Explain briefly three density-dependent factors that limit population size. [6]

19. (a) What is speciation? Discuss briefly how adaptive radiation can cause speciation. [6]
(b) In the fruit fly, Drosophilla melanogaster, the allele for grey body is dominant over the
allele for black body; while the allele for normal wings is dominant over the alleles for
vestigial wings.
A pure-breed fly with grey body and vestigial wings is crossed with a pure-breed fly
with black body and normal wings to produce F1 progeny. Later, test cross is done to
F1 progeny and the following results are obtained:
Grey body, normal wings 45
Grey body, vestigial wings 203
Black body, normal wings 211
Black body, vestigial wings 50
(i) Based on the results of the test cross, what can u conclude about the two [7]
genes? Draw a genetic diagram of the test cross to support your answer.
(ii) Calculate the distance between the two genes. [2]

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[9]
20. (a) The diagram above shows the abnormal process that happens to a pair of sex
chromosomes during spermatogenesis. Fertilisation later happens between an
abnormal sperm and a normal egg. Describe the type of mutation that occurs and its
consequence to the offspring. [6]
(b) Describe how this abnormality can be detected after 4 months of pregnancy.

 Good Luck 

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