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OXFORD AQA INTERNATIONAL A-LEVEL
BIOLOGY (9610)
Unit 2: Biological systems and disease
Wednesday 17 May 2017 Morning Time allowed: 1 hour 30 minutes
Materials
For this paper you must have: For Examiner’s Use
• a ruler with millimetre measurements Question Mark
• a scientific calculator, which you are expected to use where appropriate.
1
Instructions 2
• Use black ink or black ball-point pen. 3
• Fill in the boxes at the top of this page. 4
• Answer all questions.
5
• You must answer the questions in the spaces provided. Do not write
outside the box around each page or on blank pages. 6
• All working must be shown. 7
• Do all rough work in this book. Cross through any work you do not want
8
to be marked.
TOTAL
Information
• The marks for questions are shown in brackets.
• The maximum mark for this paper is 75.
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Answer all questions in the spaces provided.
0 1 A student prepares material from an onion root tip.
The student:
• removes 1 mm from the tip of the root
• places the root tip on a glass slide
• adds a drop of stain
• covers the material on the slide with a coverslip
• pushes down firmly on the coverslip, making sure the coverslip does not
move sideways.
0 1 . 1 In the final step, the student pushes down firmly on the coverslip and makes sure
the coverslip does not move sideways.
Explain why.
[2 marks]
0 1 . 2 When the student used a light microscope to observe the stained cells, the image
could not be seen clearly.
Suggest two ways the student could adjust the microscope to make the image
clearer.
[2 marks]
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Figure 1 shows cells from the onion root tip at different stages of the cell cycle.
Figure 1
A B C
D E
0 1 . 3 Give the letters of stages A to E to show the correct order of the cell cycle.
Start with stage D.
[1 mark]
0 1 . 4 Give the letter of the stage that shows a cell in anaphase.
Give one reason for your choice.
[2 marks]
Reason
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The student counted the number of cells observed in each stage of the cell cycle.
Table 1 shows the results.
Table 1
Stage of the cell cycle Number of cells observed
Interphase 43
Prophase 21
Metaphase 8
Anaphase 5
Telophase 3
0 1 . 5 Calculate the mitotic index for this sample of cells.
Use data from Table 1.
[2 marks]
Mitotic index =
0 1 . 6 Assume that the cell cycle for cells in onion root tips takes 12 hours.
Calculate the time, in minutes, during which these cells are in metaphase.
Use data from Table 1.
[2 marks]
Time = min
11
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DO NOT WRITE ON THIS PAGE
ANSWER IN THE SPACES PROVIDED
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0 2 Most of the fat in the human diet is in the form of triglycerides.
Figure 2 shows the processes involved in the digestion and absorption of fat.
Figure 2
Key
ER = endoplasmic reticulum
0 2 . 1 Describe how the movement of fatty acids and monoglycerides into the epithelial
cell is different from the movement of chylomicrons out of the epithelial cell.
[2 marks]
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0 2 . 2 What is the role of bile salts?
Tick () one box.
[1 mark]
Condensation
Emulsification
Esterification
Hydrolysis
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Some students investigated the effects of lipase and bile salts on triglyceride
digestion.
The students:
• placed 5 cm3 of full-fat milk + 7 cm3 of sodium carbonate solution into each
of five test tubes
• added six drops of phenolphthalein indicator solution to each tube
• placed all five test tubes in a water bath at 40 °C for 10 minutes
• added different substances to each tube, as stated in Table 2
• measured the time taken for the colour of the liquid in each tube to change
from pink (pH>8.5) to white (pH<8.5).
Table 2 shows the results.
Table 2
Time taken to
Contents in addition to 5 cm3 of full-fat milk
Test tube change from pink
+ 7 cm3 of sodium carbonate solution
to white / minutes
1 1 cm3 lipase solution + 1 cm3 water 8
2 1 cm3 bile salts solution + 1 cm3 water >20
3 1 cm3 lipase solution + 1 cm3 bile salts solution 6
4 1 cm3 boiled lipase solution + 1 cm3 bile salts solution >20
5 1 cm3 lipase solution + 1 cm3 boiled bile salts solution 6
0 2 . 3 The students measured the time taken for the colour of the liquid to change from
pink to white.
Explain why the students did this.
[3 marks]
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0 2 . 4 Give the reason why the students included each of the following pairs of test
tubes in the investigation.
[3 marks]
Test tube 1 and test tube 2
Test tube 3 and test tube 4
Test tube 3 and test tube 5
0 2 . 5 The students concluded that bile salts increase the rate of triglyceride digestion
by lipase.
Give evidence for this conclusion from Table 2.
[1 mark]
10
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0 3 Figure 3 shows the cross-sectional area and velocity of blood flow in different
types of blood vessels.
Figure 3
0 3 . 1 Give two differences in the structure of the aorta and the vena cava.
[2 marks]
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0 3 . 2 The velocity of flow decreases as the blood moves from the aorta to the
capillaries. Use information from Figure 3 to explain why.
[2 marks]
0 3 . 3 It is important for blood to flow more slowly in capillaries than in arteries.
Give the reason why.
[1 mark]
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0 3 . 4 Sitting on a long plane flight can increase the chance of developing blood clots in
the legs. Airlines advise passengers to do leg muscle exercises to reduce the risk
of this happening. Figure 4 shows the effect of leg muscle exercises on a vein in
the leg to help blood to return to the heart.
Figure 4
Use information from Figure 4 to explain how doing these leg muscle exercises
helps blood to return to the heart.
[4 marks]
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0 4 Figure 5 shows the phases of the cell cycle for a slowly dividing eukaryotic cell.
Figure 5
0 4 . 1 Name the phase of the cell cycle that has been sub-divided into G1, S and G2.
[1 mark]
0 4 . 2 Describe two processes that occur inside the cell during G1.
[2 marks]
0 4 . 3 The uncontrolled growth of cells causes a disease called cancer. A drug called
Cytarabine disrupts DNA replication, killing the cancer cells.
Name the specific phase of the cell cycle that Cytarabine affects.
Choose your answer from the five phases labelled in Figure 5.
[1 mark]
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Cytarabine was given to a cancer patient once every 3 weeks.
Figure 6 shows the changes in the number of healthy cells and cancer cells over
12 weeks of treatment.
Figure 6
0 4 . 4 Use information from Figure 6 to calculate the number of cancer cells at week 12
as a percentage of the original number of cancer cells.
[1 mark]
Cancer cells at week 12 = %
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0 4 . 5 At the end of week 1, Cytarabine increases the death rate of cancer cells by a
factor of 1.18 compared to healthy cells.
By what factor, compared to healthy cells, does Cytarabine increase the death rate
of cancer cells at the end of week 12?
Give your answer to three significant figures.
[2 marks]
Factor =
0 4 . 6 Figure 6 shows that Cytarabine has an increasing effect on cancer cells compared
to its effect on healthy cells over the 12 weeks of treatment.
Use information from Figure 6 and your own knowledge to suggest why.
[2 marks]
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0 5 In plants, mass transport of organic substances takes place through columns of
cells in the phloem that form sieve tubes.
Figure 7 shows some cells from phloem tissue.
Figure 7
0 5 . 1 Sieve plates at the ends of the cells of the sieve tubes allow strands of cytoplasm
to connect one cell with the next.
Suggest how this allows mass transport to occur.
[1 mark]
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0 5 . 2 Companion cells transport organic substances into and out of the cells of the sieve
tubes. Companion cells contain many mitochondria.
Adding a metabolic inhibitor to the phloem prevents respiration.
Explain why metabolic inhibitors reduce the mass transport of organic substances
in the cells of the sieve tubes.
[3 marks]
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Figure 8 shows aphids feeding on the sap of a plant. Aphids have sucking
mouthparts called stylets.
Figure 8
Stylets
A scientist:
• added radioactive sucrose (14C-sucrose) to a leaf above the aphid stylet on
one plant
• added 14C-sucrose to a leaf below the aphid stylet on a second plant
• removed the body of a feeding aphid on each plant, leaving the stylet
attached to the plant
• observed that drops of liquid came out of the stylets for several hours
• tested the liquid from both plants and found radioactive sucrose in it.
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0 5 . 3 Complete Table 3 to suggest two conclusions the scientist can make.
[2 marks]
Table 3
Observation Conclusion
1. Drops of liquid continued
to leave the stylet.
2. Radioactive sucrose was
found in the liquid
coming out of the stylets
from both plants.
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Figure 9 shows a plant leaf supplied with 14C-sucrose.
Figure 9
The scientist wants to determine the rate of transport in the phloem. He takes
samples of sap from aphid stylets at two points, X and Y, as shown in Figure 9.
The scientist analyses the sap for radioactive substances.
0 5 . 4 Give two other measurements the scientist would need to make to determine the
rate of transport in the phloem.
[2 marks]
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After 20 minutes, the scientist removed a thin section of the plant’s root and
identified the areas containing 14C-sucrose.
Figure 10 shows a cross-section through a dicotyledonous root.
Figure 10
0 5 . 5 Give the letter, A, B, C or D, of the part of the root that would contain the highest
level of radioactivity.
[1 mark]
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0 6 A student investigated the effect of exercise on heart rate.
The student:
1. sat down and rested for 10 minutes
2. measured the resting pulse rate at the wrist for 20 seconds
3. repeated step 2 four more times, at 1-minute intervals
4. did some exercise
5. immediately after the exercise, measured the pulse rate for 20 seconds.
0 6 . 1 Why was it important to measure the resting pulse rate?
[1 mark]
0 6 . 2 Give two ways of standardising the exercise so another student could repeat the
investigation in exactly the same way.
[2 marks]
The student measured the pulse rate for 20 seconds at the end of exercise and
then calculated the heart rate in beats per minute.
0 6 . 3 Suggest why measuring pulse rate for less than 20 seconds could give inaccurate
results for heart rate.
[1 mark]
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Table 4 shows the student’s pulse rate at rest and immediately after exercise.
It also shows stroke volume and cardiac output.
Table 4
Pulse rate / Stroke volume / Cardiac output /
beats min–1 cm3 beat–1 cm3 min–1
At rest 75 75 5 625
Immediately after exercise 180 21 600
0 6 . 4 Calculate the stroke volume of the student immediately after exercise.
[1 mark]
Stroke volume = cm3 beat–1
0 6 . 5 Calculate the percentage increase in the student’s cardiac output from at rest to
immediately after exercise.
[1 mark]
Percentage increase = %
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0 6 . 6 Suggest the advantage of an increased cardiac output to muscles during
exercise.
[3 marks]
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0 7 Ebola is a serious viral illness. There was a large outbreak of Ebola in 2014 in
West Africa that killed many people.
Vaccines and drug therapies are being developed and tested against the protein
antigens on the surface of the Ebola virus.
0 7 . 1 What is an antigen?
[1 mark]
Figure 11 shows how antibodies can stick microorganisms together in large
clumps.
Figure 11
0 7 . 2 Name the process shown in Figure 11.
[1 mark]
0 7 . 3 How does the process shown in Figure 11 help in the destruction of the
microorganisms?
[1 mark]
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0 7 . 4 Antiserum is blood plasma containing antibodies. One treatment for Ebola
infection is to inject the antiserum from a recovering Ebola patient into someone
who has the infection.
Suggest two reasons why injecting antiserum is not a very successful treatment
for Ebola.
[2 marks]
0 7 . 5 Scientists are developing a vaccine for Ebola.
Explain how vaccination would control the spread of Ebola.
[3 marks]
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0 8 Water enters a plant from the soil. The water travels up through the plant and
eventually evaporates into the air.
0 8 . 1 Describe the pathway that water takes from the soil to the endodermis.
[4 marks]
Question 8 continues on the next page
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0 8 . 2 Describe and explain the effect of each of the following environmental factors on
the rate of transpiration:
• increased air temperature
• increased light intensity
• increased humidity of the air.
[6 marks]
END OF QUESTIONS 10
Figure 1: Getty Images/Ed Reschike
Figure 8: Aphids © Heath McDonald/Science Photo Library
Copyright © 2017 Oxford International AQA Examinations and its licensors. All rights reserved.
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