STPM Biology Term 3 - 1st Trial Examination 2018

1 ½ hours
Name: _________________________ October

Answer all question in Section A and B. Answer two questions only in Section C.
All working in Section B and C should be shown. For numerical answers, units should be quoted
wherever appropriate.

Section A [15 marks] – Circle the best answer.

1. The table below shows some phyla from kingdom Animalia and their unique characteristics.

Phylum Characteristic
I Arthropoda a Osculum
II Cnidaria b Haemocoel
III Porifera c Nematocyst
IV Chordata d Notochord

Which of the following combinations is correct?

I II III IV
A a b c d
B b c a d
C c a d b
D d a b c

2. Which of the following statements are related to ex situ conservation?

I Preservation of the quality of environment

II Implementation of laws like Protection of Wildlife Act 1972
III Artificial insemination of rare species
IV Expansion of gene banks

A I and II B I and IV C II and III D III and IV

3. Cattails are amphibious plants. They are commonly found in which zone of a lake?
A Limnetic zone B Profundal zone C Benthic zone D Littoral zone

4. The graph below shows the population density of organism X.

Which statement is true about the population

growth of organism X?
A The growth is density independent
B There is stiff intraspecific competition
C The resources in the ecosystem is limited
D The environmental resistance increases
gradually
5. Capture-recapture method was used to estimate the population of rats in a pineapple farm. How would
predators like owls and snakes affect the population estimated?
A The predators would not affect the estimation made
B The estimated number of rats would be less than the actual number
C The estimated number of rats would be more than the actual number
D The predators would result in an underestimation if they did not show competition

6. Which of the following statements is true about sexual selection in a species of bird?
A The male birds frighten away other male birds in order to mate with the female
B The female birds fight among themselves in order to be selected by the male birds
C The male birds compete with the female birds to get enough food in order to survive
D The selection to mate is always done by the male birds in order to pass on their genes

7. Which of the following shows balanced polymorphism?

A The blood groups of human in a city
B The beak sizes of finches in different islands
C The body weights of elephant seals in South America
D The colours of Biston betularia in a developing industrial area

8. A species of plant has allele R for red flowers, allele r for white flowers, allele B for broad leaves and allele b
for narrow leaves. A heterozygous individual is test-crossed. If the gene loci for flower colour and leaf shape
are very close to each other on the same chromosome, the expected percentage of offspring could be
Red flowers, Red flowers, White flowers, White flowers,
broad leaves narrow leaves Broad leaves Narrow leaves
A 45% 45% 5% 5%
B 45% 5% 5% 45%
C 5% 45% 45% 5%
D 25% 25% 25% 25%

9. Genes P, Q, R and S are linked genes. The crossover values between pairs of genes are

P – R = 34%, P – Q = 59%, R – S = 12%, S – Q = 37 %

Which of the following shows the correct sequence of genes on the chromosome?
A PQRS B PSRQ C QSPR D RQSP

10. Albinism is caused by a recessive allele (r). In a population of 1000 mice, 360 individuals are albinos.
Assuming that the conditions for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium are fulfilled, what is the expected number of
heterozygous individuals in the population?
A 60 B 160 C 240 D 480

11. Which of the following is common between lactose operon and tryptophan operon system?
A The location of regulator gene B The number of structural genes
C The mode of action of repressor D The function of promoter

12. Which of the following is wrongly paired?

A Avery’s experiment - Bacteria B Beadle and Tatum – Fungi
C Hershey and Chase – Virus D Meselson and Stahl – Protozoa

13. Frameshift mutation could be caused by

I Deletion of a pair of nucleotides
II Translocation of a segment of chromosome
III Non-disjunction during meiosis
IV Crossing over during prophase I

A I only B I and II C II and III D III and IV

14. Which of the following involves transduction?
A Insertion of a gene of interest into the plasmid of a bacterium
B Joining different fragments of DNA by formation of covalent bonds
C Transferring genetic materials into a cell by a virus
D Cutting a strand of DNA by using restriction enzyme

15. The advantages of chorionic villus sampling over amniocentesis include

I It can be carried out earlier
II The result of test can be obtain faster
III It is a safer procedure
IV It is more useful for treatment of gene abnormalities

A I and II B I, II and III

C III and IV D I, II, III and IV

Section B [15 marks] – Answer all questions in this section.

16. The diagram below shows the life cycle of Dryopteris, a genus from the phylum Filicinophyta which
shows clear alternation of generations.

P
generation Q
generation

Young fern

a) Define alternation of generations in plants. [1]

_____________________________________________________________________________

b) Name P generation and Q generation. [2]

P: ____________________________ Q: ________________________________

c) Mark on the diagram with the letter M to show the stage in which meiosis occurs. [1]
 d) Identify structure R and describe its role in the life cycle of Dryopteris. [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

e) Differentiate the sporophytes of Filicinophyta and Angiospermophyta. [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

17. The diagram below shows replication of DNA.

P End

Structure Z

Enzyme Y

Enzyme X

a) Name enzyme X and enzyme Y. Give their roles in replication of DNA. [2]

Name of enzyme Role in replication of DNA

X
Y

b) What is structure Z? [1]

______________________________________________________________________________

c) P end in the diagram is 5’ or 3’? Explain your answer. [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

d) How is replication of DNA different from transcription? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________
Section C [30 marks] – Answer any two questions in this section.
18. a) With suitable examples, differentiate natural selection from artificial selection. [4]
b) Explain various types of sympatric speciation. [11]

19. a) Explain Beadle and Tatum experiment and their conclusion. [10]
b) Describe the characteristics of genetic codes. [5]

20. a) Explain in vivo gene therapy of cystic fibrosis. [7]

b) Explain steps in DNA fingerprinting. [8]

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 Term 3 Biology Trial Exam 2018
Answers
Section A
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
B D D A C A A B B D D D A C A

Section B
Q Answer Mark
16 a The type of life cycle that have distinct sexual haploid (gametophyte which produces 1
gametes) generation and asexual diploid (sporophyte which produces spores) generation.
b P – Sporophyte 1
Q – Gametophyte 1
c Mark M during spore formation 1
d R is prothallus 1
It produces sperms/ antherozoids and eggs/ oospheres 1
e
Sporophytes of Filicinophyta Sporophytes of Angiospermophyta
D1 They produce spores for reproduction They produce seeds for reproduction 1
D2 They do not flower They flower
D3 They have tracheids for transport of They have tracheids and xylem vessels 1
water and minerals
D4 They do not have companion cells in They have companion cells 1
phloem 1
Max 2

17 a X – Helicase: Unwinds the parental double helix 1

Y – DNA polymerase III : Extends DNA strand from RNA primer// Adds new 1
nucleotides to the C3 so that the strand grows
b Z – Okazaki fragments 1
c P1 – 5’ 1
E1 – P end is the starting end of the leading strand as the strand is continuous 1
E2 – Formation of polynucleotide chains is always in 5’ to 3’ direction 1
(E is dependent on P1, total mark for E is 1)
d
Replication of DNA Transcription
D1 The product is two DNA molecules The product is one mRNA molecule 1
D2 Both strands in the parental DNA are Only the coding strand is used as a 1
used as templates template
D3 The whole DNA strands are replicated Only a segment of the coding strand 1
acts as a template
D4 The process involves DNA polymerase The process does not need DNA 1
I and DNA polymerase II polymerase Max 2
Section C
Q Answer Mark
18 a D - Natural selection is the selection of organisms when the environmental pressure acts 2 or 0
as the selecting agent in a natural population while artificial selection is the selection
when human acts as the selecting agents, traits that are desirable in plants or animals
are selected to breed by humans.
1
E1 – Example of natural selection: Finches with bigger beaks survived better in drought
to crack hard seeds// Black peppered moth, Biston betularia survived in the polluted
environment// Any suitable example
E2 – Example of artificial selection: Oil palm Tenera is selected and bred// Any suitable 1
example
b P1 – Sympatric speciation is an intraspecific formation of a new species when the 1
individuals of a population are occupying the same geographical area
P2 – It is the formation of a new species as a results from reproductive isolation between 1
individuals of a population
P3 – The reproductive isolation is intrinsic 1
P4 – Intrinsic change in organisms may be due to genetic variation and mutation 1
P5 – Intrinsic isolation includes two types of mechanisms: prezygotic and postzygotic 1
mechanisms
Max 4
Types of prezygotic mechanism include :
P6 – Seasonal/ temporal isolation: Different groups of the same species may live within 1
the same habitat, but they have different mating /flowering season
P7 - Ecological isolation: where two subpopulations inhabit similar regions but have 1
different habitat preferences
P8 – Behavioural isolation: Animals are isolated if the sexual behaviour fails to attract the 1
females.
P9 – Mechanical isolation: : Occurs in animals where differences in genitalia (sexual 1
organs) prevent successful copulation and in plants where related species of flowers
are pollinated by different animals
P10 – Genetic isolation/ gametic isolation: Mating is successful but fertilisation cannot 1
occur because the reproductive tract of the female produce chemicals that can kill the
sperms or the stigma fails to produce chemicals for germination of the pollen Max 4

Types of postzygotic mechanism include:

P11 – Hybrid inviability / Zygote mortality: Fertilisation occurs but zygote fails to divide 1
and develop or hybrids are produced but fail to develop to maturity.
P12 – Hybrid sterility: Hybrids fail to produce functional gametes 1
P13 – Hybrid breakdown: F1 hybrids are fertile but the F2 generation and backcrosses 1
between F1 hybrids and parental stocks fail to develop or are infertile. Max 2

P14 – When two individuals originated from a species cannot interbreed and produce 1
fertile offspring, speciation has occurred.

19 a P1 – Beadle and Tatum used a fungus Neurospora crassaare in their experiment 1

P2 – Wild type Neurospora were able to grow on minimal medium 1
P3 – Individual conidia (asexual, haploid spores) were exposed to X-rays. 1
P4 – The mutagenised spores were grown on a complete medium 1
P5 – They were then crossed with non-mutagenized Neurospora to produce diploid 1
offspring. The diploid offspring produced haploid ascospores
P6 –.The ascospores were transferred individually one by one to different test tubes with 1
complete medium.
P7 – The haploid spores grew asexually in different test tubes as haploid fungi on complete 1
media
P8 – Each haploid fungus produced conidia asexually 1
P9 – The conidia were tested for ability to grow on minimum medium 1
 P10 – Those that could grow showed no mutation while inability to grow showed that a 1
mutation was induced in the parent spore by the X-rays.
P11 – Conidia from the cultures that failed to grow on minimal medium were then tested 1
on a variety of supplemented media.
P12 – By using a minimal medium and a complete medium as controls, the conidia were 1
tested on a series of minimal media each supplemented with one amino acid
P13 – The mutant could grow on minimum medium supplemented with arginine. 1
This indicated that the mutation changed the ability of the particular fungal strain to
synthesize arginine.
P14 – It was deduced that mutation had changed a gene which caused the fungus to lose its 1
ability to synthesise an enzyme responsible for the synthesis of arginine.
P15 – They concluded that one gene controlled the production of one enzyme. 1
Max 10

B P1 – Genetic codes are in triplet form 1

P2 – Genetic codes are universal 1
P3 – Genetic codes are degenerative 1
P4 – Genetic codes are ‘wobbly’ 1
P5 – Genetic codes are non-overlapping 1
P6 – Genetic codes are comaless 1
P7 – The ‘start’ signal (initiation codon) is given by AUG 1
P8 – There are three ‘nonsense’ codes, i.e. UAA, UAG and UGA 1
P9 – It is collinear with the amino acid sequence in the polypeptide 1
Max 5

20 a P1 – There are two delivery systems for in vivo gene therapy of cystic fibrosis (CF) 1
P2 – The delivery systems include adenoviruses and liposomes 1
P3 – Adenoviruses are engineered to carry human cystic fibrosis transmembrane 1
regulator gene and their virulence removed
P4 – The adenoviruses is sprayed directly into the lungs in the form of aerosol 1
P5 – The adenoviruses release the genetic material into the epithelial cells of the lungs 1
P6 – In non-viral delivery systems, liposomes containing the CFTP are made 1
P7 – The liposomes are sprayed into the lungs in the form of an aerosol 1
P8 – The liposomes fuse with the cell membrane lipids and release the gene to the 1
epithelial cell of the lungs so that the gene may bind with the DNA in the
nucleus.
P9 – These treatments have to be regularly repeated regularly 1
Max 7
20b P1 – Collect a biological specimen which contains DNA 1
P2 – Extract the DNA from the specimen 1
P3 – If the amount of DNA is too little, amplify the DNA by PCR 1
P4 – Treat the DNA with a restriction enzyme to produce fragments of various lengths 1
P5 – Separate the pigments by using gel electrophoresis 1
P6 – Carry out Southern blotting to transfer some DNA fragments from the gel onto a 1
nylon membrane
P7 – The DNA is fixed on the membrane by exposing it to ultraviolet light or baked in a 1
vacuum or regular oven at 80 °C for 2 hours
P8 – The separated single-stranded DNA is mixed with radioactive probes which contain 1
nucleotides sequence that are complementary to the short tandem repeats (STRs).
P9 – Complementary base pairing during hybridisation occurs between the probes and the 1
DNA from the sample when the nylon is incubated at the correct temperature, pH and
ionic strength. Any probes that have not bound to the DNA fragment are washed off
and the membrane is dried.
P10 – Autoradiography is done by laying a photographic film over the nylon membrane 1
Max.8