GCSE Biology Practice Test 11 – 60 Questions with Answers (AQA 8461)

Work through all 60 GCSE questions, checking each answer as you go and revising any topic you find tricky.

Cell biology

Q1. Which part of a cell controls its activities and contains the genetic material?

  • (A) The nucleus
  • (B) The ribosome
  • (C) The vacuole
  • (D) The cell membrane
Show Answer

Answer: A – The nucleus holds DNA and controls what the cell does.

Q2. In which organelle does most aerobic respiration take place, releasing energy?

  • (A) The chloroplast
  • (B) The mitochondrion
  • (C) The Golgi apparatus
  • (D) The vacuole
Show Answer

Answer: B – Mitochondria are the site of aerobic respiration.

Q3. Where in a cell is protein made?

  • (A) In the vacuole
  • (B) In the cell wall
  • (C) In the nucleus only
  • (D) On ribosomes
Show Answer

Answer: D – Ribosomes are the site of protein synthesis.

Q4. Which organelle is found in plant cells and is the site of photosynthesis?

  • (A) The chloroplast
  • (B) The mitochondrion
  • (C) The lysosome
  • (D) The flagellum
Show Answer

Answer: A – Chloroplasts contain chlorophyll and carry out photosynthesis.

Q5. A plant that has not been watered begins to wilt. What has happened to its leaf cells?

  • (A) They have taken in too much water and burst
  • (B) They have lost water and are no longer turgid
  • (C) They have stopped dividing by mitosis
  • (D) They have lost their chloroplasts
Show Answer

Answer: B – When leaf cells lose water, they lose turgor pressure, so the leaf droops and the plant wilts.

Q6. Which structure gives a plant cell extra strength and support?

  • (A) The cell membrane
  • (B) The cellulose cell wall
  • (C) The cytoplasm
  • (D) The ribosome
Show Answer

Answer: B – The cell wall is made of cellulose and supports the cell.

Q7. Which structure controls what enters and leaves a cell?

  • (A) The cell membrane
  • (B) The cell wall
  • (C) The vacuole
  • (D) The nucleus
Show Answer

Answer: A – The partially permeable cell membrane controls movement in and out.

Q8. Where do most chemical reactions in a cell take place?

  • (A) In the cytoplasm
  • (B) In the cell wall
  • (C) On the cell membrane
  • (D) In the vacuole
Show Answer

Answer: A – The cytoplasm is a gel where most reactions occur.

Organisation

Q9. Which enzyme breaks down starch into sugars?

  • (A) Pepsin
  • (B) Lipase
  • (C) Trypsin
  • (D) Amylase
Show Answer

Answer: D – Amylase catalyses the breakdown of starch.

Q10. Where is amylase produced in the human body?

  • (A) In the stomach only
  • (B) In the liver only
  • (C) In the large intestine
  • (D) In the salivary glands and the pancreas
Show Answer

Answer: D – Salivary glands and the pancreas both make amylase.

Q11. Which enzyme breaks down proteins into amino acids in the stomach?

  • (A) Amylase
  • (B) Lipase
  • (C) Pepsin
  • (D) Bile
Show Answer

Answer: C – Pepsin works in the acidic stomach to digest protein.

Q12. What is the optimum pH for pepsin?

  • (A) Around pH 2, acidic
  • (B) Around pH 8, alkaline
  • (C) Around pH 7, neutral
  • (D) Around pH 12
Show Answer

Answer: A – Pepsin works best in the acid conditions of the stomach.

Q13. Lipase breaks down lipids into which products?

  • (A) Fatty acids and glycerol
  • (B) Amino acids
  • (C) Glucose
  • (D) Starch
Show Answer

Answer: A – Lipase digests fats into fatty acids and glycerol.

Q14. What is meant by digestion?

  • (A) The absorption of water in the large intestine
  • (B) The production of bile in the liver
  • (C) The breakdown of large insoluble food molecules into small soluble molecules
  • (D) The movement of food along the gut
Show Answer

Answer: C – Digestion breaks large food molecules into small soluble ones that can be absorbed into the blood.

Q15. Where is bile produced and where is it stored?

  • (A) Produced in the pancreas and stored in the liver
  • (B) Produced in the stomach and stored in the gut
  • (C) Produced in the liver and stored in the gall bladder
  • (D) Produced in the gall bladder and stored in the liver
Show Answer

Answer: C – The liver makes bile; the gall bladder stores it.

Q16. Which organ produces protease and lipase enzymes as well as insulin?

  • (A) The liver
  • (B) The spleen
  • (C) The kidney
  • (D) The pancreas
Show Answer

Answer: D – The pancreas produces digestive enzymes and the hormone insulin.

Infection and response

Q17. Which type of pathogen causes measles?

  • (A) A bacterium
  • (B) A fungus
  • (C) A virus
  • (D) A protist
Show Answer

Answer: C – Measles is caused by a virus.

Q18. Malaria is caused by which kind of pathogen?

  • (A) A protist
  • (B) A virus
  • (C) A bacterium
  • (D) A fungus
Show Answer

Answer: A – Malaria is caused by the protist Plasmodium, spread by mosquitoes.

Q19. How can a disease be spread by direct contact?

  • (A) By breathing in droplets from a cough
  • (B) By drinking clean water
  • (C) By vaccination
  • (D) By skin-to-skin contact with an infected person
Show Answer

Answer: D – Direct contact means the infection passes through touch between an infected person and another person.

Q20. What is a vector in disease transmission?

  • (A) An organism, such as a mosquito, that carries a pathogen between hosts
  • (B) A chemical that kills bacteria
  • (C) A type of white blood cell
  • (D) An ingredient added to vaccines
Show Answer

Answer: A – Vectors such as mosquitoes carry pathogens from one host to another without being affected themselves.

Q21. How are pathogens spread by droplet infection?

  • (A) Through soil only
  • (B) By direct contact with soil minerals
  • (C) In droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes
  • (D) Through photosynthesis
Show Answer

Answer: C – Coughs and sneezes release droplets carrying pathogens.

Q22. Which is a physical defence that stops pathogens entering the body?

  • (A) White blood cells making antibodies
  • (B) Stomach acid only
  • (C) Fever
  • (D) Skin acting as a barrier
Show Answer

Answer: D – Intact skin is a barrier to entry.

Q23. How does mucus help defend the airways?

  • (A) It kills pathogens with antibodies
  • (B) It absorbs oxygen
  • (C) It closes the trachea
  • (D) It traps pathogens which are then moved out by cilia
Show Answer

Answer: D – Mucus traps particles and cilia sweep them away.

Q24. What does stomach acid do?

  • (A) It kills many pathogens swallowed with food
  • (B) It emulsifies fats
  • (C) It absorbs glucose
  • (D) It makes bile
Show Answer

Answer: A – Hydrochloric acid in the stomach kills many microbes.

Bioenergetics

Q25. In photosynthesis, light energy is transferred into which form of energy stored in glucose?

  • (A) Heat energy only
  • (B) Chemical energy
  • (C) Kinetic energy
  • (D) Electrical energy
Show Answer

Answer: B – Light energy is captured and stored as chemical energy in glucose.

Q26. Where in a plant cell does photosynthesis take place?

  • (A) In chloroplasts
  • (B) In mitochondria
  • (C) In the vacuole
  • (D) In the nucleus
Show Answer

Answer: A – Chloroplasts contain chlorophyll for photosynthesis.

Q27. In which part of the cell does anaerobic respiration take place?

  • (A) In the chloroplast
  • (B) In the cytoplasm
  • (C) In the nucleus
  • (D) On the ribosomes
Show Answer

Answer: B – Anaerobic respiration takes place in the cytoplasm, unlike aerobic respiration, which mainly occurs in mitochondria.

Q28. Which factor limits the rate of photosynthesis when light is very low?

  • (A) Carbon dioxide concentration only
  • (B) Temperature only
  • (C) Light intensity
  • (D) Water availability only
Show Answer

Answer: C – At low light, light is the limiting factor.

Q29. At high light intensity, what may become the limiting factor for photosynthesis?

  • (A) Water in the roots only
  • (B) Chlorophyll colour
  • (C) Carbon dioxide concentration or temperature
  • (D) Leaf size only
Show Answer

Answer: C – When light is plentiful, another factor limits the rate.

Q30. Why does photosynthesis slow down at very low temperature?

  • (A) Chlorophyll is destroyed by cold
  • (B) Stomata close permanently
  • (C) Enzymes work more slowly
  • (D) Roots stop absorbing water
Show Answer

Answer: C – Photosynthesis involves enzymes, which are slower when cold.


Q31. How is glucose stored in plants?

  • (A) As glycogen
  • (B) As cellulose only
  • (C) As fat only
  • (D) As starch
Show Answer

Answer: D – Plants store glucose as insoluble starch.

Q32. Which substance is made from glucose in plants and used for cell walls?

  • (A) Glycogen
  • (B) Protein
  • (C) Cellulose
  • (D) Fat
Show Answer

Answer: C – Cellulose is a structural carbohydrate made from glucose.

Q33. Which substance is needed for aerobic respiration but is not needed for anaerobic respiration?

  • (A) Glucose
  • (B) Carbon dioxide
  • (C) Water
  • (D) Oxygen
Show Answer

Answer: D – Aerobic respiration uses oxygen to break down glucose completely, while anaerobic respiration does not use oxygen.

Homeostasis and response

Q34. On a hot day, what happens to the blood vessels near the surface of the skin?

  • (A) They constrict to keep heat inside the body
  • (B) They stop carrying blood
  • (C) They dilate, increasing blood flow so more heat is lost
  • (D) They produce sweat
Show Answer

Answer: C – Vasodilation brings more warm blood near the skin surface, so heat is lost to the surroundings.

Q35. How does a reflex action differ from a conscious action?

  • (A) A reflex action is slower
  • (B) A reflex action uses hormones only
  • (C) A reflex action is automatic and does not involve a conscious decision
  • (D) A reflex action never involves the spinal cord
Show Answer

Answer: C – Reflexes are rapid and automatic, with no conscious decision, while conscious actions are decided in the brain.

Q36. Why is a reflex action fast?

  • (A) Because it uses hormones
  • (B) Because it does not involve conscious thought in the brain
  • (C) Because it travels through blood
  • (D) Because muscles act before receptors
Show Answer

Answer: B – Reflexes bypass conscious processing, so they are rapid.

Q37. In a reflex, what is the effector?

  • (A) A muscle or gland that carries out the response
  • (B) The receptor that detects a stimulus
  • (C) The relay neurone in the brain
  • (D) The sensory neurone
Show Answer

Answer: A – Effectors produce the response, such as muscle contraction.

Q38. What is the role of a relay neurone?

  • (A) To connect sensory and motor neurones in the central nervous system
  • (B) To detect light
  • (C) To carry impulses to muscles directly
  • (D) To produce hormones
Show Answer

Answer: A – Relay neurones link sensory to motor neurones in the CNS.

Q39. Why do gardeners dip cuttings in rooting powder containing auxin?

  • (A) Because auxin kills pathogens on the cutting
  • (B) Because auxin stimulates root growth from the cutting
  • (C) Because auxin stops photosynthesis in the leaves
  • (D) Because auxin makes the leaves greener
Show Answer

Answer: B – Auxin promotes cell growth, so it encourages roots to form on cuttings.

Q40. Which substances does the kidney help to keep at the right levels in the blood?

  • (A) Oxygen and carbon dioxide
  • (B) Glucose and starch
  • (C) Antibodies and hormones
  • (D) Water and salts
Show Answer

Answer: D – The kidneys adjust how much water and salt leave in urine, keeping blood composition stable.

Q41. After eating, a rise in blood glucose triggers release of which hormone?

  • (A) Glucagon
  • (B) Adrenaline
  • (C) Insulin
  • (D) Thyroxine
Show Answer

Answer: C – Insulin from the pancreas lowers blood glucose.

Q42. What does insulin do?

  • (A) It raises blood glucose by breaking down glycogen
  • (B) It causes liver and muscle cells to take up glucose and convert it to glycogen
  • (C) It increases heart rate
  • (D) It controls water balance
Show Answer

Answer: B – Insulin lowers blood glucose by promoting uptake and storage.

Inheritance, variation and evolution

Q43. Which molecule in the nucleus holds the instructions for making proteins in a cell?

  • (A) Glucose
  • (B) DNA
  • (C) Haemoglobin
  • (D) Insulin
Show Answer

Answer: B – DNA contains the genetic instructions used to make proteins.

Q44. What is the structure of DNA?

  • (A) A single straight chain
  • (B) A triple helix of proteins
  • (C) A flat sheet of amino acids
  • (D) A double helix of two strands held by base pairs
Show Answer

Answer: D – DNA is a double helix.

Q45. How many different bases are found in DNA?

  • (A) Two
  • (B) Four
  • (C) Six
  • (D) Twenty
Show Answer

Answer: B – DNA has four bases: adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine.

Q46. Which base pairs with cytosine?

  • (A) Guanine
  • (B) Adenine
  • (C) Thymine
  • (D) Uracil
Show Answer

Answer: A – C pairs with G in DNA.

Q47. A pea plant heterozygous for seed shape (R round dominant, r wrinkled) is crossed with a wrinkled plant. What proportion of the offspring are expected to be wrinkled?

  • (A) All of them
  • (B) Three quarters
  • (C) One quarter
  • (D) One half
Show Answer

Answer: D – Rr crossed with rr gives half Rr (round) and half rr (wrinkled) offspring.

Q48. Two heterozygous parents (Tt, where T for tall is dominant) have children. What proportion of the children are expected to be short (tt)?

  • (A) All of them
  • (B) Three quarters
  • (C) One half
  • (D) One quarter
Show Answer

Answer: D – Tt crossed with Tt gives TT, Tt, Tt and tt, so one quarter are tt and short.

Q49. A plant has genotype Tt, where T for tall is dominant over t for short. What is the phenotype of the plant?

  • (A) Short
  • (B) Medium height
  • (C) Tall
  • (D) It cannot be determined from the genotype
Show Answer

Answer: C – The dominant allele T is expressed, so the plant is tall.

Q50. What is the phenotype?

  • (A) The alleles an organism carries
  • (B) The number of chromosomes
  • (C) The proteins in blood only
  • (D) The observable characteristics of an organism
Show Answer

Answer: D – Phenotype is the expressed trait.

Q51. What is the genotype?

  • (A) The physical appearance only
  • (B) The number of offspring
  • (C) The combination of alleles an organism carries
  • (D) The environment only
Show Answer

Answer: C – Genotype is the genetic makeup.

Ecology

Q52. What is a food chain?

  • (A) A list of all species in an area
  • (B) A pyramid of numbers
  • (C) A cycle of nutrients
  • (D) A sequence showing feeding relationships and energy transfer
Show Answer

Answer: D – A food chain shows what eats what.

Q53. What is a producer in a food chain?

  • (A) An animal that eats plants
  • (B) An organism that makes its own food by photosynthesis
  • (C) A decomposer
  • (D) A predator
Show Answer

Answer: B – Producers, usually plants, make food from light energy.

Q54. Which organisms form the first trophic level in most food chains?

  • (A) Herbivores
  • (B) Producers
  • (C) Carnivores
  • (D) Decomposers
Show Answer

Answer: B – Producers such as green plants capture energy and sit at the first trophic level.

Q55. What is an organism that eats both producers and other consumers called?

  • (A) A producer
  • (B) A herbivore
  • (C) An omnivore
  • (D) A decomposer
Show Answer

Answer: C – Omnivores feed at more than one trophic level, eating both plants and animals.

Q56. How is a food web different from a single food chain?

  • (A) A network of interconnected food chains
  • (B) A single straight food chain
  • (C) A diagram of nutrient cycles
  • (D) A list of predators only
Show Answer

Answer: A – Food webs show the many feeding links in a habitat.

Q57. Why is energy lost at each trophic level?

  • (A) Because producers make too little energy
  • (B) Because energy is used for respiration, movement and lost as waste and heat
  • (C) Because consumers eat too much
  • (D) Because energy is destroyed
Show Answer

Answer: B – Most energy is lost through life processes, so less passes on.

Q58. In a typical pyramid of biomass, which trophic level has the greatest biomass?

  • (A) Producers
  • (B) Primary consumers
  • (C) Secondary consumers
  • (D) Top predators
Show Answer

Answer: A – Producers form the base of the pyramid and support all higher levels, so they have the greatest biomass.

Q59. Why are food chains usually short, with few trophic levels?

  • (A) Because predators are rare
  • (B) Because so much energy is lost at each level that little remains for top levels
  • (C) Because producers are small
  • (D) Because decomposers eat everything
Show Answer

Answer: B – Energy loss limits how many levels can be supported.

Q60. What is a pyramid of biomass?

  • (A) A pyramid of numbers of individuals
  • (B) A diagram showing the total dry mass of organisms at each trophic level
  • (C) A diagram of energy in sunlight
  • (D) A food web
Show Answer

Answer: B – Biomass pyramids show mass at each level.

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