GCSE Biology Practice Test 5 – 60 Questions with Answers (AQA 8461)

Q1. Why can plant stem cells be used to produce identical plants quickly?

• (A) They can divide and differentiate into any plant tissue
• (B) They contain no DNA
• (C) They photosynthesise faster
• (D) They undergo meiosis

Q2. Which is a risk of using embryonic stem cells in medicine?

• (A) They only make blood cells
• (B) They cannot be grown in a lab
• (C) They cannot divide
• (D) They may be rejected or form tumours

Q3. A student prepares a slide of onion epidermis. Why is iodine solution added?

• (A) To provide food
• (B) To stop evaporation
• (C) To kill bacteria
• (D) To stain the cells so structures are visible

Q4. What is meant by resolution of a microscope?

• (A) How much larger the image is
• (B) The ability to distinguish two close points as separate
• (C) The brightness of the image
• (D) The colour of the image

Q5. Which substance moves into a cell by diffusion in the lungs?

• (A) Water from blood to air
• (B) Urea from blood to air
• (C) Glucose from blood to air
• (D) Oxygen from air to blood

Q6. What happens to the rate of diffusion when temperature rises?

• (A) It increases
• (B) It stops
• (C) It falls
• (D) It stays the same

Q7. Which process moves glucose from the gut into blood when gut concentration is lower than in blood?

• (A) Filtration
• (B) Diffusion
• (C) Osmosis
• (D) Active transport

Q8. In which part of a plant cell is cell sap stored?

• (A) Mitochondrion
• (B) Chloroplast
• (C) Nucleus
• (D) Vacuole

Q9. Which pair of structures are both found in a eukaryotic cell?

• (A) Nucleus and mitochondria
• (B) Plasmid and cell wall
• (C) Capsule and flagellum
• (D) Nucleus and plasmid

Q10. Which enzyme works best in acidic conditions in the stomach?

• (A) Trypsin
• (B) Amylase
• (C) Pepsin
• (D) Lipase in the small intestine

Q11. Why is the stomach wall protected from acid?

• (A) By a mucus layer
• (B) By villi
• (C) By peristalsis
• (D) By bile

Q12. What is peristalsis?

• (A) Absorption through villi
• (B) Secretion of bile
• (C) Churning in the stomach
• (D) Wave-like muscle contractions moving food along the gut

Q13. Which substance is absorbed into the blood in the small intestine by active transport as well as diffusion?

• (A) Fibre
• (B) Water
• (C) Fatty acids
• (D) Glucose

Q14. A person has a diet high in saturated fat. Which health risk increases?

• (A) Diabetes type 1
• (B) Asthma
• (C) Anaemia
• (D) Coronary heart disease

Q15. Which is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease that a person cannot change?

• (A) Lack of exercise
• (B) Family history
• (C) High salt intake
• (D) Smoking

Q16. What happens to the heart rate during exercise?

• (A) It falls
• (B) It stays the same
• (C) It increases
• (D) It stops

Q17. Which vessel carries blood at the highest pressure?

• (A) Pulmonary vein
• (B) Aorta
• (C) Capillary
• (D) Vena cava

Q18. Which is a stage in making a monoclonal antibody?

• (A) Heating blood
• (B) Fusing a lymphocyte with a tumour cell to make a hybridoma
• (C) Growing bacteria in agar
• (D) Extracting DNA from plants

Q19. How are monoclonal antibodies used in pregnancy tests?

• (A) They change colour when they bind hCG hormone
• (B) They kill bacteria
• (C) They measure temperature
• (D) They detect blood cells

Q20. Which is an example of a communicable disease?

• (A) Tuberculosis
• (B) Diabetes
• (C) Cancer
• (D) Heart disease

Q21. What is a non-communicable disease?

• (A) One spread by pathogens
• (B) One not caused by an infectious agent, such as heart disease
• (C) One spread by water
• (D) One that always kills

Q22. How does smoking increase disease risk?

• (A) It strengthens immunity
• (B) It lowers blood pressure
• (C) It improves lung function
• (D) It damages airways and increases heart disease and cancer risk

Q23. Which factor links obesity to type 2 diabetes?

• (A) Excess body fat increases insulin resistance risk
• (B) Obesity cures it
• (C) Diabetes causes obesity only
• (D) Obesity always causes it

Q24. What is meant by a pathogen?

• (A) A vitamin
• (B) Any cell in the body
• (C) A microorganism that causes disease
• (D) A white blood cell

Q25. Which hygiene measure reduces spread of Salmonella?

• (A) Drinking untreated water
• (B) Cooking chicken thoroughly
• (C) Leaving food at room temperature
• (D) Sharing towels

Q26. Which nutrient is needed to make DNA and proteins in plants?

• (A) Calcium
• (B) Magnesium
• (C) Nitrogen from nitrate
• (D) Potassium

Q27. What does potassium do in plants?

• (A) Makes chlorophyll
• (B) Helps enzyme function and healthy growth
• (C) Makes cell walls
• (D) Stores starch

Q28. Which is a use of glucose in plants?

• (A) Making urea
• (B) Making glycogen
• (C) Making cellulose for cell walls
• (D) Making haemoglobin

Q29. Why is anaerobic respiration less efficient than aerobic?

• (A) It needs light
• (B) It uses more oxygen
• (C) Glucose is only partly broken down, so less energy is released
• (D) It produces more carbon dioxide

Q30. After sprinting, an athlete breathes heavily for a while. Why?

• (A) To repay oxygen debt by breaking down lactic acid
• (B) To cool down only
• (C) To increase muscle size
• (D) To replace lost water

Q31. Which organism carries out both photosynthesis and respiration?

• (A) A bacterium that does not photosynthesise
• (B) A mushroom
• (C) A green plant
• (D) A human

Q32. In darkness, does a plant respire?

• (A) Yes, all the time
• (B) Only in roots
• (C) Only in leaves
• (D) No

Q33. What is the chemical energy store made in respiration called?

• (A) Glucose
• (B) ATP
• (C) ADP
• (D) Starch

Q34. Which plant hormone promotes seed germination and stem growth?

• (A) Gibberellin
• (B) Ethene
• (C) Cytokinin only
• (D) Auxin

Q35. Which plant hormone ripens fruit?

• (A) ADH
• (B) Auxin
• (C) Gibberellin
• (D) Ethene

Q36. A shoot tip is covered with an opaque cap and the plant is lit from one side. What happens, and why?

• (A) The shoot bends away from the light because the cap blocks water
• (B) The shoot grows straight because the tip cannot detect the direction of light
• (C) The shoot bends towards the light faster than usual
• (D) The shoot stops growing completely

Q37. What is gravitropism?

• (A) Response to gravity
• (B) Response to touch
• (C) Response to water
• (D) Response to light

Q38. How does the body respond to cold to conserve heat?

• (A) Vasodilation
• (B) Increased insulin
• (C) Sweating
• (D) Vasoconstriction and shivering

Q39. How does sweating cool the body?

• (A) By blocking sunlight
• (B) By raising metabolism
• (C) By increasing blood flow
• (D) By evaporation of sweat taking heat from skin

Q40. Which centre in the brain monitors blood temperature?

• (A) Medulla only
• (B) Cerebrum
• (C) Hypothalamus
• (D) Cerebellum

Q41. Which is a method of fertility treatment?

• (A) IVF
• (B) Vaccination
• (C) Dialysis
• (D) Stent

Q42. A person drinks a large volume of water. What happens to ADH levels and urine output?

• (A) ADH falls and a large volume of dilute urine is produced
• (B) ADH stays the same and urine stops
• (C) ADH falls and urine becomes concentrated
• (D) ADH rises and urine volume falls

Q43. Which kingdom includes organisms with cell walls of chitin that absorb nutrients?

• (A) Animals
• (B) Fungi
• (C) Protists
• (D) Plants

Q44. Why is the fossil record useful for evolution?

• (A) It shows all living species
• (B) It provides evidence of how organisms changed over time
• (C) It proves extinction never happens
• (D) It shows DNA directly

Q45. What is extinction?

• (A) A species becoming rare only
• (B) A new species forming
• (C) A species moving habitat
• (D) The permanent loss of all members of a species

Q46. Which human activity increases extinction risk?

• (A) Habitat destruction
• (B) Captive breeding
• (C) Creating reserves
• (D) Protecting habitats

Q47. What is a genotype?

• (A) The phenotype only
• (B) The visible trait
• (C) The alleles an organism has for a gene
• (D) The environment

Q48. A plant has genotype Rr for red flowers (R dominant). What is its phenotype?

• (A) Red flowers
• (B) Pink flowers
• (C) No flowers
• (D) White flowers

Q49. Two parents both have free earlobes (dominant) and have a child with attached earlobes (recessive). What must be true?

• (A) The child mutated only
• (B) Both parents are homozygous dominant
• (C) Both parents are heterozygous carriers
• (D) One parent is recessive

Q50. What is meiosis?

• (A) Fusion of gametes
• (B) Cell division producing identical cells
• (C) Cell division producing four genetically different haploid cells
• (D) Cell division in bacteria

Q51. Why does sexual reproduction create variation?

• (A) It copies one parent exactly
• (B) It mixes alleles from two parents and shuffles genes in meiosis
• (C) It uses mitosis only
• (D) It prevents mutation

Q52. In a predator-prey cycle, what happens after prey numbers rise?

• (A) Predators fall immediately
• (B) Predators rise later as more food is available, then prey fall
• (C) Both stay constant
• (D) Prey keep rising forever

Q53. Which relationship benefits both species?

• (A) Parasitism
• (B) Predation
• (C) Mutualism
• (D) Competition

Q54. Which is an example of competition?

• (A) Fungi decomposing leaves
• (B) A bee pollinating a flower
• (C) Two plants competing for light
• (D) A fox eating a rabbit

Q55. How do plants compete for resources?

• (A) By eating animals
• (B) For light, water and minerals
• (C) By hunting
• (D) By photosynthesis alone

Q56. Which is an adaptation of a cactus to a dry environment?

• (A) Deep roots only for anchorage
• (B) Large leaves
• (C) Thick fleshy stem storing water and spines instead of leaves
• (D) Thin leaves

Q57. Which is an adaptation of a polar bear to cold?

• (A) Thin fur
• (B) Thick fur and a layer of fat for insulation
• (C) Large ears
• (D) Dark skin only

Q58. What is an extremophile?

• (A) A predator
• (B) A producer
• (C) An organism that lives only in mild conditions
• (D) An organism adapted to extreme conditions such as high salt or heat

Q59. Which human activity causes acid rain?

• (A) Recycling
• (B) Using wind power
• (C) Planting trees
• (D) Burning fossil fuels releasing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides

Q60. What is a consequence of acid rain?

• (A) It increases biodiversity
• (B) It fertilises soil
• (C) It damages trees, lakes and buildings
• (D) It cools the planet