Name : ...........................................................................................

HELP ACADEMY
Cambridge International Examination
BIOLOGY MOCK
PAPER 4 A2 Structured Questions 9700/4
September 2022
Candidates answer on the Question Paper. 2 hours
No Additional Materials are required

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST

Write your name and class in the spaces provided at the top of the page.
Write in dark blue or black ink.
Do not use staples, paper clips, highlighters, glue or correction fluid.

Answer all questions

The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question

or part question.

HA21CJ paper 4 Mock prepared by foongyt’2022 pg. 1

 Answer ALL Questions

1. (a) The diagram below shows part of the process of aerobic respiration.

(i) Name the respiratory process that produces pyruvate. [1]

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(ii) Name molecule A. [1]

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(b) Explain how ATP is produced in the electron transport chain. [4]

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[Total 6]

HA21CJ paper 4 Mock prepared by foongyt’2022 pg. 2

2. The light-dependent stage of photosynthesis results in the production of NADPH
and ATP, products that are essential for the light-independent stage.
(a) State precisely where the light-dependent stage of photosynthesis takes place in
plant cells. [1]

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

(b) Photoactivation involves the release of electrons from pigments in photosystem II

(PSII) and photosystem I (PSI). Describe fully the role of the electrons emitted
from PSII and PSI pigments in the light-dependent reaction. [3]

PSII …………………………………………………………………………………………..

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PSI ……………………………………………………………………………………………

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(c) The graph below shows the effect of carbon dioxide concentration on the rate of
photosynthesis.

Describe the trend shown in the graph and use your knowledge of the biochemistry
of photosynthesis to explain this trend. [2]

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HA21CJ paper 4 Mock prepared by foongyt’2022 pg. 3

(d) In many plant species, stomatal opening is affected by carbon dioxide
concentration. For example, if carbon dioxide concentration within the leaf falls
below a certain level, the stomatal pore size increases (stomata open more fully).
Conversely, if carbon dioxide concentration within the leaf rises above a certain
level, the stomatal pore size decreases.
(i) Suggest an advantage of decreasing stomatal pore size when carbon dioxide
concentration within the leaf rises. [1]

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(ii) The leaf has carbon dioxide sensors which monitor changes in carbon dioxide
concentrations. There is evidence to suggest that these are found within the
mesophyll, rather than on the leaf surface. Suggest an advantage of these
sensors being within the mesophyll. [1]

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(e) There is some evidence that the mean number of stomata per unit leaf area has
decreased slightly over the last 100 years in many plant species. Suggest a
possible reason for this. [1]

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f) RuBisCO is the most abundant enzyme on Earth. Each RuBisCO molecule is

made of eight identical long chain polypeptides and eight identical short chain
polypeptides.
State how many genes code for the polypeptides found in a RuBisCO molecule.
[1]

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[Total 10]

3. (a) A diabetic person and a non-diabetic person each ate the same amount of
glucose. One hour later, the glucose concentration in the blood of the diabetic
person was higher than that of the non-diabetic person. Explain why. [2]

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HA21CJ paper 4 Mock prepared by foongyt’2022 pg. 4

(b) (i) The urine of a non-diabetic person does not contain glucose. Explain why. [2]

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(ii) A high blood glucose concentration could cause glucose to be present in the
urine of a diabetic person. Suggest how. [2]

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(c) A test for glucose in urine uses immobilised enzymes on a plastic test strip. One
of these enzymes is glucose oxidase. Explain why the test strip detects glucose
and no other substance. [2]

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(d) If the glomerular filtrate of a diabetic person contains a high concentration of

glucose, he produces a larger volume of urine. Explain why. [2]

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HA21CJ paper 4 Mock prepared by foongyt’2022 pg. 5

 (e) In some forms of kidney disease, proteins from the blood plasma are found in
the urine. Which part of the nephron would have been damaged by the disease
to cause proteins from blood plasma to be present in the urine? Explain your
answer. [2]

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[Total 12]

4. (a) The diagram below represents part of a myelinated neurone. The membrane
potential (in mV) inside the axon membrane relative to the outside is shown at
several positions along the axon.

(i) How many Schwann cells are shown in the diagram? [1]

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(ii) Identify structure X. [1]

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(iii) On the diagram, add an arrow to show the next part of the neurone which will
become depolarised. [1]

(iv) Explain how the myelin sheath increases the speed of a nerve impulse. [2]

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HA21CJ paper 4 Mock prepared by foongyt’2022 pg. 6

(v) Apart from the presence of a myelin sheath, state one other factor that increases
the speed of a nerve impulse. [1]

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(b) The partially completed graph below shows changes in membrane potential as
an action potential occurs.

(i) Complete the graph to show the changes in membrane potential until the resting
potential is restored. [1]

(ii) Suggest what causes the change in rate of depolarisation at position X. [1]

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(c) A myelinated neurone is 740mm long. This neurone is able to conduct nerve
impulses at 90m/s. Calculate the length of time it takes for an impulse to pass
along this neurone. Give your answer in standard form. (Show your working.) [2]

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[Total 11]

HA21CJ paper 4 Mock prepared by foongyt’2022 pg. 7

5. (a) An organism heterozygous for two genes, A and B, has the genotype AaBb.

(i) The alleles are arranged as shown in the diagram below. State the genotypes of
the gametes produced and the expected phenotype ratio of the offspring in the F1
following a cross between AaBb and AaBb. [2]

Gamete genotypes: .....................................................................................................

F1 phenotype ratio: .....................................................................................................

(ii) The alleles could be arranged as shown below.

Explain why a cross between AaBb and AaBb in the above could produce a
phenotype ratio of 3:1. [2]

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(b) Explain why two individuals, both with genotype AaBb, may not be phenotypically
identical for these characteristics. [1]

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[Total 5]

HA21CJ paper 4 Mock prepared by foongyt’2022 pg. 8

6. Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a recessive sex-linked condition which
affects 1 in 3500 boys. It is caused by a mutation of a gene which codes for the
protein dystrophin, which gives structural stability to all membranes within muscle
cells. As a result, calcium ions enter the mitochondria and they burst. This results
in the death of the muscle cell. The mutation involves a deletion involving an intron
and one or more exons.
(a) (i) Explain why a mutation involving an intron would not affect the primary
structure of a polypeptide but a mutation in an exon might. [2]

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(ii) Explain why the mitochondria burst after calcium ions enter them. [2]

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(b) The pedigree chart below shows the transmission of DMD in humans from one
generation to another.

(i) Using the symbols XD for unaffected and Xd for affected by DMD to represent
alleles, construct a genetic diagram to show the genotypes and phenotypes of the

HA21CJ paper 4 Mock prepared by foongyt’2022 pg. 9

 parents A and B and the possible genotypes of their offspring. [4]

Parental phenotypes ................................................ ....................................................

Parental genotypes .......................... ..........................

Gametes .......................... ..........................

Offspring genotypes ..................... ........................ ........................ ..........................

(ii) Explain why it is not possible to determine the genotype of child 2. [1]

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(c) Through gene therapy, it is hoped that the functional version of the gene can be
isolated and introduced into muscle cells. Historically, a virus has been used as
the vector. Suggest two potential problems of using a virus to treat DMD. [2]

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(d) DMD can be treated using a drug which acts as a ‘molecular patch’ on an mRNA
molecule transcribed from the mutated DNA. The drug contains a short RNA
molecule which is complementary to a specific sequence of bases on the mRNA.
It prevents translation of the covered mRNA but allows ribosomes to continue
translating the strand following the patch.

(i) Complete the diagram below to show the complementary base pairing between
the mRNA and the molecular patch. [1]

(ii) State one difference between the structure of the protein dystrophin synthesised
after the use of the molecular patch and normal dystrophin. [1]

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HA21CJ paper 4 Mock prepared by foongyt’2022 pg. 10

(iii) There is another drug available which is used to remove mutated exons from the
dystrophin gene. State the advantage of using this drug to treat DMD rather than
the molecular patch on mRNA. [1]

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(iv) Scientists are also investigating a means of using a molecular patch for germ line
gene therapy. State one ethical issue of using germ line gene therapy in the
treatment of DMD. [1]

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(e) The pedigree chart below shows the transmission of another form of muscular
dystrophy caused by a gene mutation.

What conclusions can be made about the inheritance of this form of muscular
dystrophy? Giving 2 specific examples from the pedigree chart, explain how you
arrived at your conclusions. [2]

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[Total 17]

HA21CJ paper 4 Mock prepared by foongyt’2022 pg. 11

7. In addition to the ABO blood group system in humans there is another system
called MN. It is caused by codominant alleles, M and N which code for proteins in
the membrane of red blood cells.

(a) (i) The Hardy-Weinberg principle states that allele frequencies in a population
remain constant from generation to generation providing certain conditions
exist. State three of these conditions. [3]

1. ..................................................................................................................................

2. ..................................................................................................................................

3. ..................................................................................................................................

(ii) The frequency of allele N in Germany is 45%.

Calculate the following given that:

p = frequency of allele M,
q = frequency of allele N,
p+q=1
p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1

I. The % frequency of allele M; [1]

.................................

II. The number of individuals in a population of 10000 with blood group M; [1]

.................................

III. The number of individuals in a population of 10000 with blood group N; [1]

.................................

IV. The number of individuals in a population of 10000 with blood group MN. [1]

……………………..

HA21CJ paper 4 Mock prepared by foongyt’2022 pg. 12

(b) During the eighteenth century, some groups of people emigrated from Germany
to America. Since then, these people have married almost exclusively within their
own communities. In 1950, a blood group analysis of 200 members from one of
these groups in Pennsylvania (a state in America) was undertaken. Their blood
groups were compared with current German and American populations. Blood
group analyses produced the following results:

Explain why the emigrated population shows allele frequencies which are
uncharacteristic of either the American or German populations. [3]

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[Total 10]

8. Plants, such as sweet vernal grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum), require a range of

mineral ions which are absorbed from the soil by the roots. Some ions are
required in large amounts and others, such as copper, are required in smaller
amounts but are toxic at high levels. One population of sweet vernal grass was
found growing in the soil of a derelict mine site in North Wales where copper
concentrations reach highly toxic levels. An investigation was carried out to
compare these with sweet vernal grass plants from an unpolluted area. Plants
from both populations were then grown in soils containing different concentrations
of copper. The graph below shows the number of plants from each population that
survived at each concentration.

HA21CJ paper 4 Mock prepared by foongyt’2022 pg. 13

(a) (i) State the type of variation shown by the plants taken from the unpolluted soil.
Explain your answer. [1]

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(ii) With reference to the graph, state which letter (A, B or C) identifies the mode for
sweet vernal grass taken from the mine site and state the difference between the
terms mean value and modal value. [3]

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(b) One hundred years ago the sweet vernal grass was unable to survive on the
mine sites but now colonises them. Use your understanding of natural selection to
explain this observation. [4]

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(c) Sweet vernal grass plants which are tolerant to high copper concentration in the
soil flower at a different time of year from the non-tolerant plants in adjacent
areas. Explain why it is predicted that this could lead to the formation of two
different species. [4]

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(d) Another species of grass, common bent (Agrostis tenuis), is also copper
tolerant and is found growing in polluted mine sites together with sweet vernal

HA21CJ paper 4 Mock prepared by foongyt’2022 pg. 14

 grass. The frequency of common bent was seen to be higher than sweet vernal
grass. State the type of competition involved and two factors for which the plants
compete. [2]

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[Total 14]

9. (a) The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a technique that can produce many
copies of sections of DNA in a very short time. The first stage in the process is
heating the DNA to around 95 °C.

(i) Explain precisely what happens during this stage. [1]

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Following initial heating, the DNA is cooled to allow primers to bind.

(ii) Give one reason why primers are necessary in PCR. [1]

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(b) A thermostable DNA polymerase enzyme is used in PCR to copy the desired
section of DNA. Many different types of thermostable DNA polymerase are
available, each with slightly different properties. For example, an enzyme called
Taq polymerase can copy DNA quickly but has a relatively high error rate (around
one incorrect base in every 10000 base pairs). The scatter graph below shows
the speed of copying and the accuracy of 19 different types of DNA polymerase
enzymes. (Each point represents a different type of DNA polymerase.)

HA21CJ paper 4 Mock prepared by foongyt’2022 pg. 15

(i) Describe the trend shown in the graph. [1]

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(ii) PCR is used in amplifying DNA evidence from crime scenes for use in criminal
investigations. Circle one DNA polymerase enzyme in the graph that would be
suitable for this purpose. [1]

(iii) Using the information provided, suggest why Taq polymerase is mainly used for
amplifying short sections of DNA. [1]

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(c) PCR is normally used after identification and isolation of a section of DNA of
interest.
(i) Describe how DNA probes can be used to identify a section of DNA. [2]

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(ii) When using DNA probes, it is essential that the target DNA is separated into
single strands. Explain precisely why this is necessary. [1]

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[Total 8]

HA21CJ paper 4 Mock prepared by foongyt’2022 pg. 16

10. Plants, such as maize (Zea sp.), can be genetically modified to provide
resistance to insect pests. The bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis, naturally
produces a protein toxic to insects. The Bt gene that codes for this protein can be
introduced into plant cells using a genetically engineered plasmid. One way of
achieving this is to prepare a cDNA fragment containing the Bt gene and then
incorporating it into a suitable plasmid.
Describe how a cDNA fragment containing the Bt gene can be prepared and the
processes by which genetically engineered plasmids can be produced. [7]

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HA21CJ paper 4 Mock prepared by foongyt’2022 pg. 17