MCQ Chapter 1 page 1 [60 marks]

1. [1 mark]
In mammals, mature red blood cells are specialized in that they lack nuclei, mitochondria
or ribosomes. Which statement applies to red blood cells?
A. No chemical reactions take place within their cytoplasm.
B. They cannot produce new enzymes.
C. Materials cannot enter red blood cells.
D. Materials cannot exit red blood cells.

Markscheme
B
2. [1 mark]
What do chloroplasts and mitochondria have in common?
A. Both are found in the cells of Filicinophyta.
B. Both contain grana.
C. Both occur in all eukaryotic cells.
D. Both are found in a Paramecium.

Markscheme
A
3. [1 mark]
The Davson–Danielli model of membrane structure proposed that membranes were
composed of a phospholipid bilayer that lies between two layers of globular proteins, as
shown in this diagram.
[Source: Cornell, B. 2016.
https://ib.bioninja.com.au/standard-level/topic-1-cell-biology/13-membrane-structure/
membrane-models.html]

What evidence supported this model?

A. An electron micrograph that showed two dark lines with a lighter band in between
B. Freeze-fracture electron microscopy
C. Evidence that all membranes are identical
D. The hydrophobic regions of protein would be in contact with water

Markscheme
A
4. [1 mark]
A human organ is being prepared for transplant. In what type of solution must it be bathed?
A. A hypertonic solution
B. A hypotonic solution
C. Pure water containing no solutes
D. A solution with the same osmolarity as the organ tissue
Markscheme
D
5. [1 mark]
Which living structure is an exception to the cell theory?
A. Striated muscle fibres
B. A single-celled alga carrying out all of the functions of life
C. The artificial synthesis of the organic molecule urea
D. A multicellular organism with cells undertaking specialized roles

Markscheme
A
6. [1 mark]
Which statement applies to cholesterol?
A. It is hydrophobic and found on the outside of the phospholipid bilayer.
B. It is hydrophilic and found inside the phospholipid bilayer.
C. It impacts membrane fluidity.
D. It is transported in association with glucose in the blood.

Markscheme
C
7. [1 mark]
A tissue sample was examined under the microscope in order to determine a mitotic index.
The number of cells in each stage of the cell cycle was determined and the data were
entered into a table.

What is the mitotic index?

A. 0.125
B. 0.25
C. 0.75
D. 1.00

Markscheme
B
8. [1 mark]
The diagrams represent cells with the same concentration of dissolved substances in their
cytoplasm. If all the cells were placed in the same hypertonic sucrose solution, which cell
would show the greatest rate of change in the concentration of its cytoplasm?

Markscheme
C
9. [1 mark]
What function is performed by the part of the cell shown in the electron micrograph?
[Source: George E. Palade Electron Microscopy Slide Collection Harvey Cushing/John Hay
Whitney Medical Library Yale University Library.]

A. Locomotion
B. Synthesis of proteins
C. Movement of chromosomes
D. Breakdown of cellular organelles

Markscheme
B
10. [1 mark]
What special property of phospholipid molecules explains their ability to spontaneously
assemble into a lipid bilayer?
A. They are hydrophobic.
B. They are amphipathic.
C. They are saturated.
D. They are hydrophilic

Markscheme
B
11. [1 mark]
Which graph best represents the relationship between the concentration of chloride ions in
the external environment of a cell and the rate at which the chloride ions move by
facilitated diffusion into the cytoplasm of the cell?

Markscheme
C
12. [1 mark]
Which statement is evidence for the endosymbiotic theory?
A. Chloroplasts contain 70S ribosomes.
B. Protein synthesis occurs in the cytoplasm.
C. Organic molecules can be synthesised abiotically.
D. RNA is self-replicating.

Markscheme
A
13. [1 mark]
The images show samples of red blood cells that were placed in different concentrations of
salt solutions.

Which process explains the observations shown in the images?

A. Active transport
B. Exocytosis
C. Facilitated diffusion
D. Osmosis

Markscheme
D
14. [1 mark]
Which solution has the highest salt concentration?
A. The original solution
B. Solution 1
C. Solution 2
D. Solution 3

Markscheme
B
15. [1 mark]
The image shows an electron micrograph of virus particles known to infect the bacterium
Vibrio parahaemolyticus, which is associated with gastroenteritis, wound infections and
septicemia in humans and animals.
[Source: Lin, Y. and Lin, C., 2012. Transmission electron micrograph of phage ϕpp2
particles with several structural proteins. [micrograph] (BMC Genomics, 13:224).]

What does a virus have in common with a living cell?

A. 70S ribosomes
B. Genetic material
C. Reproduction by binary fission
D. Anaerobic respiration

Markscheme
B
16. [1 mark]
Three cell types are shown in the micrographs.
[Source: left: UCSF School of Medicine, Courtesy of Prof. D Schmucker. middle: Professor
Roger Meicenheimer, Miami University, Department of Botany. right: Courtesy of
visualhistology.com.]

What feature distinguishes striated muscle fibres from the three cell types shown in the
images?
A. Mitochondria
B. Nucleoid regions
C. Multinucleate structure
D. Membrane-bound organelles

Markscheme
C
17. [1 mark]
When does DNA replication occur?
A. S phase of interphase
B. Early prophase
C. G phase of interphase
D. Late prophase

Markscheme
A
18. [1 mark]
The electron micrograph shows a section through a cell.

[Source: Photo © E. Newcomb. Nucleus, glyoxisomes, chloroplasts, and mitochondria -

magnification
at 13,900x - UWDC - UW-Madison Libraries (wisc.edu)
(https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AE2SBIWRVTRR5T87).]
What is the name of the cell component labelled Y?
A. Golgi apparatus
B. Nucleus
C. Cytoplasm
D. Vacuole

Markscheme
B
19. [1 mark]
Which feature of the cell in the micrograph is consistent with the endosymbiotic theory?
A. X has a single membrane.
B. Y has a double membrane.
C. X contains 70S ribosomes.
D. Y contains 80S ribosomes.

Markscheme
C
20. [1 mark]
Which sequence has the cells arranged according to their ability to differentiate, starting
from the least able?
A. bone marrow, neuron, embryonic, umbilical
B. neuron, bone marrow, umbilical, embryonic
C. umbilical, embryonic, bone marrow, neuron
D. embryonic, umbilical, bone marrow, neuron

Markscheme
B
21. [1 mark]
The diagram shows a section through a membrane. What are the modes of transport in the
diagram?
[Source: © International Baccalaureate Organization 2020.]

Markscheme
C
22. [1 mark]
How many chromosomes are there in a cell during anaphase of mitosis, if the diploid
number of the cell is 20?
A. 10
B. 20
C. 40
D. 80

Markscheme
C
23. [1 mark]
Chlorella and Paramecium are both unicellular eukaryotic organisms living in freshwater.
Chlorella is photosynthetic and has a cell wall. Which organelle will be found in
Paramecium but not in Chlorella?
A. Chloroplast
B. Contractile vacuole
C. Rough endoplasmic reticulum
D. Mitochondrion

Markscheme
B
24. [1 mark]
What would show that a person has developed metastatic cancer?
A. Alveolus cells forming a tumour in the lungs
B. Cancer cells producing the skin pigment melanin in the liver
C. A tumour in the prostate gland increasing levels of prostate-specific antigen
D. Cancerous lymphocytes in blood plasma

Markscheme
B
25. [1 mark]
The first iron ore deposits in rocks appeared about 1.8 billion years ago. What took place to
make this occur?
A. Some prokaryotic organisms began to absorb carbon dioxide from seawater.
B. Some eukaryotic organisms began to absorb carbon dioxide from seawater.
C. Some prokaryotic organisms began to release oxygen into seawater.
D. Some eukaryotic organisms began to release oxygen into seawater.

Markscheme
C
26. [1 mark]
The electron micrograph shows a thin section through a plant mesophyll cell.

[Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Euglena_sp.jpg, by Deuterostome

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode]

What is the magnification of the image?

A. × 75
B. × 300
C. × 3000
D. × 7500

Markscheme
C
27. [1 mark]
By which process do potassium ions move through potassium channels in axons?
A. Active transport
B. Exocytosis
C. Facilitated diffusion
D. Simple diffusion

Markscheme
C
28. [1 mark]
Which statement provides evidence for endosymbiosis?
A. Early prokaryotes contributed to a large increase in oxygen in the atmosphere.
B. Eukaryotic mitochondria and chloroplasts have their own circular DNA.
C. Certain groups of ancient prokaryotes developed mechanisms to carry out aerobic
respiration.
D. Experiments by Miller and Urey produced simple organic molecules in abiotic
conditions.

Markscheme
B
29. [1 mark]
In the micrograph, which letter points to a cell in anaphase?
[Source: Berkshire Community College Bioscience Image Library,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mitotic_Stages_in_Apical_Meristem_of_Allium_R
oot_Tip_(36762516673).jpg,
licensed under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication]

Markscheme
B
30. [1 mark]
Students examined micrographs and counted cells in the different stages of mitosis as well
as those cells with no visible chromosomes. The table shows their results.

What is the mitotic index?

A. 0.2
B. 0.4
C. 0.6
D. 0.7
Markscheme
B
31. [1 mark]
Stargardt’s disease, a genetic disorder that causes vision loss, is being treated using retinal
cells derived from human embryonic stem cells. Why are embryonic stem cells used?
A. They are already specialized for this function.
B. They are able to differentiate into the required cell type.
C. They retain stem cell properties after specialization.
D. There are no ethical issues concerning their use.

Markscheme
B
32. [1 mark]
Which graph represents the change in cell surface area to volume ratio with increasing cell
diameter?

[Source: © International Baccalaureate Organization 2019]

Markscheme
B
33. [1 mark]
The image shows an electron micrograph of part of a cell.

[Source: Dr. Eldon Newcomb – Emeritis Professor at The University of Wisconsin –

Madison.]

Which features do the two structures labelled X and Y have in common?

A. They are surrounded by a double membrane.
B. They contain 70S ribosomes.
C. They contain naked DNA.
D. They are only found in leaf cells.

Markscheme
A
34. [1 mark]
The images show a sequence of changes in an organism.

[Source: Copyright (2007) National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. 'A comparative analysis of
frog early development'.
Eugenia M. del Pino, Michael Venegas-Ferrín, Andrés Romero-Carvajal, Paola Montenegro-
Larrea, Natalia
Sá enz-Ponce, Ivá n M. Moya, Ingrid Alarcó n, Norihiro Sudou, Shinji Yamamoto, and
Masanori Taira,
PNAS July 17, 2007 104 (29) 11882–11888; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0705092104]

What is the change and which process is necessary for it to occur?

Markscheme
B
35. [1 mark]
Which process(es) occur(s) by osmosis?
I. Uptake of water by cells in the wall of the intestine
II. Loss of water from a plant cell in a hypertonic environment
III. Evaporation of water from sweat on the skin surface
A. I only
B. I and II only
C. II and III only
D. I, II and III

Markscheme
B
36. [1 mark]
The table shows the number of cells in various stages of the cell cycle in four samples of
ovarian tissue from different patients. Which tissue sample A, B, C or D has the highest
mitotic index?

Markscheme
C
37. [1 mark]
Which structures are found only in prokaryotic cells?
A. Ribosomes
B. Pili
C. Cell walls
D. Flagella
Markscheme
B
38. [1 mark]
The magnification of the micrograph is 2000×.

[Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/HeLa_cells_stained_with_Hoechs
t_33258.jpg
by TenOfAllTrades.]

What is the maximum diameter of the nucleus in the cell labelled X?

A. 10 μm
B. 10 nm
C. 20 μm
D. 20 nm

Markscheme
A
39. [1 mark]
The image shows a micrograph of a cell.

[Source: © 2014,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mitosis_(261_13)_Pressed;_root_meristem_of_o
nion_(cells_
in_prophase,_metaphase,_anaphase,_telophase).jpg by Doc. RNDr. Josef Reischig, CSc.]

What explains the appearance of the cell in the micrograph?

A. The cell is dying.
B. The DNA is replicating.
C. The cell is in metaphase.
D. The cell is in telophase.

Markscheme
C
40. [1 mark]
Which processes are involved in the development of cancer?
I. Mutations occur in oncogenes.
II. Oncogenes prevent cancer.
III. Oncogenes affect cell cycle regulatory proteins.
A. I and II only
B. I and III only
C. II and III only
D. I, II and III

Markscheme
B
41. [1 mark]
The table shows concentrations of potassium ions and sodium ions inside and outside
human cells.

[Source: © International Baccalaureate Organization 2019]

What explains these concentrations?

A. Potassium ions diffuse in and sodium ions diffuse out.
B. Sodium ions diffuse in and potassium ions diffuse out.
C. Active transport pumps sodium ions in and potassium ions out.
D. Active transport pumps sodium ions out and potassium ions in.

Markscheme
D
42. [1 mark]
The image shows a phagocytic white blood cell as seen with a transmission electron
microscope.
[Source: http://www.wikidoc.org/index.php/File:Monocyte_TEM_0002.jpg, by Cafer
Zorkun is licensed
under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License]

Which features can be found both within this cell and in a photosynthetic bacterium?
A. Chloroplasts
B. Multiple nuclei
C. 70S ribosomes
D. Lysosomes

Markscheme
C
43. [1 mark]
Which is an essential feature of the Davson–Danielli model of membrane structure?
A. A phospholipid monolayer with intrinsic and extrinsic proteins
B. A layer of protein sandwiched between two layers of lipid
C. A phospholipid bilayer with intrinsic and extrinsic proteins
D. A layer of lipid sandwiched between two layers of protein

Markscheme
D
44. [1 mark]
The diagram shows a stage in cell division.

[Source: © International Baccalaureate Organization 2019]

What is the stage shown?

A. Anaphase I of mitosis
B. Anaphase II of mitosis
C. Anaphase I of meiosis
D. Anaphase II of meiosis

Markscheme
D
45. [1 mark]
If cells of a multicellular organism have the same genes, how can there be many different
cell types in a body?
A. Some genes but not others are expressed in each cell type.
B. Cells lose some genes as development occurs.
C. Genes do not determine the structure of a cell.
D. Cells must practice division of labour in order to survive.

Markscheme
A
46. [1 mark]
The diagram represents the nucleus of a cell 2 n = 8 in late prophase of mitosis.

Which diagram represents a cell from the same species in anaphase II of meiosis?
Markscheme
C
47. [1 mark]
The electron micrograph shows part of a cell. Which organelle is the site of aerobic
respiration?
Markscheme
C
48. [1 mark]
The images are microscopic views of two similar cells.
What is a reason for the differences between the two micrographs?
A. The lower image has a higher magnification.
B. The lower image has greater resolution.
C. A nucleus can only be seen in the upper image.
D. The upper image is an electron micrograph.

Markscheme
B
49. [1 mark]
What part of the plasma membrane is fluid, allowing the movement of proteins in
accordance with the fluid mosaic model?
Markscheme
B
50. [1 mark]
Apparatus was set up as shown to collect data.

The graph shows the results after 47 minutes of data collection.

What causes the rates to differ?
I. Different concentration gradients at the start
II. Diffusion of sugar is initially greater in Y than in X
III. The systems are reaching equilibrium over time
A. I only
B. II only
C. I and III only
D. II and III only

Markscheme
C
51. [1 mark]
How does mitosis produce two genetically identical nuclei?
A. By separation of homologous chromosomes
B. By separation of sister chromatids
C. By division of the cytoplasm into two equal cells
D. By division of the nuclear membrane into two equal parts
Markscheme
B
52. [1 mark]
The image shows an electron micrograph of a fungus, Candida albicans.

Which terms identify the structures labelled I and II in the image?

Markscheme
C
53. [1 mark]
Which method provides biochemical evidence that cells have begun to differentiate?
A. Observation with a light microscope
B. Observation with an electron microscope
C. Examination of the DNA sequence
D. Analysis of the proteins

Markscheme
D
54. [1 mark]
How are villi, alveoli and nephrons similar?
A. They are internal organs.
B. They provide large surface areas for molecular exchange.
C. They secrete hormones.
D. They have a role in excretion.

Markscheme
B
55. [1 mark]
In a copy of Louis Pasteur’s famous experiment, broth was put into flasks as shown in the
diagrams.
What results would be expected with no spontaneous generation of life?
A. Decomposition of broth by microbes occurred only in Flask W.
B. Decomposition of broth by microbes occurred only in Flasks W and X.
C. Decomposition of broth by microbes occurred only in Flasks W, X and Y.
D. Decomposition of broth by microbes occurred only in Flasks W, X and Z.

Markscheme
B
56. [1 mark]
What feature of both striated muscle and aseptate fungal hyphae is different from typical
cell structure?
A. They have multiple nuclei within a structural unit.
B. They have a cell wall that is not made of cellulose.
C. They have plasmids.
D. They have an absence of cholesterol in the plasma membrane.

Markscheme
A
57. [1 mark]
Where could genes be located in a prokaryotic cell?
Markscheme
B
58. [1 mark]
Neural pathways in living brains can now be mapped by tracking the movement of water
molecules inside axons. What keeps water molecules inside axons?
A. Plasma membrane
B. Hydrogen bonding
C. Pump proteins
D. Synapse

Markscheme
A
59. [1 mark]
How does potassium move across the membrane of a neuron during repolarization?
A. Simple diffusion
B. Facilitated diffusion
C. Endocytosis
D. Active transport

Markscheme
B
60. [1 mark]
Which organelle provides evidence that eukaryotic cells originated when large prokaryotes
engulfed small free-living prokaryotes?
A. Chloroplast
B. Nucleoid
C. 80S ribosome
D. Vacuole

Markscheme
A

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