SARALA BIRLA ACADEMY BANGALORE

HALF YEARLY EXAMINATIONS 2023-24

GRADE – X IGCSE
BIOLOGY
(0610 / 02, 04, 06)
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Exam Duration : 2 hours and 30 minutes Date of Exam : 16.09.23
Maximum Marks : 100 No. of Students : 01
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Candidates Name : _____________________________________________

Candidates Number : _____________________________________________

Invigilators Signature : _____________________________________________

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READ THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY

1] Write your name and roll number on all the work you hand in.
2] Write in dark blue or black pen on both sides of the paper.
3] You may use a soft pencil for any diagrams, graphs, or rough working.
4] Do not use staples, paper clips, highlighters and glue or correction fluid.
5] The number of mark is given in brackets at the end of each question / part question.
6] At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together.
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Question
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 TOTAL
Number

Marks

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This document consists of 20 printed pages

SBA/HYE/X-IGCSE/BIOLOGY/2023 Turn over

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 Section A
There are thirty questions on this section. Answer all questions. For each question there are four
possible answers A, B, C and D. Choose the one you consider correct and record your choice in
OMR sheet.

1. In fruit flies, the allele for grey body, G, is dominant over the allele for black body, g.
The result of a mating between two flies is shown.

What were the genotypes of the parents?

A Gg × gg B Gg × Gg C GG × gg D GG × Gg

2. The diagram shows two onion plants.

Using the information in the diagram, which statement about these onion plants is correct?

A Daughter plants are produced from the small bulb by meiosis.

B Daughter plants produced from the flower are genetically identical to the parent
plant.

C The plants can reproduce sexually and asexually.

D Two parent plants are required for reproduction

3. The diagram shows how the blood of a human fetus flows close to the mother’s blood in the
placenta.

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Which substances are present at X in higher concentrations than at Y?

A carbon dioxide and glucose B carbon dioxide and urea

C glucose and oxygen D glucose and urea

4. The diagram shows three positions, X, Y and Z, where nerve impulses are blocked by a drug.

Which person listed below moves their leg in response to a pinprick, but does not feel it?

A a person with a block at X B a person with a block at Y

C a person with a block at Z D a person with no block

5. Which changes occur in the eye when viewing a distant object?

1 The ciliary muscles contract.

2 The ciliary muscles relax.

3 The suspensory ligaments are pulled tight.

4 The suspensory ligaments are slackened.

A 1 and 3 B 1 and 4 C 2 and 3 D 2 and 4

6. The graphs show changes that occur in a woman during the menstrual cycle.

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Which statement is supported by evidence in the graphs?

A A large increase in progesterone concentration always results in thickening of the

uterus lining.

B At ovulation, the uterus lining is at its thickest.

C Each time the oestrogen concentration rises, the uterus lining becomes thicker.

D Within 5 days of ovulation, the uterus lining gets thinner.

. 7.Two parents both have the same genotype, IA IO, for blood group.
What are the expected probabilities of the blood groups of their children?

8. Which statement about the hormone FSH is correct?

A It stimulates ovulation.

B It stimulates ovulation and menstruation.

C It stimulates the maturation of follicles.

D It stimulates the maturation of follicles and menstruation

9. The diagram shows the muscles that control the size of the pupil in an eye.

How do the muscles make the pupil smaller?

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10. A plant has flowers whose anthers mature and fall off before the stigma is fully developed.
What will this prevent?

A cross-pollination B insect-pollination

C self-pollination D wind-pollination

11. Which row correctly shows an advantage of feeding babies breast milk and an advantage of
feeding them bottle milk?

12. A male gamete leaves the pollen tube immediately after the pollen tube has entered which
structure?

A ovary B ovule C stigma D style

13. Bacteria can be genetically engineered to produce human insulin.

Before this method was developed, the only insulin available was that from cattle or pigs. It
was obtained from extracts of animal pancreas.

Which statements about the two methods are correct?

W Large numbers of bacteria can be cultured in a small space.

X Bacteria reproduce very quickly and make insulin quickly.

Y People sometimes develop diseases from insulin taken from cows or pigs.

Z The insulin produced in bacteria is not the same as that produced in the human

pancreas. Turn over

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 A W, X and Y B W, X and Z C W, Y and Z D X, Y and Z

14. The diagram shows the male reproductive system. Where is testosterone produced?

15. The diagram shows part of a flower at the time of pollination.

How does the male gamete reach the female gamete?

A A pollen tube grows down the style.

B The pollen grain moves down the style.

C The male gamete digests its way down the style.

D The male gamete swims down the style.

16. The diagram shows a side view of the female reproductive system.

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In which region are sperms released during sexual intercourse and where does fertilization usually take
place?

sperms
released fertilization
A 2 1
B 4 1
C 3 1
D 2 3

17. Some fruit flies have orange eyes and others have red eyes.
If two orange-eyed fruit flies are crossed, their offspring always have orange eyes.
If two red-eyed fruit flies are crossed, their offspring sometimes include both orange-eyed
and red-eyed flies.

What can be concluded from these observations?

A Crossing an orange-eyed fly with a red-eyed fly will produce a 1:1 ratio in the
offspring.
B The allele for orange eyes is dominant.

C The allele for red eyes is dominant.

D We could determine which allele is dominant only by doing a cross that produces a 3 :
1 ratio.

18. The diagram shows breeding rats where the allele for grey fur is dominant to white fur

Which two individuals are definitely heterozygous for fur colour?

A 1 and 4 B 2 and 3 C 2 and 5 D 3 and 6

19. Which part of a bacterial cell makes it useful in genetic engineering?

A cell wall B cytoplasm C flagellum D plasmid

20. Starting with the smallest, and ending with the largest, what is the correct sequence of these
parts of an organism?

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 A chromosome →gene →nucleus →cell →tissue

B chromosome →gene →nucleus →tissue →cell

C gene →chromosome →nucleus →cell →tissue

D gene →chromosome →nucleus →tissue →cell

21. The diagram shows a section of a seed.

What are the numbered parts?

22. The diagram shows the female reproductive system.

In which parts are the eggs and the zygote formed?

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23. A farmer uses sperm from a black male sheep to artificially inseminate (fertilise) 20 light
brown female sheep. All of the offspring produced were black.
Which statement explains these results?

A The alleles for light brown colour are dominant.

B The male sheep is heterozygous and the allele for black colour is dominant.

C The male sheep is homozygous and the allele for black colour is codominant.

D The male sheep is homozygous and the allele for black colour is dominant.

24. Which structures contain neurotransmitter molecules in neurones?

A chloroplasts B mitochondria C ribosomes D vesicles

25. What is the order of flower parts through which the pollen tube must grow to reach the egg cell
nucleus during fertilisation?

A stigma → style → ovule → ovary

B stigma → style → ovary → ovule

C style → stigma → ovule → ovary

D style → stigma → ovary → ovule

26. The diagram shows a seedling growing inside a dark box.

Which type of responses affect the direction of growth of the root and the shoot inside the box?

Turn over
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27. In humans, what is the genotype of a red-green colour-blind male?

A XRXR B Xr Xr C XRY D Xr Y

28. Which feature is found in a hydrophytic plant?

A Leaves are curled with stomata on the inside.

B Leaves are reduced to spines.

C Stomata are sunk in pits in the epidermis.

D There is no waxy cuticle.

29. What is the role of insulin?

A It decreases blood glucose concentration.

B It increases blood glucose concentration.

C It decreases blood sucrose concentration.

D It increases blood glycogen concentration.

30. The diagram shows a reflex arc. Which label identifies the motor neurone?

[Total 30]

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 Section B
Answer all the questions

1. Fig. 1.1 shows a section through a flower.

(a) (i) Write one letter from Fig. 1.1 to identify each of the following.

You may use each letter once, more than once, or not at all.

Petal …………………………………………

Anther ………………………………………..

Stigma ……………………………………….

A male part of the flower …………………...

A part of the carpel …………………………

Sepal ………………………………………. Fig 1.1 [6]

(ii) Describe the evidence that this flower is pollinated by insects.

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

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

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

.............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(iii) Explain in detail about the process of Double fertilization in plants

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

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

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

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

.............................................................................................................................................. [2]

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(b) Fig. 1.2 shows pollen grains from the flowers of several different species, labelled with the
letters K–Q.

Fig 1.2
i) State the letters of the pollen grains that come from insect-pollinated flowers.

............................................................................................................................................................ [2]

ii) Write down any two differences between insect and wind pollination

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………[2]
[Total: 14]

2. Fig. 2.1 shows a wild pig and a Saddleback pig. The drawings are to the same scale.

Fig 2.1

(a) The Saddleback pig has been produced from the wild pig by artificial selection (selective
breeding).
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Suggest two useful characteristics, visible in Fig. 2.1, which the farmers selected when
breeding the Saddleback pig.

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

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

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

.............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(b) Explain how the Saddleback pig could have been produced by artificial selection.

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

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

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

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

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

.............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(c) There are different varieties of sheep. Some of these varieties have white wool and some
have brown wool.

The allele for white wool colour, N, is dominant to the allele for brown wool colour, n.
A genetic diagram for the result of crossing a white-coloured sheep with a brown-coloured
sheep is shown in Fig. 2.2.

Complete the genetic diagram to show how wool colour is inherited in this cross.

[4]
Fig 2.2
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(d) Define the term allele

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………[1]

(e) Differentiate phenotype and genotype

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………[2]

[Total: 11]

3. Fig. 3.1 shows a fetus in the uterus immediately before birth.

Fig 3.1

(a) Describe the functions of the amniotic sac and amniotic fluid.

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

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

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

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

........................................................................................................................................................[4]

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(b) List three functions of the placenta.

1. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………
[3]
(c) State what happens to structures A and B during birth.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………
[2]

(d) Name the hormones produced by Placenta

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

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

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

.........................................................................................................................................................
[2]
[Total: 11]

4. Some species of trees produce winged fruits that are dispersed by wind.
When these fruits fall from the tree, they spin round as they fall to the ground. This increases the
time taken for the fruits to fall.

Fig. 4.1 shows a photograph of four winged fruits from a sycamore tree. The fruits are shown
larger than their actual size.

Fig. 4.1
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(a) (i) Measure and record the maximum length of the fruit labelled A in Fig. 4.1.

length = ........................................................................................................................................[1]

(ii) The actual maximum length of this fruit is 25 mm.

Using your measurement in (i), calculate the magnification of the fruit A in Fig. 4.1.

Show your working.

magnification = .............................................................................................................................[2]

(b) A student carried out an investigation into the relationship between the length of sycamore
fruits and the time they took to reach the ground when dropped from a height of 3 metres.
He collected 6 fruits and measured the length of each. He then dropped each fruit from a
height of 3 metres and recorded the time each one took to reach the ground.

His results are shown below

(i) Use these results to complete Table 4.1.

Table 4.1

[3]

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(ii) On the grid below, construct a line graph of the data in Table 4.1. Join your plotted points
with ruled, straight lines.

[4]
(iii) Use your graph to find the time it would take for a fruit with a length of 30 mm to reach
the ground.

..............................................................................................................................seconds [1]

(iv) Describe the relationship between the length of these sycamore fruits and the time taken
for them to reach the ground.

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

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

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

............................................................................................................................................... .[2]

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(v) Suggest one way in which this investigation could be improved to increase the reliability
of the results.

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

.........................................................................................................................................................[1]

(vi) Suggest two factors, other than length, that could affect the time taken for sycamore
fruits to reach the ground when falling from a tree.

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

2 ......................................................................................................................................................[2]

[Total: 16]
5. (a) Fig. 5.1 shows part of a classification diagram for plants.

(i) Complete Fig. 5.1.

[2]
Fig 5.1

(ii) Describe two identifying features of monocotyledons.

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

2 .....................................................................................................................................................
[2]

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Fig. 5.2 shows the life cycle of a fern. The life cycle of a fern has some similarities and some
differences compared with the life cycles of other plants.

The letters represent processes that occur during the life cycle.

The haploid stages of the life cycle are represented by (n).

The diploid stages of the life cycle are represented by (2n).

Fig 5.2

(i) The adult sporophyte has 1200 chromosomes in its body cells.

State the number of chromosomes in the body cells of the gametophyte.

..................................................................................................................................................... [1]

(ii) Identify and describe process A in Fig. 5.2.

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

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

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

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

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

...................................................................................................................................................... [3]

(iii) State the name of process D in Fig. 5.2.

...................................................................................................................................................... [1]

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(c) Fig. 5.3 shows the parts of two flowers from two different plants of the same species.

Fig. 5.3

(i) Describe what is meant by the term species.

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

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

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

......................................................................................................................................................... [2]

(ii) Annotate Fig. 5.3 to show the mechanism of cross-pollination by:

• labelling the structures involved

• drawing an arrow to show the pathway of pollen.

[3]
(iii) Draw an X on Fig. 5.3 to show where fertilisation occurs. [1]

(iv) Explain the disadvantages of cross-pollination compared with self-pollination.

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

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

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

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

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

..........................................................................................................................................................[3]

[Total: 18]

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