B5 Communicable

diseases
Exam-style questions
Name ..................................................................... Class ................. Date .....................

0 1 A student is given a tube containing a liquid nutrient medium.

The medium contains one type of bacterium.

0 1 . 1 In this question you will be assessed on using good English, organising

information clearly and using specialist terms where appropriate.
The student is told to grow some of the bacteria on agar jelly in a
Petri dish.
Describe how the student should prepare an uncontaminated
culture of the bacterium in the Petri dish.
You should explain the reasons for each of the steps you describe.

(6 marks)

0 1 . 2 After the culture had been prepared, the student added one drop
of each of five disinfectants, A, B, C, D and E, onto the culture.
Figure 1 shows the appearance of the Petri dish 3 days later.

Figure 1

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 B5 Communicable
diseases
Exam-style questions
Name ..................................................................... Class ................. Date .....................

There are areas on the agar jelly where no bacteria are growing.
Why?

(1 mark)

0 1 . 3 The student concluded that disinfectant D would be the best for

using around the home.
Give one reason why the student might be correct.

(1 mark)

0 1 . 4 Give one reason why the student might not be correct.

(1 mark)

AQA, 2014

0 2 Plants can be infected by a range of pathogens.

Rose black spot is a fungal disease of plants.
Purple or black spots develop on the leaves, which often turn
yellow and drop early.

0 2 . 1 Plants with rose black spot do not grow properly.

Explain why.

(3 marks)

0 2 . 2 Suggest how rose black spot can be treated.

(1 mark)

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 B5 Communicable
diseases
Exam-style questions
Name ..................................................................... Class ................. Date .....................

0 2 . 3 Plants can also be damaged by ion deficiencies.

A student investigated the effect of magnesium and nitrate ion
deficiencies on the growth of plant seedlings.
Figure 2 shows how he set up the investigation.
The liquid in the jars was topped up regularly.
The jars were left for 2 weeks.

Figure 2

Suggest two variables the student should have controlled.

2 (2 marks)

0 2 . 4 What is the purpose of including gas jars A and D in the

investigation?

(1 mark)

0 2 . 5 Explain the purpose of having a glass tube in each jar.

(3 marks)

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 B5 Communicable
diseases
Exam-style questions
Name ..................................................................... Class ................. Date .....................

0 2 . 6 Predict the appearance of the plant seedlings grown in jars B and

C after two weeks.
Explain your predictions.

(4 marks)

0 3 White blood cells help to defend the body against pathogens by

producing antibodies.

0 3 . 1 Describe two other ways that white blood cells defend the body
against pathogens.

2 (2 marks)

0 3 . 2 A woman was exposed to a pathogen and became ill.

A few weeks later the woman was exposed to the same pathogen
again, but she did not become ill.
Figure 3 shows how the concentration of antibodies in her blood
changed after each exposure to the pathogen.

Figure 3

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 B5 Communicable
diseases
Exam-style questions
Name ..................................................................... Class ................. Date .....................

Describe the differences in the woman’s response to the first and

second exposure to the pathogen.
Suggest reasons for the differences.

(5 marks)

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