Chapter 16 - Genes, Chromosomes & Inheritance

1 In pea plants, the allele for tall stems is dominant to the allele for short stems.

A heterozygous tall plant is crossed with a short plant, and 100 offspring are produced.

How many of the offspring are likely to be tall?

A 25 B 50 C 75 D 100

2 The nucleus in a body cell of a fly contains 12 chromosomes.

How many chromosomes are there in the nucleus of a sperm from this fly?

A 3 B 6 C 12 D 24

3 In a species of plant, the allele for red flowers (R) is dominant over the allele for white flowers (r).

Two red–flowered plants were crossed.

parents plant with red flowers × plant with red flowers

offspring 93 red-flowered and 28 white-flowered

What are the genotypes of the parents?

A RR and rr B RR and Rr C Rr and Rr D Rr and rr

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4 The diagram shows a potato tuber that developed from the stem of a parent potato plant. Three
shoots are starting to grow from the tuber.

shoot

tuber

How do the genotypes of the shoots compare with the genotypes of the tuber and of the parent?

A They are all different.

B They are all identical.
C The shoots are identical to each other, but are different from the tuber and the parent.
D The shoots are identical to the tuber, but are different from the parent.

5 The colour of a mouse’s fur is controlled by a single pair of alleles.

A mouse with black fur was crossed with a mouse with white fur. All the offspring had black fur.

What would be the most likely ratio in several litters of offspring if two of these black offspring
were crossed?

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6 What is always found in female gametes and may be found in male gametes?

A one X chromosome
B one Y chromosome
C two X chromosomes
D one X chromosome and one Y chromosome

7 In rabbits, the allele for dark fur, R, is dominant to the allele for white fur, r.

The diagram shows a cross between a rabbit with dark fur and a rabbit with white fur.

What are the genotypes of the offspring?

A Rr and rr B RR and rr C RR and Rr D R and r

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8 In some animals, B is the allele for normal skin (without spots) and b is the allele for spotted skin.

A pair of these animals has 37 offspring, 18 with spots and 19 without.

What are the most likely genotypes of the parents?

A BB × BB B Bb × Bb C Bb × bb D bb × bb

9 Which type of reproduction and which type of cell division produces nuclei with half the number of
chromosomes?

10 The diagram shows a family tree and the inheritance of the ability to taste a certain substance.

The allele for the ability to taste this substance is dominant.

1st generation David Mary Jeanne Mark

2nd generation

key

represents a male ‘taster’ represents a male ‘non-taster’

represents a female ‘taster’ represents a female ‘non-taster’

Which statement about the genotypes of the sisters Mary and Jeanne is correct?

A Mary is heterozygous and Jeanne is homozygous.

B Mary is homozygous and Jeanne is heterozygous.
C They are both heterozygous.
D They are both homozygous.

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11 The family tree shows the inheritance of the ability to taste a certain substance. The allele for the
ability to taste this substance is dominant to the allele for the inability to taste it.

1st generation David Mary

2nd generation
Peter Hannah

3rd generation ?

key

represents a male ‘taster’ represents a male ‘non-taster’

represents a female ‘taster’ represents a female ‘non-taster’

What is the chance of the second child of Peter and Hannah being a ‘non-taster’?

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

12 Albinism is an inherited condition in which pigment does not develop in the skin, hair and eyes.

The albino allele is recessive.

What are the chances of albino parents having a normal child?

A 0% B 50 % C 75 % D 100 %

13 In cats, the allele for short hair is dominant to the allele for long hair.

A short-haired cat and a long-haired cat had several families of offspring (kittens). All their kittens
were short-haired.

One of these kittens matured and mated with a long-haired cat.

What would be the expected phenotypes of their offspring?

A 1 : 1 short to long
B 3 : 1 short to long
C all long-haired
D all short-haired

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14 The diagram shows a maize (corn) cob with purple and yellow fruits. Purple (P) is dominant to
yellow (p).

yellow fruit

purple fruit

What are the genotypes of the parent maize plants?

A PP × Pp B PP × pp C Pp × Pp D pp × Pp

15 What is true of the chromosomes present in the daughter nuclei after meiosis and after mitosis?

16 The nucleus in each cell in the stem of a plant contains 32 chromosomes.

How many chromosomes are there in the nuclei of its pollen grains?

A 8 B 16 C 32 D 64

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17 The diagram shows the offspring of a cross between two wolves.

brown
× wolf W

brown brown white

Brown colour is caused by a dominant allele B and white colour by a recessive allele b.

What are the genotype and the phenotype of wolf W?

18 In the life cycle of a mammal, what describes the eggs or sperms and the cells of the embryo?

19 Which cross shows how a boy inherits sex chromosomes from his parents?

A B C D
mother father mother father mother father mother father
XY XX XY XY XX XY XX XY

son son son son

XX XY XX XY

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20 What causes humans to have different blood groups?

A differences in climates
B differences in diets
C differences in genes
D differences in hormones

21 The genetic diagram shows a breeding experiment that starts with crossing a homozygous tall
plant (TT) with a homozygous short plant (tt).

TT × tt

Tt Tt Tt × Tt

TT Tt Tt × tt

Tt Tt tt × tt

tt tt tt tt

Which genetic cross gives 1 : 1 phenotypic and genotypic ratios?

A Tt × Tt B TT × tt C Tt × tt D tt × tt

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 22 The diagram shows the fusion of gametes to produce a son and a daughter.

father mother

parents

gametes Q

offspring R

son daughter

What are the sex chromosomes in gamete Q and daughter R?

23 Which feature of a human is controlled by genes only?

A age at death
B blood group
C dietary deficiency disease
D lung cancer

24 A dominant allele

A causes only harmful characteristics.

B is responsible for male characteristics.
C never undergoes mutation.
D produces the same phenotype in heterozygotes and homozygotes.

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25 In one type of plant, the allele for red flowers (R) is dominant to the allele for white flowers (r).

A plant with red flowers is crossed with a plant with white flowers. Half of the offspring have red
flowers and half have white flowers.

What are the genotypes of the parent plants?

A R and r
B RR and rr
C Rr and Rr
D Rr and rr

26 A gene for the colour of hair in mice has two alleles. B represents the allele for grey hair, and b
represents the allele for white hair.

A mouse with grey hair breeds with a mouse with white hair producing four offspring, with
genotypes Bb, Bb, bb and bb.

What are the genotypes of the parents?

A both heterozygous
B both homozygous dominant
C one heterozygous and one homozygous dominant
D one heterozygous and one homozygous recessive

27 A heterozygous tall pea plant, Tt, is self-fertilised.

What are the offspring most likely to be?

A all tall plants

B all plants of medium height
C one tall plant to three short plants
D three tall plants to one short plant

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Chapter 17 - Variation & Selection

1 Which name is given to the observable features of an organism?

A alleles
B genes
C genotype
D phenotype

2 What is not a feature of natural selection?

A competition for resources

B production of many offspring
C selection by humans
D variation within the population

3 What is a mutation?

A a change in a gene or chromosome

B a condition caused by a dominant allele
C a process used in genetic engineering
D a type of continuous variation

4 Which characteristic shows discontinuous variation in humans?

A height
B length of foot
C tongue rolling
D weight

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5 The diagram shows the age structure of a human population.

age (years) males females

60 and over
45 – 59
30 – 44
15 – 29
under 15
1.5 1.0 0.5 0 0.5 1.0 1.5
population (millions)

Which age group has the largest number of people?

A 60 and over
B 45-59
C 30-44
D under 15

6 The table shows the birth rates and death rates in four countries.

Which country will double its population most quickly?

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7 The bar chart shows the heights of pea plants grown from 500 pea seeds.

number
of
pea plants

height of plants

What variation do the plants show?

A continuous variation only

B discontinuous variation only
C both continuous variation and discontinuous variation
D neither continuous variation nor discontinuous variation

8 What is an example of a characteristic that shows discontinuous variation in humans?

A blood group
B body mass
C height
D width of hand

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9 In arthropods, growth occurs only after the exoskeleton is shed and before the new one hardens.

Which graph shows a typical growth curve for an arthropod?

A B

length of length of
arthropod arthropod

time time

C D

length of length of
arthropod arthropod

time time

10 The graph shows the masses of two different types of tomato.

type 1 type 2

number of
tomatoes

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220

mass / g

What can be concluded from the graph?

A Genes do not affect the mass of tomatoes.

B Type 1 tomatoes show continuous variation.
C Type 2 tomatoes are sometimes smaller than type 1 tomatoes.
D Type 2 tomatoes show discontinuous variation.

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11 A man who was blood group A and a woman who was blood group B had four children, each with
a different blood group A, B, AB and O.

Which type of variation does this demonstrate?

A continuous, environmental and genetic

B continuous and genetic only
C discontinuous, environmental and genetic
D discontinuous and genetic only

12 Cacti have fewer stomata than other plants.

How does this help them to survive in desert conditions?

A It increases loss of water.

B It increases uptake of carbon dioxide.
C It reduces loss of water.
D It reduces uptake of carbon dioxide.

13 Which is a sudden change in a gene or chromosome?

A allele
B genotype
C mutation
D phenotype

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Chapter 20 - Biotechnology & Genetic Modification

1 A gene for insulin is taken from a human cell and placed in a bacterium.

The bacterium can then make human insulin.

What is this process called?

A artificial selection
B genetic engineering
C heterozygous inheritance
D natural selection

2 Why is yeast used in bread-making?

A to provide carbon dioxide

B to provide ethanol
C to provide lactic acid
D to provide oxygen

3 What has not increased the world’s food production in the last 100 years?

A artificial selection
B herbicides
C natural selection
D pesticides

4 Why is yeast used in bread-making?

A Aerobic respiration produces alcohol.

B Aerobic respiration produces carbon dioxide.
C Anaerobic respiration produces alcohol.
D Anaerobic respiration produces carbon dioxide.

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 5 What term is used for the transference of a gene from one organism to another?

A artificial selection
B genetic engineering
C mutation
D natural selection

6 What is the role of anaerobic respiration in bread-making?

A to produce alcohol to flavour the bread

B to produce gas to make the bread rise
C to release enough energy to bake the bread
D to release enough lactic acid to kill the yeast

7 Which products of anaerobic respiration are important for making beer and bread?

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