WASSCE BIOLOGY MAY/JUNE 2011 (SSCE WAEC MAY/JUNE 2011 BIOLOGY)
1. The branch of Biology that deals with the principles of classification of organisms is known as
A. biological index
B. nomenclature
C. taxonomy
D. ecology
2. Which of the following structures is a tissue
A. Vessel element
B. Blood
C. Sieve tube element
D. Erythrocyte
3. Which of the following cells are not regarded as specialized?
A. Sperm cells
B. Root up cells
C. Muscle cells
D. somatic cells
4. Which of the following pairs of cells carry out the same function?
A. Check cell and red blood cell
B. Spermatozoan and ovum
C. Palisade cell and epidermal cell
D. Root tip cell and guard cell
5. If Amoeba is placed in a salt solution the contractile vacuoles would
A. be bursting more frequently
B. be more numerous
C. be formed less frequently
D. grow bigger before they burst
6. In which of the following habitats is Paramecium no found
A. Pond
B. Aquarium
C. Lake
D. Puddle
7. The following processes are involved in water movement in the endodermis except
A. osmosis
B. vacuolar pathway
C. diffusion
D. active transport
8. Cells that utilize a lot of energy are characterized by the presence of a large number of
A. vacuoles
B. mitochondria
C. endoplasmic reticulum
D. ribosomes
The diagram below represents the phenomenon of growth in a meristematic cell of a plant. Use it to answer 9 and 10
9. The part labelled II in the diagram is
A. centriole
B. chloroplast
C. chromatid
D. tonoplast
10. The part labelled I is called the
A. nucleolus
B. centromere
C. centriole
D. spindle
11. Secondary growth is brought about by the activities of the
A. phellogen and phelloderm
B. phellogen and procambium.
C. vascular cambium and phelloderm
D. vascular cambium and phellogen
12 A monocot root is different from a dicot root by having
A. endodermis
B. cambium
C. wide pith
D. root hair.
13. Which of the following statements best describes haemoglobin? It is
A. yellowish in colour
B. a red blood cell
C. an oxygen carrying pigment
D. needed for blood clotting
14. Inhaled air is made warm and moist in the
A. epiglottis
B. nasal cavity
C. trachea
D. mouth
15. Which of the following structures is not involve in respiration?
A. Lung books
B. Mouth
C. Stomach
D. Trachea
16. Filtrate in the Bowman’s capsule contains vitamins because
A. only all le amount is required by the body
B. they can be reabsorbed into the blood
C. they have low molecular weight
D. most of them are fat soluble.
17. More sweat is produced during muscular exercise because
A. the contracting muscles produce water
B. fermentation occurs in muscles
C. the temperature of the body rises
D. the muscle fatigues
18. Which of the following neurons may not have myelin sheath?
A. Effector cells
B. Intermediate neurons
C. Motor neurons
D. Sensory neurons
19. Which of the following is an effector organ?
A. Tongue
B. Skin
C. Nose bridge
D. Ear glands
20. During sexual reproduction in Paramecium, how many times does the zygote divide to produce eight nuclei?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
21. The testes in male mammals descend into the scrotal sac because
A. there is congestion in the lower abdomen
B. they run the risk of being destroyed
C. they need special support
D. they require a relatively low temperature
22. Some animals return to water bodies to reproduce because
A. natural enemies destroy their eggs on land
B. water nourishes their embryos and their young ones
C. they are close to their ancestors and imitate them
D. the temperature on land is not suitable for the development of their embryos
23. Which of the following methods is appropriate for the cultivation of cassava?
A. Budding
B. Fragmentation
C. Root cutting
D. Stem cutting
24. What will be the chromosome number of the hybrid of two varieties of a plant with 36 chromosomes in the endosperm cell?
A. 12
B. 24
C. 35
D. 48
25. Kreb’s cycle occurs in the
A. mitochondria
B. cytoplasm
C. nucleus
D. ribosomes
26. The process whereby electrons are emitted from chlorophyll and returned to it unchanged is known as
A. non-cyclic phosphorylation
B. photochemical reaction
C. photophorylation
D. cyclic photophorylatlion
27. Which of the following statements about photosynthesis is not true?
A. Plants can photosynthesize without an increase in dry weight
B. Carbon dioxide is absorbed by the leaves in bright light
C. oxygen is produced during photosynthesis from the breakdown of water
D. Photosynthesis occurs in green plants
28. The equation below represent the process of glycolysis
A. glucose diphosphate
B. glucose phosphate
C. glucose triphosphate
D. fructose phosphate
29. The removal of all the phloem tissues of the stem of a plant close to the root system for a long period of time is likely to
A. provide more energy to the roots
B. accumulate more starch in the roots
C. cause the underground roots to develop buds
D. cause the p ant to wither and die
30. The conversion of glucose to starch in the leaf during the day principally
A. enables photosynthesis
B. prevents osmotic problems
C. enables the leaf to store the starch
D. enables glucose to be used up
31. Which of the following groups of substances are not six-carbon compounds?
A. Glucose and lactose
B. Lactose and cellulose
C. Glucose, Lactose and Pyruvate
D. Pyruvate and cellulose
32. A purple colour was obtained when sodium hydroxide solution and a drop of copper sulphate solution were added to a food substance. The food substance is likely to be a
A. carbohydrate
B. fat
C. protein
D. sugar
33. Which of the following enzymes is active in the duodenum?
A. Pepsin
B. Renin
C. Trypsin
D. Amylase
34. The following organisms are producers except
A. Hibiscus
B. Mushroom
C. Cactus
D. Spirogyra
35. Which of the following structures produces the greatest variety of digestive enzymes?
A. Salivary glands
B. Pancreas
C. Stomach
D. Colon
36. The following are abiotic components of an ecosystem except
A. temperature
B. oxygen
C. bacteria
D. soil
Use the information on capture-recapture method to calculate the total number of organisms in a habitat.
First capture = 200
Second capture = 120
Number of organisms with mark in second capture = 40
37. The total number of organisms therefore is
A. 200
B. 360
C. 600
D. 800
38. Ecological investigation in a habitat includes the following procedures except
A. choosing a habitat
B. identification of specimens
C. determining the genetic makeup of specimens
D. measuring abiotic and biotic factors
39. Which of the following substances when lost from the body of a mammal will not be returned to the ecosystem?
A. Sweat
B. Urea
C. Heat energy
D. Carbon dioxide
40. The rate of decomposition of organisms is faster in the tropical rain forest than in other biomes because
A. of the relatively constant daylight
B. there are more plants per square feet
C. of abundance of water
D. of constant cool temperature
41. A xerophyte conserves water by possession of the following features except
A. thick cuticle
B. sunken stomata
C. broad leaves
D. fleshy stem
42. The falling off of leaves of deciduous trees is helpful to the plant because it
A. reduces the rate of transpiration
B. enables the plant to conveniently eliminate its excretory products
C. enables the plant to bear more fruits
D. ensures that the limited mineral salts get to only growing regions
43. A sample of wet garden soil of known weigh was heated to constant weight. The loss of weight is due to loss of
A. water
B. organic matter
C. water and organic matter
D. water and inorganic matter
44. Assuming that a period of stable population size is followed by a period when natality increases by ten (10) per cent and immigration increases by twenty (20) percent of population size. The population size will
A. be at equilibrium
B. increase by forty (40) per cent
C. begin to increase
D. begin to decrease
45. Which of the following methods does not make water fit for drinking?
A. Addition of chlorine
B. Boiling
C. Distillation
D. Addition of alum
46. Vaccination results in
A. aiding red blood cells to carry more oxygen
B. production of antibodies which destroy toxins of germs
C. arresting excessive bleeding
D. production of white blood cells which engulf and digest bacteria.
47. Leguminous crops are incorporated into crop rotation in order to
A. improve aeration of the soil.
B. promote nitrogen fixation
C. increase the rate of soil formation
D. improve upon the water holding capacity of the soil
48. Which of the following practices improves crop yield in a clayey soil? Addition of
A. more water and humus
B. lime and humus
C. fertilizers
D. weedicides and fertilizers
49. Which of the following activities promotes forest conservation?
A. Lumbering
B. Use of firewood for cooking
C. Afforestation
D. Production of paper
50. Which of the following statements is not true about continuous variation? It
A. is usually controlled by several genes
B. can be influenced by environmental factors
C. follows a normal distribution curve
D. is usually controlled by one or two pair(s) of genes
51. Acquired characters are
A. received from parents
B. passed to offspring
C. caused by the environment
D. caused by mutation
52. Differences in characteristics observed between individuals of the same species is known as
A. trait
B. phenotype
C. mutation
D. variation
53. Which of the following statements best describes protein synthesis?
A. DNA is directly involved in translation
B. translocation oft e ribosomes exposes a new codon for base pairing with an amino acid
C. Each tRNA with a particular anticodon always carries a different protein in the process
D. One amino acid is always carried by more than one
54. If a person has two alleles of the sickle cell anaemia gene, the person
A. is a heterozygous carrier of the disease
B. is immune to the disease and cannot pass it on to an offspring
C. has the disease
D. is probably of Asian ancestry
55. What is the probability? of a man of blood group AB married to a woman of blood group O producing a child of blood group O?
A. 0%
B. 25%
C. 50%
D. 75%
56. A man with blood group IA IA is married to a woman with blood group IA IO. The blood group of their son is likely to be
A. A
B. O
C. B
D. AB
57. Natural selection is a consequence of
A. distribution of organisms
B. adverse conditions
C. variation in organisms
D. inbreeding
58. Which of the following components of Larmark’s theory of evolution is considered faulty?
A. Individuals of the same species growing under different environmental conditions differ from each other
B. Use of certain organs result in development of those parts
C. Unused organs degenerate
D. Changes that result in individuals of the same species are transmitted to offspring
59. A vestigial structure in humans is
A. earlobe
B. toe bone
C. tail bone
D. spleen
60. Adenine pairs with thymine because
A. the two occur in the same nucleic acid
B. one is a strong base and the other a weak base
C. two purine bases easily pair up
D. one is a purine base and the other a pyrimidine.