BIOLOGY SENIOR QUIZ – CENTRAL REGION 2016

1. What do we call a condition in which there are very few red blood cells in the blood?
ANSWER: PERNICIOUS ANEMIA
2. What do we call the association where two organisms live together and mutually benefit from each other?
ANSWER: SYMBIOSIS
3. Give an example of a phylum where all members have an open circulatory system.
ANSWER: ANTHROPADA
4. What are abiotic factors?
ANSWER: NON-LIVING SUBSTANCES
5. BCG vaccination against tuberculosis is an example of which type of immunity?
ANSWER: ARTIFICIAL ACTIVE IMMUNITY
6. What are phonoreceptors?
ANSWER: CELLS THAT DETECT SOUND
7. Why do Cones of the eye work in bright light?
ANSWER: HIGH LIGHT LEVELS STIMULATE THEM TO PROVIDE COLOUR VISION
8. Why don’t rods distinguish colour?
ANSWER: THEY ARE MORE SENSITIVE TO LIGHT SO WILL FUNCTION IN DIM LIGHT
9. Name the type of muscle that causes locomotion in mammals.
ANSWER: SKELETAL MUSCLE
10. Give the name of the membrane surrounding the cell vacuoles.
ANSWER: TONOPLAST
11. Why does the pH in the mouth decrease after eating?
ANSWER: BACTERIA IN THE MOUTH RELEASE ACIDS WHEN RESPIRING FOOD
SUBSTANCES
12. How would you describe a drug that slows down messages in the nervous system?
ANSWER: DEPRESSANT

Page 1 of 4
13. What is the condition where chemicals in tobacco smoke lead to the breakdown of the elastic tissue in the walls
of the alveoli is called?
ANSWER: EMPHYSEMA
14. Which chemical test shows the presence of an enzyme in a biological washing powder?
ANSWER: BIURET (TEST)
15. Where are ribosomes synthesized and assembled?
ANSWER: IN THE NUCLEOLUS / WITHIN THE NUCLEUS
16. Aplast anaemia is the condition where the bone marrow is affected. What is the remedy for aplast anaemia?
ANSWER: BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT
17. Why is the condom a popular contraceptive?
ANSWERS: BECAUSE IT PREVENTS SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES AND
PREGNANCY
18. What do we call the amount of energy required to keep the body alive and warm when it is at complete rest?
ANSWER: BASAL METABOLISM
19. What is the main reason for crossing over during meiosis one (1)?
ANSWER: TO ENSURE THAT THERE IS VARIATION IN THE OFFSPRINGS / FOR
VARIATION
20. What does the ‘cell theory’ state?
ANSWER: ALL CELLS COME FROM PRE-EXISTING CELLS BY DIVISION
21. What is the main characteristic of an animal to be classified to phylum Chordata?
ANSWER: SPINAL CORD.
22. RNA is in three types, messenger RNA (mRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA) and ribosomal RNA (rRNA). What is
the role of transfer RNA (tRNA) in protein synthesis?
ANSWER: FUNCTION AS CARRIER OF AMINO ACIDS.
23. What is the commercial purpose of inserting insulin gene into a bacterium?
ANSWER: FOR THE COMMERCIAL (LARGE SCALE/INDUSTRIAL) PRODUCTION OF
INSULIN
24. Give the main function of glucocorticoids.
ANSWER: BREAKING DOWN OF PROTEINS AND LIPIDS TO PRODUCE GLUCOSE

Page 2 of 4
25. What is the technical name for the process which controls osmotic potential?
ANSWER: OSMOREGULATION
26. What are poikilothermic animals?
ANSWER: ANIMALS WHICH HAVE NO TEMPERATURE CONTROL AND DEPEND ON
THE APPROXIMATION OF THEIR SURROUNDINGS
27. What will be the biological advantage of increasing nitrate levels in rivers?
ANSWER: PLANTS WILL ABSORB THE NITRATES AND FORM MORE PROTEINS
[INCREASE IN POPULATION OF ORGANISMS]
28. What name is given to the shoot which is inserted on the stock during grafting?
ANSWER: THE SCION
29. Why are strawberries referred to as false fruits?
ANSWER: THE SEEDS ARE OUTSIDE THE FRUIT
[SEEDS ARE ATTACHED TO A LARGE FLESH STRUCTUREWHICH
DEVELOPS FROM THE RECEPTACLE OF A FLOWER]
30. What phrase is used to describe the seed whose water has been withdrawn making it hard and extremely
resistant to cold and other adverse conditions?
ANSWER: DORMANT SEED
31. What do we call the series of vessels which carries blood from the left ventricle around the body and back at
the right atrium? ONE ATTEMPT ONLY
ANSWER: SYSTEMIC CIRCULATION
32. What is thrombosis?
ANSWER: BLOOD CLOTS FORMATION BLOCKING ARTERIES TO VITAL ORGANS
33. What name is given to an organism which possesses both male and female reproductive organs?
HERMAPHRODITE
34. A stream containing only sludge worms and rat-tailed maggots is badly polluted. What are these animals
called?
ANSWER: INDICATOR ANIMALS
35. It is a way of life which enables a species to occupy a particular place within a community.
ANSWER: NICHE
36. Where else are taste buds found apart from the tongue?

Page 3 of 4
 ANSWER: INNER CHEEKS [INNER SIDE OF MOUTH]

Page 4 of 4