Inheritance (Cambridge O Level Biology)

Topic Questions

1
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Males and females have different chromosomes. 

What is the correct combination of chromosomes to determine male or female sex?

  • Male XY

    Female YY

  • Male YX

    Female XY

  • Male XY

    Female XX

  • Male XX

    Female XY

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2
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A tall pea plant is crossed with a short pea plant.

  • The tall allele is dominant over the short allele.
  • The tall plant is heterozygous
  • The short plant is homozygous recessive 

Which is the correct genetic diagram for this cross?

  •   t t
    T Tt Tt
    T Tt Tt
  •   t t
    T Tt Tt
    t tt tt
  •   T t
    T TT Tt
    t Tt tt
  •   T T
    t Tt Tt
    t Tt Tt

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3
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What is a mutation?

  • A change in the DNA base sequence that occurs in response to an environmental factor

  • A type of continuous variation

  • A condition caused by a dominant allele

  • A random change in the DNA base sequence

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41 mark

Chromosomes, DNA molecules and genes are pieces of inherited material with different sizes. 
 

Which statement describes the relationship between these pieces of inherited material?

  • A chromosome is larger than a gene.

  • A gene is larger than a chromosome.

  • Multiple chromosomes make up a DNA molecule.

  • Multiple DNA molecules make up a gene.

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51 mark

Which statements about genes and chromosomes are correct?

  A chromosome contains DNA A gene is a section of DNA
A true true
B true false
C false true
D false false

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1
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A farmer is growing pea plants; the allele for tall plants is T and is dominant to the allele for dwarf plants, t.

Which cross would she need to carry out to produce a ratio of 1:1 tall to dwarf plants?

  • tt x tt

  • Tt x Tt

  • TT x Tt

  • Tt x tt

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2
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ABO blood groups are an inherited characteristic.

Which of the following is the blood group of the offspring from two parents with the genotypes IAIA and IAIO?

  • Group O

  • Group B

  • Group AB

  • Group A

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3
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Fruit flies can have orange or red eyes.

If two orange-eyed flies are crossed, all of the offspring will have orange eyes.

If two red-eyed fruit flies are crossed, the offspring have either orange or red eyes.

What can be concluded from these observations?

  • The allele for orange eyes is dominant

  • Crossing an orange-eyed fly with a red-eyed fly will give a 1:1 ratio

  • The allele for red eyes is dominant

  • We could determine which allele is dominant only if we did further crosses that produced a 3:1 ratio

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4
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The inheritance of Huntington's disease is determined by a single gene. This gene has a dominant allele and a recessive allele. The allele for Huntington’s is dominant to the allele for non-sufferers of the condition.

The diagram shows the inheritance of Huntington’s in a family.

huntingtons

What is the probability that the next child from the same parents will have Huntington’s?

  • 0 %

  • 25 %

  • 50 %

  • 75 %

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5
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The diagram shows the inheritance of ABO blood groups in a family.

blood-groups

Which of the following correctly identifies Jignasha’s genotype?

  • IAIO

  • IOIO

  • IBIB

  • IBIO

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61 mark

Earlobes can either be attached to the cheek or be ‘free’ (unattached). This characteristic is controlled by a single gene. 

The allele for attached earlobes is recessive. 

The diagram shows the inheritance of attached earlobes in one family. q6-17-3-inheritance-hard-mcq-cie-o-level-biology

Which two individuals must be heterozygous for earlobe attachment?

  • 1 and 7

  • 3 and 4

  •  5 and 8

  • 6 and 9

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71 mark

The diagram shows a family in which some members suffer from a disease caused by a recessive allele.q7-17-3-inheritance-medium-mcq-cie-o-level-biology

Identify two members of the family who must be heterozygous for the gene?

  • 5 and 7 

  • 3 and 6

  • 2 and 5 

  • 1 and 4

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1
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Albinism is a condition where the pigment melanin does not get produced in the skin, hair and eyes. This is an inherited condition that is caused by a recessive allele.

If both parents have albinism, what is the probability of the offspring inheriting albinism?

  • 0 %

  • 25 %

  • 75 %

  • 100 %

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2
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Two individuals are crossed. One is homozygous dominant (TT), the other is heterozygous.

What will the genotypes of the offspring be?

  • All Tt

  • 50 % TT, 50 % Tt

  • 50 % TT, 50 % tt

  • 25 % TT, 50 % Tt, 25 % tt

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3
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The diagram shows how the sex of offspring can be determined.

inheritance

What are the sex chromosomes in gamete Q and the son's cells R?

  Q R
A X XY
B X XX
C Y XY
D Y XX

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