CIE A Level Biology

Topic Questions

A LevelBiologyCIETopic Questions2. Biological Molecules2.2 Carbohydrates & Lipids

Syllabus Edition

First teaching 2020

Last exams 2024

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2.2 Carbohydrates & Lipids

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11 mark

The structure of cellulose is held together by which type of bond?

1 ionic bonds
2 glycosidic bonds
3 hydrogen bonds

  • 1, 2 and 3

  • 1 and 2 only

  • 2 and 3 only

  • 1 and 3 only

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21 mark

Which bonds are found in glycogen?

q2-2-2-easy

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31 mark

Where are the double bonds located in unsaturated lipid molecules?

  • within fatty acids chains and within glycerol molecules

  • between glycerol molecules and fatty acids chains

  • within glycerol molecules only

  • within fatty acid chains only

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41 mark

Which of the molecules below is straight beta-glucose?q4-2-2-easy

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51 mark

A biological molecule is shown in the image below.q5-2-2-easy

Which of the following could the molecule above be?

1 amylose
2 amylopectin
3 cellulose
4 glycogen

  • 1, 2 and 4

  • 1 and 2 only

  • 1 and 3 only

  • 2 and 4 only

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61 mark

The diagrams below show a number of biological molecules.q6-2-2-easy

Which of the molecules above contains a glycosidic bond?

  • 1 and 3 only

  • 1, 2 and 4

  • 1 and 2 only 

  • 1 only

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71 mark

Which of the following features distinguishes starch from glycogen?

  • Starch contains 1,6-glycosidic bonds.

  • Starch only contains straight alpha-glucose.

  • Starch is a polysaccharide.

  • Starch has an unbranched component.

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81 mark

Which molecule in the image below contains ester bonds?q8-2-2-easy

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91 mark

Which of the following types of bond is responsible for joining smaller molecules together to form biological polymers?

  • covalent

  • hydrogen

  • hydrophobic interactions

  • ionic

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101 mark

Which of the following statements about triglycerides is incorrect?

  • They play a vital role in energy storage within an organism.

  • They have a lower ratio of oxygen to carbon compared with carbohydrates.

  • Only triglycerides with unsaturated fatty acid chains contain double bonds.

  • They are made up of three fatty acids combined with glycerol.

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11 mark

The diagram below shows the molecular structures of two molecules.q1-hard-2-2

1

The phospholipid has fatty acid chains of the same length whereas the triglyceride has fatty acid chains of different lengths.
2 The phospholipid has two ester bonds in its structure whereas the triglyceride has three.
3 The triglyceride is non-polar and will form hydrogen bonds with water molecules.
4 The fatty acid chains in the triglyceride are all saturated, whereas in the phospholipid there is an unsaturated bond.

   

Which of the above statements are true?

  • 1 and 3 only

  • 1, 2 and 4

  • 2 and 4 only

  • 2 only

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21 mark

A number of biological molecules are shown in the diagram below.q2-hard-2-2

Which row of the table below correctly identifies some of the products of hydrolysis of the molecules above?

  Q R S T
A straight alpha-glucose straight beta-glucose glycerol straight alpha-glucose
B straight alpha-glucose straight beta-glucose fatty acids straight alpha-glucose
C straight beta-glucose straight alpha-glucose glycerol straight beta-glucose
D straight beta -glucose straight alpha-glucose phosphate group straight alpha-glucose

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31 mark

q3-hard-2-2

1 Molecule P contains peptide bonds, whereas Molecules R and Q are polymers with one type of covalent bond holding their sub-units together
2 Molecules R and T could both be found in animals and plants, whereas Molecule Q will never be found in animals.
3 Molecule S is commonly used for every storage in plants, whereas Molecule Q has a structural role only.
4 Molecule T has a helical structure, and Molecule R is commonly used for energy storage in plants.


Which of the statements above are not true?

  • 1 and 3 only

  • 1, 2 and 3

  • 2 and 4 only

  • 4 only

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41 mark

Which of the following molecules would have a structural formula that contains C=O bonds?

1 fatty acids
2 glucose
3 glycerol

  • 1 and 2 only

  • 2 and 3 only

  • 1 only

  • 3 only

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51 mark

The names of four biological molecules are given below:

1 glucose
2 fructose
3 maltose
4 sucrose


Which of the following combinations contains a disaccharide that would act as a reducing agent when mixed with copper (II) sulfate ions, and a disaccharide that wouldn't?

  • 1 and 3

  • 1 and 4

  • 2 and 3

  • 3 and 4

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61 mark
1

Sucrose hydrolysis results in the breakage of glycosidic bonds, releasing equal amounts of fructose and straight alpha-glucose molecules, whereas the hydrolysis of amylose in plant cells results in only straight beta-glucose molecules.
2

The glycosidic bonds of glycogen have been formed between two straight alpha-glucose molecules and only contain 1,4-glycosidic bonds, whereas the structure of amylose contains both 1 and 1,6-glycosidic bonds.
3 Triglycerides are polymers of three fatty acid chains joined to a glycerol molecule, forming a macromolecule which is not soluble in water.


Which of the statements above are not true?

  • 1 and 2

  • 2 and 3

  • 1, 2 and 3

  • None of the above

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71 mark

Lactose is a disaccharide that can be broken down to two different monosaccharides, one of which is galactose.

Which of the following correctly describes what occurs when lactose breaks down?

  • Hydrolysis, releasing galactose and glucose and using water

  • Condensation of galactose and glucose, using water

  • Hydrolysis, releasing maltose and galactose and using water

  • Condensation, releasing maltose and galactose, releasing water

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81 mark

Which of the following is a correct description?

  • Sucrose and maltose are disaccharides that do not react with Cu2+ ions in Benedict's reagent, resulting in no colour change signifying that reducing sugars are present

  • Sucrose and maltose are disaccharides, sucrose is a reducing sugar that can donate electrons to Cu2+ ions in Benedict's reagent, resulting in a colour change whereas maltose does not reduce Cu2+ ions

  • Sucrose and maltose are disaccharides that do not react with Cu2+ ions in Benedict's reagent, resulting in no colour change signifying that non-reducing sugars are present

  • Sucrose and maltose are disaccharides, maltose is a reducing sugar that can donate electrons to Cu2+ ions in Benedict's reagent, resulting in a colour change whereas sucrose does not reduce Cu2+ ions

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91 mark

Which of the following is a correct description of a monosaccharide?

  • An OH group projects below the plane of the ring of 1C and 4C in straight alpha-glucose, and above the plane of the ring of 2C and 4C in straight beta-glucose.

  • An OH group projects below the plane of the ring of 1C and 4C in straight beta-glucose, and above the plane of the ring of 2C and 1C in straight alpha-glucose

  • An OH group projects below the plane of the ring of 1C and 3C in straight beta-glucose, whereas the OH group projects above the plane of 1C in straight alpha-glucose.

  • An OH group projects above the plane of the ring of 1C and 3C in straight beta-glucose, whereas the OH group projects below the plane of 1C in straight alpha-glucose.

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101 mark

Glycosidic bonds join monosaccharides together to form disaccharides and polysaccharides. Peptide bonds join amino acid subunits together to form polypeptide chains. Triglyceride molecules contain three fatty acid chains joined to one glycerol molecule via three ester bonds.

Which of the following statements correctly describes a feature all of the polymers described above share?

  • They all contain monomers which are formed by many smaller molecules joined together by hydrogen bonds, which form during condensation reactions.

  • They all contain monomers which are formed by many smaller molecules joined together by hydrogen bonds, which form during hydrolysis reactions.

  • They all contain monomers which are formed by many smaller molecules joined together by covalent bonds, which form during condensation reactions.

  • They all contain monomers which are formed by many smaller molecules joined together by covalent bonds, which form during hydrolysis reactions.

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11 mark

Two biological molecules are shown in the diagram below.q1-2-2-medium

Which row of the following table correctly identifies features of these molecules?

  Molecule 1 Molecule 2
A has 3 fatty acid chains fatty acid chains are all saturated
B has 2 ester bonds and a phosphate group has 3 phosphodiester bonds
C has 3 saturated fatty acid chains has 1 unsaturated fatty acid chain
D molecule is polar molecule is polar

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21 mark

Two molecules of glucose are shown in the diagram below.

Four possible bonding positions are labelled h, i, k and l, and m, n, o and p.q2-2-2-medium

When these two molecules condense to form amylopectin, where could these bonds form?

  •  o — i or k — p

  • p — i or p - k

  • i — n or m - h

  • p — k or n - i

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31 mark

Which of the following occurs when sucrose is formed from monosaccharides?

  • Condensation of non-reducing sugars, using water

  • Condensation of reducing sugars, using water

  • Condensation of reducing sugars, releasing water

  • Condensation of non-reducing sugars, releasing water

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41 mark

The molecular structure of starch makes it suited to its function.

Which of the following statements best explains why?

  • Many condensation reactions, in the breakdown of amylose and amylopectin, release stored energy.

  • Many hydrolysis reactions, in the formation of amylose and amylopectin, allow the release of stored energy to fuel cellular processes.

  • Amylose has a branched structure and amylopectin is coiled to give a compact structure for transport around the plant through the phloem.

  • The amylose-amylopectin complex is insoluble, so it does not affect the water potential of the cell.

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51 mark

There is a naturally occurring polysaccharide which has the structure of an unbranched chain of the molecule acetylglucosamine held together by straight beta-1, 4 glycosidic bonds.
Between these unbranched chains are many types of a much weaker bond.

There are -CH20H groups that alternate on each side of the polysaccharide chain.

Which of the following polysaccharides has a structure similar to that described above?

  • glycogen

  • cellulose

  • amylopectin

  • amylose

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61 mark

Which of the following correctly shows the structure of straight alpha-glucose and of straight beta-glucose?

q6-2-2-medium



























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71 mark

Which of the following statements correctly describes a feature of carbohydrates or lipids?

  • Glycosidic bonds form during hydrolysis reactions, joining monosaccharides together to form disaccharides and polysaccharides.

  • A triglyceride is not an example of a polymer as it is not formed from smaller subunits joined together by covalent bonds.

  • A triglyceride is not an example of a polymer although it is formed from smaller subunits joined together.

  • Glycosidic bonds join disaccharides together to form monosaccharides and polysaccharides.

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81 mark

Which of the following procedures could be carried out on sucrose to achieve a positive test result for a reducing sugar?

1 Dissolve in water, neutralize with acid and then heat with Benedict's reagent.
2 Boil with hydrochloric acid, neutralise and then heat with Benedict's reagent.
3 Add hydrolytic enzymes and then heat with Benedict's reagent.

  • 1, 2 and 3

  • 1 and 2 only

  • 2 and 3 only

  • 1 and 3 only

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91 mark

Which of the statements below correctly describes a disaccharide?

  • Sugars formed from two subunits joined together by a covalent bond that forms during a hydrolysis reaction.

  • Sugars formed from two subunits joined together by a glycosidic bond that forms during a hydrolysis reaction.

  • Sugars formed from two subunits joined together by a glycosidic bond that forms during a condensation reaction.

  • Starches formed from two subunits joined together by a covalent bond that forms during a condensation reaction.

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101 mark

All biological molecuies have structures that relate to their functions.

Three statements about structure are given below:

1 It is insoluble in water.
2 Forms long straight chains of sugar subunits held together by glycosidic bonds.
3 Many hydrogen bonds are able to form.

Which of the options below would all three statements above apply to?

  • amylose and amylopectin

  • cellulose only

  • both amylose and cellulose

  • amylose only

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