IB PAST PAPER QUESTIONS

CARBOHYDRATES, LIPIDS, PROTEINS, NUCLEIC ACIDS (incl. DNA REPLICATION)

1. Which of the following is an organic compound found in both plant and animal cells?

A. Cellulose

B. Carbonate

C. Water

D. Pyruvate

2. Which molecule represents ribose?

A . B.
C H 2O H O

H C O H H C H

H C O
C C
O H H H
O H O H N
C C
H H
H O H

C. H 2C O H D . O
H O H 2C H

H C O H C C
H H
H 2C O H H O H
C C

O H O H

3. Which molecule is a monosaccharide?

A. Ribose

B. Glycogen

C. Amylase

D. Glycerol

4. What is a role of carbohydrates in animal cells?

A. As channels for passive transport

B. As enzymes

C. As energy storage

D. As components of the animal cell wall

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5. Which of the following terms correctly describe the molecule below?
H
H O H
C

C O
H H
H
C C
O H H
O H O H
C C

H O H

I. Monosaccharide

II. Ribose

III. Carbohydrate

A. I only

B. I and III only

C. II and III only

D. I, II and III

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6. What is the maximum number of fatty acids that can be condensed with glycerol?

A. One

B. Two

C. Three

D. Four

7. Which is the structure of glycerol?

A . H H H B . H H H

H C C C H H C C C H

O H O H O H H H O H

C . H H D . H H

H C C H H C C H

O H O H H O H

8. Which structure represents an amino acid?

A . H B. H
H O H O
N C C N C C

H H H SH
H O H

C. H D . H
H O H O
N C C N C C

H H H O H
O H H

9. Which is not a primary function of protein molecules?

A. Hormones

B. Energy storage

C. Transport

D. Structure

10. The diagram below shows a channel protein in a membrane. Which parts of the surface of the
protein would be composed of polar amino acids.

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A. I and II only

B. II and III only

C. III and IV only

D. I and IV only

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11. Which diagram correctly illustrates a dipeptide?

A . H H O H H O B. H H O H H O

N C C N C C N C C N C C
H H H O H H O H
H H

C. H H H H H O D . H H O H H O

N C C N C C N C C N C C

H H H O H H H H O H

12. Which of the following reactions occurs when a dipeptide is formed from amino acids?

A. Hydrolysis

B. Denaturation

C. Condensation

D. Oxidation

13. What is one role of the element phosphorus?

A. It forms part of the structure of amino acids.

B. It forms part of the structure of fatty acids.

C. It forms part of the structure of ribose.

D. It forms part of the structure of nucleotides.

14. What is a difference between the sense and antisense strands of DNA?

A. Nucleotides are linked to the sense strand by hydrogen bonding during transcription, but
not to the antisense strand.

B. The sense strand has the same base sequence as tRNA, but the antisense strand does not.

C. Nucleotides are linked to the antisense strand by hydrogen bonding during transcription,
but not to the sense strand.

D. The antisense strand has the same base sequence as mRNA but the sense strand does not.

15. Which of the following are connected by a hydrogen bond?

A. The hydrogen and oxygen atoms of a water molecule

B. A base pair of a DNA molecule

C. Two amino acid molecules of a dipeptide

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 D. Two glucose molecules in a disaccharide

16. What is the composition of the backbone of DNA?

A. Alternating sugar and phosphate molecules

B. Complementary base pairs

C. Alternating sugar and base molecules

D. A polysaccharide

17. In an electron micrograph, a DNA molecule appears 1 mm wide. The magnification of the
micrograph is 500 000. What is the width of the DNA molecule?

A. 0.5 nm

B. 2 nm

C. 0.5 m

D. 2 m

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18. To which parts of the deoxyribose molecule do phosphates bind in DNA?

V CH 2O H
I
O H

IV
H H H O H

II

O H H
III

A. I and V

B. III and IV

C. II and III

D. III and V

19. The diagram below represents a DNA nucleotide. What could the part labelled X represent?

A. Ribose

B. Uracil

C. Guanine

D. Phosphate

20. What are the components of a DNA nucleotide?

A. Deoxyribose, a phosphate and one of the bases: adenine, cytosine, guanine or thymine

B. Ribose, a phosphate and one of the bases: adenine, cytosine, guanine or uracil

C. Deoxyribose, a nitrate and one of the bases: adenine, cytosine, guanine or thymine

D. Ribose, a nitrate and one of the bases: adenine, cytosine, guanine or thymine

21. Which events take place in DNA replication?

I. Formation of messenger RNA

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 II. Unwinding of DNA double helix
III. Formation of complementary strands by DNA polymerase

A. I and II only

B. I and III only

C. II and III only

D. I, II and III

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22. The diagram shows part of a molecule produced by replication of DNA. What is the
significance of the shaded and the unshaded regions?

A. The shaded parts are DNA and the unshaded parts are mRNA.

B. The shaded parts contain adenine and thymine and the unshaded parts contain guanine
and cytosine.

C. The shaded part is a codon and unshaded part is an anticodon.

D. One of the parts has been newly synthesized and the other was part of a pre-existing DNA
molecule.

23. The diagram below shows the bases on a short section of DNA during replication. Identify the
sequence of bases on the new complementary strand labelled I in the diagram.

A. CTAG

B. CUAG

C. TCGA
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 D. AGCT

24. What is responsible for the conservation of the base sequence during DNA replication?

A. DNA polymerase working on one strand at the same time.

B. Unpaired bases always attracting their complementary nucleotides.

C. DNA helicase and polymerase are complementary.

D. Both strands are identical to each other.

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25. During the process of replication, which bond(s) in the diagram of DNA below is/are
broken?

3 6
4
1
7

A. 3

B. 4, 5

C. 1, 2, 6, 7

D. 1, 7, 4, 5

26. A biochemist isolated and purified molecules needed for DNA replication. When some DNA
was added replication occurred, but the DNA molecules formed were defective. Each consisted
of a normal DNA strand paired with segments of DNA a few hundred nucleotides long. Which
of the following had been left out of the mixture?

A. DNA ligase

B. Helicase

C. Nucleotides

D. DNA polymerase

27. What is the function of helicase?

A. It forms bonds between DNA nucleotides.

B. It adds new nucleotides to the DNA helix.

C. It forms the DNA helix.

D. It separates DNA strands.

1. Describe the use of carbohydrates and lipids for energy storage in animals.
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 (Total 5 marks)

2. Outline the production of a dipeptide by a condensation reaction. Include the structure of a

generalized dipeptide in your answer.
(Total 5 marks)

3. List four functions of proteins, giving an example of each.

(Total 4 marks)

4. Draw a diagram showing the molecular structure of a section of the DNA molecule.
(Total 5 marks)

5. Living organisms use DNA as their genetic material. Explain how DNA is replicated within the
cells of living organisms.
(Total 8 marks)

6. The structure of the DNA double helix was described by Watson and Crick in 1953. Explain the
structure of the DNA double helix, including its subunits and the way in which they are bonded
together.
(Total 8 marks)

7. State a role for each of four different named enzymes in DNA replication.
(Total 6 marks)

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