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Centre
No.

Initial(s)

Paper Reference

6 1 3 6

Candidate
No.

0 1

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Paper Reference(s)

6136/01

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Team Leaders use only

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Unit Test 6 Synoptic Paper

Thursday 28 January 2010 Morning

2
3

Time: 2 hours
Materials required for examination
Nil

4
Items included with question papers
A copy of the scientific article taken
from The Earth Only Endures
by Jules Pretty
Data booklet for Question 2

Instructions to Candidates
In the boxes above, write your centre number, candidate number, your surname, initial(s) and signature.
The paper reference is shown above. Check that you have the correct question paper.
Answer THREE questions. You must answer Questions 1 and 2, and then EITHER Question 3 OR
Question 4. You should allow about 45 minutes for answering Question 3 or 4 including planning
time.
Indicate which question you are answering by marking the box with a cross ( ). If you change your
mind, put a line through the box ( ) and then indicate your new question with a cross ( ).
Write your answers in the spaces provided in this question paper.

Information for Candidates

The marks for individual questions and the parts of questions are shown in round brackets: e.g. (2).
There are 4 questions in this question paper. The total mark for this paper is 60.
There are 20 pages in this question paper. Any blank pages are indicated.

Advice to Candidates
You will be assessed on your ability to organise and present information, ideas, descriptions and
arguments clearly and logically, including your use of grammar, punctuation and spelling.

Total
This publication may be reproduced only in accordance with
Edexcel Limited copyright policy.
2010 Edexcel Limited.
Printers Log. No.

H36171A
W850/R6136/57570 5/5/2/2/

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Answer BOTH questions 1 and 2

1.

The scientific article you have studied is an extract from a book called The Earth Only
Endures by Jules Pretty.
Use the information from the article, and your own knowledge, to answer the following
questions.
(a) Hippos may prevent the process of succession in their habitats.
Outline the normal process of succession in an ecosystem.
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(3)
(b) Suggest why the influenza virus can evolve so rapidly that we need new immunisations
each year.
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(c) Explain how a mother with blood group A and a father with blood group B could have
a child with blood group O.

(2)
(d) Todays industrialised processes have often come to mean a desire for
homogenisation.
Suggest two negative effects of environments becoming monocultures.
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(e) Ancestral humans did clearly play a significant role in reducing biological diversity
before this generations extraordinary extinctions.
Suggest how early human ancestors may have caused a reduction in biodiversity.
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(2)
(f) Suggest why we are still a long way from understanding how many of our
characteristics develop, despite determining the full sequence of the 30 000 or so genes
of humans.
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(g) Using examples from the text, describe evidence for the argument that humans are
still evolving.
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(2)
(h) Describe the evidence from twin studies for the roles of nature and nurture on the
development of IQ.
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Q1

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2.

Read and use the data in the data booklet provided and your own knowledge, to answer
the following questions.
(a) Figure 2 shows the number of cases of whooping cough, together with the percentage
of children vaccinated, in Scotland between 1959 and 1999.
(i) Describe the relationship between the number of cases of whooping cough
and the percentage of children vaccinated between 1979 and 1999, as shown in
Figure 2.
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(3)
(ii) Explain how a vaccination against Bordetella pertussis can help to prevent a child
becoming ill with whooping cough.
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(b) There was some controversy surrounding the whooping cough vaccine used in the
1970s and 1980s relating to the question of whether, in rare cases, the vaccine
caused permanent brain injury.
It was well-established that the vaccine caused many minor side effects in many
vaccinated infants. However, several published studies failed to show a causal
relationship between use of the vaccine and permanent brain injury.
Despite these studies, there were scare stories in the media about permanent brain
injuries caused by the use of the vaccine.
With reference to Figure 2 and Figure 3, discuss the consequences of the media scare
stories during the 1970s and 80s.
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(3)
(c) (i) With reference to Figure 3, calculate the percentage of this population of 1000
children who will not be protected if the whooping cough vaccine programme
was limited to one dose.

Answer .......................................%
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(ii) With reference to Figure 3, suggest why it is an advantage, in a mass vaccination

programme, to encourage the use of two or more doses of the vaccine.
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(2)
(d) The effect of antibiotics on the growth of the bacterium Bordetella pertussis can be
investigated.
Figure 4 shows the effect of antibiotics A, B, C, D, E, F and G on the growth of this
bacterium.
(i) Describe a method to investigate the effect of different antibiotics on a bacterium
that could produce evidence similar to that shown in Figure 4.
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(ii) Using the results shown in Figure 4, suggest which of the seven antibiotics
(A to G) should be prescribed to a patient suffering from the symptoms of
whooping cough.

answer..................................
(1)
(iii) Suggest any further information that should be considered when choosing an
antibiotic suitable for a patient suffering from whooping cough.
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(2)
(iv) Measles is a disease caused by a virus which is often caught by people suffering
from whooping cough.
Explain why antibiotics cannot be used as a treatment for measles.
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Q2

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Answer ONE of the following essay questions.

You should choose EITHER Question 3 OR Question 4.
You are expected to write your answer in continuous prose. You should use examples from the
biology course you have studied, but need not restrict yourself to the course content.
You are advised to spend approximately 45 minutes answering Question 3 or Question 4,
including planning time.
Marks will be awarded in the following areas:
Breadth: selecting a range of aspects of biology from different parts of your AS and A2
course which are relevant to the question.
(up to 6 marks)
Depth: developing the aspects you have chosen by including relevant details, examples
and discussion.
(up to 8 marks)
Balance: have you answered the question asked? for example, by dealing with the bigger
ideas which lie beneath the wording of the question, such as discussing implications,
weighing up benefits and risks, advantages and disadvantages or the extent to which an
assertion in the question is or is not valid.
(up to 6 marks)
Style: coherence, clarity and expression; for example, good use of technical terms,
sentences and paragraphs, and weaving together information and ideas clearly to focus on
the question.
(up to 4 marks)

3.

It has been estimated that over half of the proteins in the body are associated with
membranes of organelles and the cell surface membrane.
Write an essay on the structure and function of membrane proteins.

OR
4.

The effect of global climate change on the world food supply for the growing human
population is often seen as a potential catastrophe. Ever since agriculture started in the
New Stone Age, farmers have always been adaptable and modern scientific discoveries
will make the agriculture of tomorrow even better equipped to cope with change.
Will we be able to feed the world?
Write an essay on Global warming and the likely effects on agriculture in the 21st
Century.
(Total 20 marks)

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Indicate which question you are answering by marking the box ( ). If you change your
mind about which question to answer, put a line through the box ( ) and then indicate
your new question with a cross ( ).
Chosen question number:

Question 3

Question 4

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TOTAL FOR PAPER: 60 MARKS
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