AQA

A-Level
BIOLOGY
3.1 | Biological Molecules
1.2 | Carbohydrates

Time allowed
50 minutes

QUESTION PAPER

Score Percentage

/42 %
4.1 | CELL BIOLOGY | QUESTION PAPER 1 1
Many sports drinks contain water, sodium chloride and carbohydrates. The manufacturers of the
sports drinks claim that carbohydrates provide an energy boost. The sodium chloride
is used to increase absorption of glucose in the small intestine.

Scientists investigated the effect of a sports drink on the performance of runners in 5 km

races.
They recruited 100 runners who had previously run a 5 km race in similar times. During
this race, Race 1, they had water they could drink.

The scientists divided the runners into two equal groups, P and Q. Both groups ran a
second 5 km race, Race 2. During this race:

• group P had water available

• group Q had the sports drink available.

The scientists recorded the mean time for each group to complete this race.
Figure 1 shows their results.

Figure 1

The glycaemic index (GI) is a measure of the increase in blood glucose concentration
after eating a given mass of a food compared with eating the same mass of pure glucose.
The GI of pure glucose has a value of 100.

The GI of a food depends on several factors such as how much starch and sugars it
contains. High GI foods include those containing lots of simple sugars or white flour. The
carbohydrates in these foods are rapidly digested and absorbed. Low GI foods include
wholegrain bread and breakfast cereals that contain a lot of fibre. The carbohydrates in
these foods are digested and absorbed more slowly.

Figure 2 shows changes in blood glucose concentration after eating meals of high GI food
and meals of low GI food.

Figure 2
Explain how a sports drink could provide an energy boost when running.

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(3)
(Total 3 marks)
(a) In humans, the enzyme maltase breaks down maltose to glucose.
This takes place at normal body temperature.

Explain why maltase:

• only breaks down maltose
• allows this reaction to take place at normal body temperature.

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(b) Scientists have investigated the effects of competitive and non-competitive

inhibitors of the enzyme maltase.

Describe competitive and non-competitive inhibition of an enzyme.

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(5)
(Total 10 marks)
A student investigated the effect of chewing on the digestion of starch in cooked wheat.

He devised a laboratory model of starch digestion in the human gut. This is the method he
used.

1. Volunteers chewed cooked wheat for a set time. The wheat had been cooked in
boiling water.
2. This chewed wheat was mixed with water, hydrochloric acid and a protein-digesting
enzyme and left at 37 °C for 30 minutes.
3. A buffer was then added to bring the pH to 6.0 and pancreatic amylase was added.
This mixture was then left at 37 °C for 120 minutes.
4. Samples of the mixture were removed at 0, 10, 20, 40, 60 and 120 minutes, and the
concentration of reducing sugar in each sample was measured.
5. Control experiments were carried out using cooked wheat that had been chopped up
in a blender, not chewed.

(a) What reducing sugar, or sugars, would you expect to be produced during chewing?
Give a reason for your answer.

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(b) In this model of digestion in the human gut, what other enzyme is required for the
complete digestion of starch?

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(c) What was the purpose of step 2, in which samples were mixed with water,
hydrochloric acid and pepsin?

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(d) In the control experiments, cooked wheat was chopped up to copy the effect of
chewing.

Suggest a more appropriate control experiment. Explain your suggestion.

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(e) The figure below shows the student’s results.

 Incubation time / minutes

Explain what these results suggest about the effect of chewing on the digestion of
starch in wheat.

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(3)
(Total 9 marks)
Starch and cellulose are two important plant polysaccharides.

The following diagram shows part of a starch molecule and part of a cellulose molecule.

(a) Explain the difference in the structure of the starch molecule and the cellulose
molecule shown in the diagram above.

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(b) Starch molecules and cellulose molecules have different functions in plant cells.
Each molecule is adapted for its function.

Explain one way in which starch molecules are adapted for their function in plant
cells.

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(c) Explain how cellulose molecules are adapted for their function in plant cells.

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(3)
(Total 7 marks)
(a) (i) Give two ways in which the structure of starch is similar to cellulose.

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(ii) Give two ways in which the structure of starch is different from cellulose.

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(b) In plants, mass transport of sugars takes place through columns of sieve cells in the
phloem. Other cells, called companion cells, transport sugars into, and out of, the
sieve cells.

The diagram shows the structure of phloem.

Structures I and J allow the transport of sugars between cells.

(i) Using the diagram, suggest and explain one other way in which sieve cells are
adapted for mass transport.

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(ii) Using the diagram, suggest and explain one other way in which companion
cells are adapted for the transport of sugars between cells.

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(2)
(Total 8 marks)
Cow’s milk contains the sugar lactose. Many cats are unable to digest cow’s milk because
they are lactose intolerant.

Cow’s milk can be made suitable for these cats by treating it with the enzyme lactase to
hydrolyse lactose. This makes the cow’s milk lactose-free. Beads are coated with lactase
and placed in a tube, as shown in the diagram below. Cow’s milk flows over the beads
and the lactose is hydrolysed.

(a) Attaching lactase to the beads is a more efficient use of lactase than adding the
lactase directly to cow’s milk.

Suggest three reasons why it is more efficient to attach lactase to the beads.

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(b) Monosaccharides and disaccharides taste sweet.

The lactose-free milk made after hydrolysis with lactase tastes sweeter than the
cow’s milk containing lactose.
Suggest why.
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(2)
(Total 5 marks)