Biology 0610 · IGCSE
Selection
91 practice questions on Selection, with worked solutions and instant marking.
In what way does artificial selection differ from natural selection?
Feb/March 2017
Which statement concerning selective breeding is correct?
Feb/March 2018
In regions of the world where malaria occurs, the sickle-cell allele is found at a higher frequency. What is the explanation for this?
Feb/March 2018
What is one characteristic of natural selection?
Feb/March 2018
The appearance of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics is an example of
Feb/March 2019
Which feature is true of selective breeding but not of natural selection?
Feb/March 2020
The events below could occur within a population. 1 Organisms that are better adapted survive. 2 Mutation produces variation. 3 The survivors transmit their alleles to the next generation. 4 A struggle for survival takes place. Which sequence could result in evolution in the population?
Feb/March 2020
Fig. 3.1 presents a food web.
Feb/March 2021
For many centuries, humans have reared sheep because they provide wool. The flow chart illustrates how a farmer might breed sheep so that more wool is produced. Which process is shown by this flow chart?
Feb/March 2023
Which statements are true in both natural selection and artificial selection?
Feb/March 2023
The diagram illustrates how \textit{Homo sapiens} (modern humans) may have evolved from earlier ancestors. Which statement about modern humans and their ancestors is correct?
Feb/March 2024
Which factors would raise the likelihood of antibiotic resistance developing?
Feb/March 2024
Barley is cultivated as a crop plant.
Feb/March 2025
Which of the following is not a characteristic of natural selection?
May/June 2016
A few disease-causing bacteria are able to remain alive after an antibiotic has been used. Which of the following statements about these surviving bacteria is correct?
May/June 2016
The number of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics is rising. What has led to this situation?
May/June 2017
An adaptive feature is a characteristic that enables an organism to survive in its environment. Adaptive features are inherited. Fig. 5.1 shows diagrams of three animals.
May/June 2017
Fig. 7.1 displays a photograph of Ursus maritimus (polar bear).
May/June 2017
Natural selection theory explains how one species may slowly evolve into another species.
May/June 2017
What must be present for natural selection to take place?
May/June 2018
Sickle-cell anaemia is a genetic disorder that causes severe illness in homozygous individuals. In certain human populations, heterozygous individuals may have an advantage. What might explain this?
May/June 2018
Which statement best explains the connection between evolution and natural selection?
May/June 2018
Fitness is defined as the likelihood that an organism will ……1…… and ……2…… in the environment where it occurs. Which words fit gaps 1 and 2 correctly?
May/June 2018
For farmers, selective breeding of animals is highly important. Through selective breeding, many different sheep breeds have been developed.
May/June 2018
The diagram illustrates how $\textit{Homo sapiens}$ (modern humans) may have developed from earlier ancestors. Which statement about modern humans and their ancestors is correct?
May/June 2019
At what time is evolution by natural selection most likely to happen?
May/June 2019
The diagram illustrates how $\textit{Homo sapiens}$ (modern humans) may have evolved from earlier ancestors. Which statement about modern humans and their ancestors is correct?
May/June 2019
Wheat is a crop plant. From the 1960s onwards, the mean yield of wheat has doubled. One explanation is that modern wheat varieties have shorter, stronger stems and more seeds per stem. What has brought about these changes?
May/June 2019
The diagram illustrates how $\textit{Homo sapiens}$ (modern humans) may have evolved from earlier ancestors. Which statement about modern humans and their ancestors is correct?
May/June 2019
Explain why the allele for sickle-cell anaemia is common in some regions of the world.
May/June 2019
Which statement explains the way a species becomes adapted to its environment?
May/June 2019
These events can occur when an antibiotic is used to treat a bacterial infection. Which sequence could result in a strain of antibiotic resistant bacteria?
May/June 2019
Every commercial breed of sheep is classified within the species Ovis aries. Merino is a sheep breed kept chiefly for its wool. This wool is extremely dense and is made up of many very fine hairs. Fig. 1.1 shows a female Merino sheep together with her newborn lamb.
May/June 2019
The diagram illustrates several stages in natural selection in wild rabbits. variation within the rabbit population $\rightarrow$ Z $\rightarrow$ reproduction by better adapted rabbits Which statement belongs in box Z?
May/June 2021
New wheat strains can be developed by cross-breeding plants that are disease resistant with plants that produce large grain yields. What example does this illustrate?
May/June 2021
What happens as a consequence of artificial selection?
May/June 2021
Which statement concerning selective breeding is accurate?
May/June 2022
Which statement concerning selective breeding is true?
May/June 2022
Which statement about selective breeding is correct?
May/June 2022
Sickle cell anaemia is a genetic disorder that causes severe illness in homozygous individuals. In certain human populations, heterozygous individuals may gain an advantage. What could account for this?
May/June 2022
Which statement concerning selective breeding is correct?
May/June 2022
Sickle cell anaemia is a genetic disorder that leads to severe illness in homozygous individuals. In certain human populations, being heterozygous may be advantageous. What could account for this?
May/June 2022
Which statement on selective breeding is correct?
May/June 2022
Sickle cell anaemia is a genetic disorder that causes serious illness in individuals who are homozygous. In some human populations, being heterozygous may be advantageous. What might be the reason for this?
May/June 2022
Which statement concerning selective breeding is correct?
May/June 2022
Which row lists some of the features involved in natural selection?
May/June 2023
Which row indicates some of the features involved in natural selection?
May/June 2023
A farmer aimed to use selective breeding to produce goats with a high milk yield. Fig. 7.1 shows a goat being milked.
May/June 2023
The list contains statements about selection. Which statements are accurate descriptions of natural selection?
May/June 2024
The graph illustrates how the percentage effectiveness of antibiotic F against MRSA bacteria changed from 1980 to 2000. Which conclusion is correct from the graph?
May/June 2024
The photograph shows a fish species known as a leafy sea-dragon. Leafy sea-dragons live in parts of the sea where seaweed is found. Which statements describe how natural selection led to the development of the leafy sea-dragon species?
May/June 2024
Which term is used when humans cross individuals with desirable features?
May/June 2024
The following events may occur when an antibiotic is used to treat a bacterial infection. 1 Most of the bacteria are killed by the antibiotic. 2 The antibiotic-resistant bacteria multiply. 3 The antibiotic-resistant bacteria remain alive. 4 Some bacteria mutate, so they are resistant to the antibiotic. Which sequence could lead to a strain of antibiotic-resistant bacteria?
May/June 2024
The graphs compare the beak length of offspring from a wild bird population in 2000 and again in 2020. Both graphs use the same scale. What change has occurred in the overall beak length of the bird population, and what kind of selection has caused this?
May/June 2024
Giraffes are mammals with long necks, which allows them to feed on leaves high up in trees. One theory that explains how giraffes came to have long necks is natural selection. Which statement is part of the explanation for the development of long necks in giraffes by natural selection?
May/June 2025
Which characteristic describes natural selection?
May/June 2025
Which row gives the correct description of a type of selection?
May/June 2025
In what way is artificial selection different from natural selection?
May/June 2025
The graph shows how the percentage of bacteria resistant to antibiotic X changes. What is responsible for the change shown in the graph?
May/June 2025
This insect is generally light-coloured, which allows it to blend in with tree trunks. On rare occasions, black forms of this insect are seen. If pollution causes the tree to become darker in colour, the black forms become more common. Which process leads to this?
Oct/Nov 2016
The spread of the sickle-cell allele among human populations differs from one region of the world to another. What explanation can account for this difference?
Oct/Nov 2017
When millet is cultivated, farmers select seeds from plants that produce high yields. Which biological practice does this illustrate?
Oct/Nov 2017
A farmer cultivates several varieties of dates, which are a kind of fruit. The table lists some characteristics of the dates he grows. He wants to develop a new date variety by selective breeding. His aim is a medium-sized date that is straw coloured and soft, with a high yield. Which two varieties could the farmer breed together to produce the variety he wants?
Oct/Nov 2018
Farmers have bred Holstein-Friesian cattle so that they give more milk than older cattle breeds. Which process was used to create these cattle?
Oct/Nov 2018
A section of the natural selection process is outlined. Organisms generate many ……1……, leading to competition for ……2……. This shows that organisms are struggling for ……3……. Which row correctly fills spaces 1, 2 and 3?
Oct/Nov 2018
During the last 30 years, some antibiotics have become less effective in treating bacterial infections. What causes this?
Oct/Nov 2018
Farmers have chosen Holstein-Friesian cattle for breeding so that they give more milk than earlier cattle breeds. Which process was used to produce these cattle?
Oct/Nov 2018
What is the outcome of natural selection and adaptation?
Oct/Nov 2018
Add ticks (✓) to the table to show the coat colours of horses with each genotype listed below.
Oct/Nov 2018
Which one of the following statements about selective breeding is correct?
Oct/Nov 2019
The statements outline features of selective breeding and natural selection. Which statement is true only of selective breeding?
Oct/Nov 2019
Some disease-causing bacteria are able to survive exposure to an antibiotic. Which statement about the bacteria that survive is correct?
Oct/Nov 2019
Bacteria such as MRSA are not killed by antibiotics. These processes may take place in bacteria. Which of these would help antibiotic resistance to develop?
Oct/Nov 2019
Fig. 7.1 shows a photograph of soybeans grown as a large-scale monoculture; soybeans are a crop plant.
Oct/Nov 2019
In one insect species, the wings are usually pale in colour. This provides camouflage against pale tree trunks. However, a small number of the insects in this species have wings that are darker in colour. After several years, environmental changes cause the tree trunks to become darker. As a result, the insects with dark-coloured wings become more common than the insects with pale-coloured wings in this species. Which process is responsible for this change in the proportion of insects with dark-coloured wings?
Oct/Nov 2021
A species of insect usually has wings that are pale in colour. This enables them to be camouflaged on tree trunks that are pale in colour. A small number of insects in this species have wings that are darker in colour. After several years the tree trunks become darker in colour because of environmental changes. The insects with dark-coloured wings become more common than insects with pale-coloured wings in this species. Which process is responsible for this change in the proportion of insects with dark-coloured wings?
Oct/Nov 2021
A species of insect normally has wings that are pale in colour. This provides camouflage against tree trunks that are also pale. However, a small number of insects in this species have wings that are darker. After several years, the tree trunks darken in colour because of environmental changes. In this species, insects with dark-coloured wings then become more common than insects with pale-coloured wings. Which process is responsible for this change in the proportion of insects with dark-coloured wings?
Oct/Nov 2021
A species of insect normally has pale wings. These wings provide camouflage on pale tree trunks. A small number of the insects in this species have wings that are darker. After many years, the tree trunks turn darker because of environmental changes. In this species, insects with dark wings then become more common than those with pale wings. Which process is responsible for the change in the proportion of insects with dark wings?
Oct/Nov 2021
A species of insect normally has wings that are pale in colour. This allows them to blend in with pale tree trunks. However, some insects in this species have wings that are darker. After several years, the tree trunks become darker because of environmental changes. In this species, insects with dark-coloured wings then become more common than those with pale-coloured wings. What process leads to this shift in the proportion of insects with dark-coloured wings?
Oct/Nov 2021
In one insect species, the wings are usually pale in colour, which allows them to blend in with pale tree trunks. However, some individuals in the same species have wings that are darker. After several years, environmental changes make the tree trunks darker in colour. As a result, insects with dark-coloured wings become more common than those with pale-coloured wings in this species. Which process brings about this change in the proportion of insects with dark-coloured wings?
Oct/Nov 2021
Predict the volume of apple juice obtained when pectinase solution has a concentration of 20%.
Oct/Nov 2021
Describe the negative effects on an ecosystem of large-scale monocultures, such as the one shown in Fig. 6.1.
Oct/Nov 2021
What conditions are required for natural selection to occur?
Oct/Nov 2022
What is one example of evolution?
Oct/Nov 2022
Broccoli and cauliflower are crop plants that have been bred from the same wild plant species. Which process would be used to produce broccoli and cauliflower plants from wild plants?
Oct/Nov 2022
Eggs may form part of a balanced diet.
Oct/Nov 2022
Fig. 5.1 depicts Mackinlay's cuckoo-dove, Macropygia mackinlayi, a bird that occurs on most islands in the south-west of the Pacific Ocean.
Oct/Nov 2022
Which statement provides an example of natural selection?
Oct/Nov 2024
The graph illustrates how the bacterium Escherichia coli became more or less resistant to two different antibiotics from 2005 to 2023. Which statement best describes the changes from 2005 to 2023?
Oct/Nov 2024
Bacteria such as MRSA are resistant to antibiotics. These processes may happen in bacteria. Which processes cause antibiotic resistance to develop?
Oct/Nov 2024
Calculate the percentage increase in the mean annual egg production.
Oct/Nov 2024