Admissions Test Preparation · Practice Set 21
ESAT Biology Mock Module 3 of 3
27 a full 27-question module, the same length and shape as one sitting of the real test. Cells and transport, cell division, genetics and the genome, biotechnology, evolution, enzymes, respiration and homeostasis, ecology and plant biology. This module was written to close the last two gaps in our Biology coverage - what the genome is, and the mechanism of enzyme action - so every one of the 34 Biology sub-topics now has a question.
How to use this set
Every question carries a target time, and no question needs a calculator. Attempt each one against the clock with the solution collapsed. If you are still setting up algebra when the target time passes, stop and open the solution: the shortcut is what the question is testing, and the arithmetic is not.
Read the Key Idea before the full breakdown. If the key idea alone lets you redo the question in under a minute, the method has landed and you can move on. If it does not, work the step-by-step breakdown and then return to the question a day later.
The Common Mistake section on each question is the slower route that still reaches the right answer. Under exam conditions that route is usually the difference between finishing the module and running out of time.
Modules in this set
Select a module below to view the questions and their step-by-step worked solutions:
Biology
27 questions, 40 minutes in the real test. Cells and transport, cell division, genetics and the genome, biotechnology, evolution, enzymes, respiration and homeostasis, ecology and plant biology. 27 worked solutions.
Shortcut index
Use this as a revision checklist. If you can state the shortcut before opening the question, you already have the mark.
Biology
| # | Topic | Shortcut rehearsed |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | What the genome is | The genome is all the DNA, coding and non-coding alike |
| Q2 | Distinguishing plant and animal cells | Wall, chloroplast, permanent vacuole - plants only |
| Q3 | Why an enzyme is specific | Specificity comes from the shape of the active site |
| Q4 | Aerobic against anaerobic respiration | Aerobic yields far more energy; anaerobic in muscle makes lactic acid |
| Q5 | Producing human insulin in bacteria | Cut with restriction enzymes, paste with ligase, express in the host |
| Q6 | How antibiotic resistance arises | Variation comes first; selection acts on it afterwards |
| Q7 | The equation for photosynthesis | Carbon dioxide plus water gives glucose plus oxygen |
| Q8 | Why biomass falls along a food chain | Most of the biomass at each level never reaches the next |
| Q9 | What determines the sex of a human offspring | Every egg carries X; the sperm decides |
| Q10 | Plant cells in a concentrated solution | Water moves from high water potential to low |
| Q11 | What an enzyme is and does | Protein catalyst; lowers activation energy; not used up |
| Q12 | The order of a reflex arc | Receptor, sensory, relay, motor, effector |
| Q13 | Selective breeding against genetic engineering | Selective breeding chooses parents; engineering moves a gene |
| Q14 | Which variation can be inherited | Only a change to the DNA of a gamete-forming cell is passed on |
| Q15 | Xylem and phloem compared | Xylem: water up, dead cells. Phloem: sugars, living cells, either way |
| Q16 | Reading a heterozygous genotype | One of each allele is heterozygous; the visible one is dominant |
| Q17 | Products of mitosis | Mitosis: same number, same genes, two cells |
| Q18 | Heating an enzyme past its optimum | Past the optimum, the active site loses its shape for good |
| Q19 | Controlling a rise in blood glucose | Insulin lowers blood glucose by storing it as glycogen |
| Q20 | Ratio from a heterozygous cross | Heterozygous by heterozygous gives 3:1 in the phenotype |
| Q21 | What distinguishes meiosis from mitosis | Meiosis halves the number and generates variation |
| Q22 | Matching a digestive enzyme to its products | Protease to amino acids, amylase to sugars, lipase to fatty acids and glycerol |
| Q23 | Hormonal against nervous coordination | Nerves are fast and brief; hormones are slower and longer lasting |
| Q24 | Base composition of double-stranded DNA | A pairs with T and C with G, so their percentages are equal |
| Q25 | What stem cells can and cannot do | Embryonic stem cells are versatile; adult ones are limited |
| Q26 | The order of transcription and translation | Transcribe in the nucleus, translate at the ribosome |
| Q27 | Effect of a single base substitution | The code is degenerate, so a substitution may change nothing |
Where to go from here
Everything on this page is free and stays free. These are the three things worth doing next.
- Take the 15-question ESAT diagnostic - Twenty minutes, scored instantly, with a worked solution for every question you miss
- Follow the dated preparation plan - Every ESAT page on this site, sequenced backwards from the October sitting
- Sitting another admissions test as well? - TMUA, PAT, MAT and STEP each have their own preparation page and free practice
- Join the ESAT preparation list - One email a week from June to October, and nothing else
- Enquire about one-to-one preparation - For candidates who want the gap closed rather than mapped
One-to-one places are limited and taken by application, not by the hour.