IGCSE Biology | Practice Test | 25 Questions
List the four components of blood.
State the function of red blood cells.
Name the red protein found inside red blood cells that allows them to carry oxygen.
Name the two types of white blood cell you need to know for IGCSE.
State the function of lymphocytes.
State the function of phagocytes.
State the function of platelets. Refer to fibrinogen and fibrin in your answer.
Name four substances transported by plasma.
What is the name of the fluid that surrounds body cells in the spaces between them?
Give one substance that moves from tissue fluid into body cells, and one substance that moves from body cells into tissue fluid.
Explain why it is an advantage for red blood cells to have no nucleus.
A student examines a blood smear under a microscope. They see a small cell with a large, round nucleus that fills almost the entire cell, with only a thin ring of cytoplasm visible around it.
(a) Identify this type of white blood cell.
(b) State the function of this cell.
Describe how a phagocyte destroys a pathogen that enters the body.
Explain why a blood clot at a wound site helps to prevent infection as well as blood loss.
Name three substances transported by plasma. For each one, state where it comes from and where it is going.
Explain how the way lymphocytes fight pathogens is different from the way phagocytes fight pathogens.
Tissue fluid does not contain red blood cells or large plasma proteins. Explain why these substances cannot pass from the blood into the tissue fluid.
Describe how tissue fluid is formed from blood in the capillaries.
A patient has a small cut that bleeds for a very long time without stopping. Suggest which blood component may not be functioning correctly. Explain your answer.
Explain why oxygen moves from tissue fluid into body cells rather than in the opposite direction.
This question is about identifying blood cells under the light microscope.
(a) Describe the appearance of a red blood cell as seen on a prepared slide under a light microscope.
(b) Describe how you would distinguish a lymphocyte from a phagocyte when looking at them under a microscope. Refer to the nucleus and the cytoplasm in your answer.
(c) Red blood cells appear paler in the centre than at the edges when viewed under a microscope. Explain why.
This question is about blood components and their functions.
(a) State the four components of blood and give the function of each.
(b) A patient is found to have no platelets in their blood. Describe two consequences this would have for the patient’s health. Explain each consequence.
(c) Fibrinogen is a plasma protein that is always dissolved in the blood. Explain why it is important that fibrinogen stays soluble in normal blood, but becomes insoluble (as fibrin) only at a wound site.
This question is about plasma and the substances it transports.
(a) Name all nine substances transported by plasma.
(b) Describe the complete journey of glucose from food to a body cell. In your answer, name the component of blood that carries it and explain how it reaches the cell from the blood.
(c) Urea is transported in the plasma. State where urea is produced and where it is taken. Explain why urea must be removed from the blood.
This question is about the transfer of substances between blood, tissue fluid, and body cells.
(a) Explain how tissue fluid forms from blood in the capillaries. In your answer, state which substances can pass through the capillary wall and which cannot.
(b) Name two substances that move from tissue fluid into body cells. For each one, explain why it moves in this direction.
(c) Name two waste substances that move from body cells into tissue fluid. For each one, explain why it moves in this direction.
(d) Describe what happens to tissue fluid after it has exchanged substances with the surrounding body cells.
A doctor tests a patient’s blood and finds that the patient has very few red blood cells and very few white blood cells, but a normal number of platelets.
(a) Predict one symptom this patient would show because of their low red blood cell count. Explain your answer using your knowledge of red blood cell function.
(b) Explain the effect of the low white blood cell count on the patient’s ability to fight infection. Refer to both lymphocytes and phagocytes in your answer.
(c) The patient’s platelet count is normal. Explain what this means for the patient’s ability to stop bleeding from a cut.
