Pre-Board Question Paper (2023-24)

Class XII
Biology (Subject Code-044)
Time: 3 Hours Maximum marks: 70
General Instructions:
(1) All questions are compulsory.
(2) The question paper has five sections and 33 questions.
(3) Section–A has 16 questions of 1 mark each; Section–B has 5 questions of 2 marks each;
Section– C has 7 questions of 3 marks each; Section– D has 2 case-based questions of
4 marks each; and Section–E has 3 questions of 5 marks each.
(4) There is no overall choice. However, internal choices have been provided in some
questions. A student has to attempt only one of the alternatives in such questions.
Wherever necessary, neat and properly labeled diagrams should be drawn.
Section – A
1. Select the option that shows the correctly identified ‘U’, ‘X’, ‘Y’, and ‘Z’ in a developing
dicot embryo. 1

a)X- plumule (2n), Y – suspensor (n), Z- Cotyledon (2n), U- Radicle (2n)

b)X- plumule (2n), Y – suspensor (n), Z- Radicle (2n), U- Cotyledon (2n)

c)X- suspensor (n), Y – Cotyledon (2n), Z- Radicle (2n), U- plumule (2n)

d)X- Cotyledon (2n), Y – Radicle (2n), Z- plumule (2n), U- suspensor (n)

2. Which of the following statement is not true? 1

a) Exine of pollen grain is made of sporopollenin.

b) Pollen grains of many species cause severe allergies
c) Stored pollen in liquid nitrogen can be used in the crop breeding programme
d) Tapetum helps in the dehiscence of anther

3. Given below are two statements 1

 Statement I In prokaryotes the positively charged DNA is held with some
negatively charged proteins in a region called nucleoid
Statement II In eukaryotes the negatively charged DNA is wrapped around the
positively charged DNA is wrapped around positively charged histone
octamer to form nucleosome

a) Statement I is incorrect and statement II is correct

b) Both statement I and statement II are correct
c) Both statement I and statement II are incorrect
d) Statement I is correct, and statement II is incorrect

4. Which of the following are reasons for Mendel’s success? 1

(i) Usage of pure lines or pure breeding varieties
(ii) Consideration of one character at a time
(iii) Maintenance of statistical records of experiments
(iv) Knowledge of linkage and incomplete dominance
a) (i) and (ii) only c) (i) and (iv) only
b) (i), (ii) and (iii) d) (ii), (iii) and (iv)

5. If both parents are carriers for thalassaemia, which is an autosomal recessive disorder, what
are the chances of pregnancy resulting in an affected child? 1
a) 25% b) 100 % c) No chance d) 50 %

6. According to Hugo de Vries, prominent features of mutation theory are as follows, except
I. All mutations are inheritable
II. Mutation appears randomly and all of a sudden
III. Mutations or discontinuous variations are the raw material of evolution
IV. Mutations appear in specific and predetermined direction. 1

a) I and IV b) II only c) II and III d) IV only

7. Who amongst the following scientists had no contribution in the development of the
double helix model for the structure of DNA? 1
(a) Rosalind Franklin (c) Erwin Chargaff
(b) Maurice Wilkins (d) Meselson and Stahl

8. In the following human pedigree the filled symbols represent the affected individuals.
Identify the type of given pedigree 1
 a) Autosomal dominant c) autosomal recessive
b) X- linked recessive d) X- linked dominant

9. Bacterium responsible for the large holes seen in Swiss cheese. What are these holes due
to? 1

a) Propionibacterium shermanii, CO2

b) Lactobacillus, CO2

c) Saccharomyces cerevisiae, CO2

d) Saccharomyces cerevisiae, O2
10. Study the DNA profiles obtained as a result of DNA fingerprinting of a child ‘X’ and
three individuals1,2,3. Which one of the following options shows the possible parent
of child ‘X’. 1

a) 1 and 2 b) 2 and 3 c) 1 and 3 d) Only individual 3

11. Which of the following are some ethical issues associated with biotechnology? 1
1. Animals used for safety testing of drugs and vaccines suffer from great pain and
discomfort.
2. Transgenic organisms used in research may have a negative impact on the wild
population, if they are accidentally released.
 3. Almost all the bacteria used in genetic engineering are pathogenic.
4. Herbicide resistance genes introduced into crops may be passed on to weeds.

a) 1and 3 b) 2 and 4 c) 1,2 and 4 d) 1, 2 and 3

12. Observe the contents 1,2,3 and 4 of soil samples A, B and C shown in the graph. If the
temperature and soil moisture of all soil samples are identical, which soil sample (s) will show
faster decomposition? 1

a) Soil Sample A
b) Soil Sample B
c) Soil Samples A and B both
d) Soil Sample C

Question No. 13 to 16 consist of two statements – Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Answer
these questions selecting the appropriate option given below:

a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

b) Both A and R are true and R is not the correct explanation of A.
c) A is true but R is false.
d) A is false but R is true.

13. Assertion: Determining the sex of an unborn child followed by MTP is an illegal
practice.

Reason: Amniocentesis is a practice to test the presence of genetic disorders also. 1

14. Assertion: Codon is read in m-RNA in a contiguous fashion.

Reason: The initiator codon AUG codes for methionine. 1

15. Assertion: Cancer patients are given substance like α- interferon.

Reason: It acts as response modifier which activates immune system. 1

16. Assertion: Synthetic oligonucleotide polymers are used during Annealing in a PCR,

Reason: The primers do not bind to the double stranded DNA at their complementary
regions. 1

Section – B

17. Differentiate between spermiogenesis and spermatogenesis. 2

18.a) State the principle involved in separation of DNA fragments using gel electrophoresis.

b) How are DNA fragments visualized once they are separated by gel electrophoresis. 2
19. 2

a) Name the category of drugs represented by the chemical structure given above.

b) State the harmful effects of this class of drugs on the human body.

20. a) How can DNA be released from the following for biotechnology experiments?

i Bacteria ii. Plant cell

b) Name the source of the DNA polymerase used in PCR technique, 2

21. Explain the following population interactions with the help of one example each

a) Brood Parasitism b) Co-evolution of mutualists

OR

On August 22 in the year 2022, 3358 fires were detected in the Amazon rainforests. Write
one short-term and one long-term effect of this event on the biotic and abiotic components of
the environment. 2

Section – C

22. Construct a flow chart exhibiting sequential events of oogenesis. 3

23. Label the given diagram of L S of grass embryo. 3

OR

Draw a diagrammatic sectional view of a seminiferous tubule (enlarged) in humans and label
its parts. 3

24. a) What do oral pills contain and how do they act as effective contraceptives?

b) State one reason, why breastfeeding the baby acts as a natural contraceptive for the
mother. 3

25. Observe the given diagrams and answer the questions. 3

a) Identify the type of population shown by the pyramid A and B.

b) Define population density.

c) Which age pyramid is correct for

i. Developing country ii. Developed country

26. Identify A, B, C, D, E and F in the table given below:

 Organism Bioactive molecule Use
Monascus purpureus(yeast) A B
C D Antibiotic
E Cyclosporin A F
27. A farmer grew 2 varieties of corn crop in field A and B. He grew normal corn crops in
field A and GM corn crops in field B. He observed corn borers attacked only in field A. To
control it, spores of Bt were sprayed in field A. 3

a) Name the gene in the spores responsible for the control of this pest.
b) What effect will the spores of Bt have on the insect pest?
c) How has field B developed resistance against this pest?

OR

Lipoprotein lipase deficiency (LPLD)is a genetic disorder in which a person has a defective
gene for lipase. This leads to high triglycerides, stomach pain, fat deposits under the skin. It
may eventually affect the liver, pancreas and may also cause diabetes. The disorder occurs if
a child acquires defective genes from both parents (autosomal recessive). ERT (enzyme
replacement treatment) is one of the treatments offered to patients with LPLD.

(i) What procedure is followed in ERT?

(ii) What could be one possible drawback of ERT?

(iii) How can LPLD be treated using Biotechnology? Elaborate.

28. Give three reasons as to why the prokaryotes are not given any figures for their diversity
by the ecologists. 3

Section – D

Q. No. 29 and 30 are case-based questions. Each question has 3 subparts with internal
choice in one subpart.

29. The structure below shows pUC18 which is similar to pBR322 in its function. However,
they differ in some of their restriction sites and number of ori. The ori number for pBR322 is
approximately 20.
 a) How are puc18 and pBR322 used in biotechnological studies?

OR

What will be the impact if ori in the above structure gets damaged? 1

b) The lac z gene has many recognition sites. Study the segment of DNA given below and
answer the questions

5’... ATC GTA AAG CTT CAT…3’

3’... TAG CAT TTC GAA GTA…5’

i. Applying your knowledge of palindrome sequences identify and mark the

possible region where the restriction enzyme X will act.
ii. Restriction enzyme Y was used to extract gene of interest from a plant. This gene
needs to be inserted in the given DNA segment which has been treated with
restriction enzyme X. Will there be a successful recombination? Explain with a
reason. 2
c) Which one of the two (pUC18 and pBR322) would you prefer for biotechnological
studies? Justify. 1

30. Study the diagrammatic representation given below of the Earth with regions marked ‘A’
and ‘B’ respectively. Answer the questions that follow,
 a) Write the observations made regarding the species diversity when moving from region
‘A’ to region ‘B’. 1
b) Give two reasons also. 2
c) Stating the reason, mention the approximate number of bird species recorded in India.
OR
d) Name the region in the world that records the greatest biodiversity and mention why.1

Section E

31. a) Study the diagram given below showing the modes of pollination. Answer the questions
that follow. 5

The given diagram shows three methods of pollen transfer in plants What are the technical
terms used for pollen transfer methods?

b) Explain the term polyembryony. How is it exploited commercially?

OR

a) At the time of Independence, the population of India was 350 million, which exploded
to over 1 billion by May 2000.
List any two reasons for this rise in population and any two steps taken by the
government to check this population explosion.
b) Name an IUD that you would recommend promoting the cervix hostility to sperms.

32. Given below is a stretch of DNA showing the coding strand of a structural gene of a
transcription unit? 5

5’--ATG ACC GTA TTT TCT GTA GTG CCC GTA CTT CAG GCA TAA—3’

a) Write the corresponding template strand and the mRNA strand that will be transcribed,
along with its polarity.
b) If GUA of the transcribed mRNA is an intron, depict the sequence involved in the
formation of mRNA /the mature processed hnRNA strand.
a. In a bacterium
 b. In humans
c) Upon translation, how many amino acids will the resulting polypeptide have? Justify.

OR

a) Write name of the scientists who explained that DNA replicates in semiconservative
manner.

b) How was a heavy isotope of nitrogen used to provide experimental evidence to semi-
conservative mode of DNA replication?

33. Explain the role of Primary and Secondary Lymphoid organs with the help of suitable
examples. 5

OR

a) With the help of a flow chart illustrate how an infected animal cell can survive while
viruses are being replicated or released.
b) Why is the virus called retrovirus?