Suggested Answers (and Discussion) to the VCE Biology Exam

[phobs_12]

Hey there
What score in the multiple choice would you say is a good score puting you in a good position
and was this quite easy compared to other years

[Calebark]

What do you guys think about the A+ cut-off?

[Springyboy]

my friends and I were discussing Q34 between options c and d. we can't determine which option is more correct as even if you did "A" test cross it would not definitively "enable the determination of the genotype of a plant with purples" unless you had a sample size that was agreeably large. i'm not sure if this is getting too specific but then again vcaa requires specificity. but d still sounds right as the suggested answers say, so we weren't sure

The main thing with that is you've gotta focus on the purposes of the test cross, which is to establish the genotype of a dominant plant by crossing a plant with a dominant phenotype to a homozygous recessive plant to work out whether or not the dominant plant is homozygous or heterozygous. This could be proven with either a small or large number of offspring so only option d is correct as that is specifically saying what the purpose of the test cross is.

[plsbegentle]

wow ahhaa i got 40/40 for mcq if these are correct!

[HasibA]

wow ahhaa i got 40/40 for mcq if these are correct!

beast!!!! i averaged like 35-36 on prac exams for mcq, and i think i got 34 this time
my short answer was better imo, so hopefully that pulls me up xD
still quite a bit better than what i need for my aim (low-mid 30s) , so yeah!!~~~
i think i got 34/40 + 60/70 -> 94/110? maybe [dont know how examiners will mark LOL]
so is that enough for like a 35 raw?
thanks guys x

[vox nihili]

beast!!!! i averaged like 35-36 on prac exams for mcq, and i think i got 34 this time
my short answer was better imo, so hopefully that pulls me up xD
still quite a bit better than what i need for my aim (low-mid 30s) , so yeah!!~~~
i think i got 34/40 + 60/70 -> 94/110? maybe [dont know how examiners will mark LOL]
so is that enough for like a 35 raw?
thanks guys x

94/110 was an A+ last year

[HasibA]

94/110 was an A+ last year

woah! nice ! :3 hopefully i did okay xD

[babushka818]

wow ahhaa i got 40/40 for mcq if these are correct!

SLAYYYYYYYY! congrats brother !

Think I got like 37 lol tragic :p

[thushan]

Short answer is up on OP.

A+ cutoff I think about 94-96/110.

[HasibA]

what would a high A on this exam translate to in terms of score out of 110?
assuming sacs scale to this standard, what will i be looking at?
thanks guys

[sweetcheeks]

With molecule W was that referring to Pre mRNA or mRNA? I thought since it was asking the initial transfer I gave the steps of transcription rather than pre mRNA modifcation

[Calebark]

For 7a, I said that their gene loci are not close together. Would this be correct? I was taught that linked genes are very close together on the chromosome.

[thushan]

Nah, linked genes are on the same chromosome. :/

[vox nihili]

With molecule W was that referring to Pre mRNA or mRNA? I thought since it was asking the initial transfer I gave the steps of transcription rather than pre mRNA modifcation

I suspect they were referring to both transcription and splicing to be honest, as the answers state Two marks for transcription, 1 for post-transcriptional modification

For 7a, I said that their gene loci are not close together. Would this be correct? I was taught that linked genes are very close together on the chromosome.

You're technically correct. Linked genes, as you've stated, are only those that are close together on the same chromosome. If they're more than 50 map units apart (a measure of gene size) then they are not linked, even if they're on the same chromosome.
Unfortunately, VCE Biology doesn't subscribe to this more nuanced definition of linkage and, as thushan has suggested, would likely only reward marks for stating that the genes are on the same chromosome.

[bingoman2000]

Thanks to Thushan and Heidi for uploading the answers. Just a quick question...for the experimental design question, would it be necessary to actual use the yeast cells, since the question only asks to test if furfural is an inhibitor of alcohol dehydrogenase. Would it be alright to set up a series of reaction tubes containing equal concentrations of glucose and dehydrogenase enzyme with progressively increasing quantities of furfural (along with any other requisite enzymes for glycolysis)...I got this idea from the reaction tubes set up in Q4. Also, if you had yeast cells, it may be that furfural inhibited some other enzyme used in fermentation (or that the number of yeast cells weren't controlled for). Not sure if this is correct...thx.