JAMB Biology 2017 past questions
Ten questions from the 2017 JAMB Biology paper, with answers and explanations. We hold 50 questions from this paper, and the Skolra app has all of them.
JAMB Biology 2017 questions and answers
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1.Erythrocytes are known as ________
- AWhite blood cells
- BBlood platelets
- CRed blood cellsCorrect
- DPlasma cells
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Answer: C
Erythrocytes is the scientific name for red blood cells, the haemoglobin-filled cells that carry oxygen around the body.
- A
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2.An example of organism which exists as a colony is
- AEuglena
- BAmoeba
- CParamecium
- DVolvoxCorrect
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Answer: D
Volvox is the classic example of an organism that exists as a colony — many individual flagellated cells are bound together in a single hollow, ball-shaped structure and cooperate, some specialising for movement and others for reproduction.
- A
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3.The flame cells are used for excretion in
- APlanaria (flatworms)Correct
- BThe Amoeba
- CThe grasshopper
- DThe earthworm
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Answer: A
Flame cells are the excretory structures found in flatworms such as Planaria (phylum Platyhelminthes). Each flame cell has a tuft of beating cilia inside a cup that looks like a flickering flame under the microscope, and together they drive waste fluid out through a network of excretory tubules.
- A
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4.In mosses the structure which performs the function of water absorption is the _________?
- ARhizoidCorrect
- BStem
- CRoot hair
- DRoot
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Answer: A
Mosses have no true roots. Instead, water (and anchorage to the substrate) is provided by thread-like structures called rhizoids, which absorb water directly from the surroundings.
- A
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5.When an ovary is placed on the receptacle above the other floral parts it is referred to as
- AEpigynous
- BPerigynous
- CHypogynousCorrect
- DHypogeal
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Answer: C
When the ovary sits on the receptacle above the other floral parts (the sepals, petals and stamens are attached below it), the flower is described as hypogynous, and the ovary is said to be superior.
- A
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6.Which of the following is an example of active transport?
- ADiffusion of carbon (iv) oxide out of a leaf cell
- BOsmosis of water into a root hair cell
- CAbsorption of mineral salts by root hairs against a concentration gradientCorrect
- DDiffusion of oxygen from the alveoli into the blood
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Answer: C
Root hairs absorbing mineral salts against a concentration gradient — taking in ions from soil water even when they are already more concentrated inside the root hair cell than outside — is a true example of active transport, since it needs energy from respiration to work against the natural direction of diffusion.
- A
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7.The host of liver flake are ______?
- ASheepCorrect
- BFrog
- CSnail
- DMan
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Answer: A
The adult liver fluke lives in the bile ducts of sheep (and similarly grazing herbivorous mammals such as cattle and goats), which is its primary, definitive host.
- A
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8.The product after the union of the male and female gamete in animals is called
- AZygoteCorrect
- BFoetus
- CGamete
- DEmbryo
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Answer: A
The single cell formed immediately after the union (fertilisation) of a male gamete and a female gamete in animals is called a zygote.
An embryo is what the zygote develops into after it has already begun to divide repeatedly, so it comes later. A foetus is a later stage still, once the major body structures have formed. A gamete is a sex cell BEFORE fusion, not the product that forms after two gametes unite.
- A
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9.The common thing in plant and animal cell is
- AChloroplast
- BLarge central vacuole
- CNucleusCorrect
- DCell wall
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Answer: C
The nucleus is found in both plant and animal cells, controlling the cell's activities and holding its genetic material in either case.
- A
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10.Ability to taste PTC in some individuals is a character that is
- ABehavioural
- BMorphological
- CPhysiologicalCorrect
- DA mutation that cannot be inherited
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Answer: C
The ability to taste the bitter chemical PTC (phenylthiocarbamide) is a difference in the body's internal function or response, not in outward appearance or behaviour, so it is classed as a physiological variation — like blood group or metabolic rate.
- A
The questions come from past JAMB, WAEC and NECO papers. We use software to help write the answer options and explanations, and every answer is checked twice before it goes on the site. How we check
Spotted a wrong answer? Tell us from the app or on the contact page and we check it.
Practise all 50 questions we hold from the 2017 paper, on a timed CBT screen
Every question has the answer and an explanation, in the Skolra app.