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IGCSE Biology: Drugs — Practice Questions & Answers
Understand what a drug is, how antibiotics work and why resistance develops, plus the effects of alcohol and tobacco on the body.
206 practice questions available for this topic — here are 10 with full answers and explanations.
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Practice questions with answers
1
Multiple choice · Easy
What is the best definition of a drug?
Any substance taken into the body that modifies or affects chemical reactions in the body
Any substance that always cures a disease
Any food that provides the body with energy
Any chemical produced naturally by body cells
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Why A drug is any substance taken into the body that modifies or affects chemical reactions in the body.
2
Multiple choice · Easy
What are antibiotics used to treat?
Bacterial infections
Viral infections
Broken bones
Vitamin deficiencies
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Why Antibiotics are drugs used to treat bacterial infections.
3
Multiple choice · Easy
Which of these is a heart and circulatory stimulant found in tobacco smoke?
Nicotine
Penicillin
Insulin
Glucose
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Why Nicotine is the addictive stimulant drug present in tobacco smoke.
4
Multiple choice · Easy
Which component of tobacco smoke reduces the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood?
Carbon monoxide
Oxygen
Nitrogen
Water vapour
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Why Carbon monoxide binds to haemoglobin, reducing the amount of oxygen the blood can carry.
5
Multiple choice · Easy
Alcohol (ethanol) is classified as which type of drug?
A depressant
A stimulant
An antibiotic
A vitamin
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Why Alcohol is a depressant, slowing down the activity of the nervous system.
6
Multiple choice · Easy
Which organ is most damaged by the long-term excessive drinking of alcohol?
The liver
The kidney
The pancreas
The skin
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Why The liver breaks down alcohol and is damaged by long-term excessive drinking, leading to cirrhosis.
7
Multiple choice · Easy
What is the sticky brown substance in tobacco smoke that contains carcinogens?
Tar
Nicotine
Carbon monoxide
Mucus
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Why Tar collects in the lungs and contains carcinogens that can cause lung cancer.
8
Multiple choice · Easy
Heroin is an example of which kind of misused drug?
A depressant
A stimulant
An antibiotic
A painless vitamin
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Why Heroin is a powerful depressant drug that is strongly addictive.
9
Multiple choice · Medium
Why are antibiotics not effective against influenza?
Influenza is caused by a virus, which antibiotics cannot kill
Influenza bacteria are too small for antibiotics to reach
Antibiotics only work on fungi
Antibiotics only work outside the human body
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Why Influenza is caused by a virus, and antibiotics only kill bacteria, not viruses.
10
Multiple choice · Medium
How does antibiotic resistance develop in a population of bacteria?
Resistant bacteria survive treatment and reproduce, increasing the proportion of resistant bacteria
Each bacterium learns to fight the antibiotic during treatment
Antibiotics make all bacteria stronger
The patient's body produces resistant bacteria deliberately
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Why Resistant bacteria survive and reproduce, passing on resistance, while non-resistant bacteria are killed.
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Key terms in Drugs
Drug: Any substance taken into the body that modifies or affects chemical reactions in the body.
Medicinal drug: A drug used to prevent, treat or relieve the symptoms of disease or injury, for example painkillers and antibiotics.
Recreational drug: A drug taken for its effect on mood or feelings rather than for medical reasons, for example alcohol and nicotine.
Misused drug: A drug taken in a way that is harmful to health or against medical or legal advice, such as heroin.
Painkiller: A medicinal drug that reduces or removes the sensation of pain, for example paracetamol or aspirin.
Antibiotic: A drug that kills bacteria or stops them from reproducing, used to treat bacterial infections.
How antibiotics work: Antibiotics interfere with chemical processes in bacterial cells that human cells do not carry out, so they kill or stop the growth of bacteria without harming the patient's cells.
Antibiotics and viruses: Antibiotics do not kill viruses because viruses are not cells and reproduce inside the host's cells using the host's machinery, so they lack the bacterial structures and processes that antibiotics target.
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