8/15/2019 Jan_2015_HSB 001 - answers
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Source: cxcpaper.blogspot.com
CSEC January 2015 Examinations
Human and Social Biology
1. (a) Kate is suffering from asthma.
(i) Give ONE asthma-related sign or symptom that Kate
would most likely experience.
(1 mark)ANSWER: Coughing, particularly at night, during exercise
or when laughing
(ii) State TWO measures OTHER THAN medication
that Kate should adopt to manage her
asthma (2 marks)
ANSWER: 1. Avoiding things that worsen your asthma
2. Create an action plan
(iii) Describe the effects of asthma on Kate’s respiratory
tract (2 marks)
ANSWER: The reaction to asthma triggers cause the airways to
become narrower and
irritated. This makes it difficult to breath and leads to the
symptoms of asthmamanifesting.
(iv) Asthma is a respiratory disease that affects the
young and the old. Would asthma be
classified as infectious or chronic? (1 mark)
ANSWER: 1 Chronic because it cannot be passed from person to
person.
(b) The bar graph in Figure 1 shows the incidents of asthma in a
population in the Caribbean.
Lean non-smokers obese smokers obese non-smokers
Figure 1. Incidence of asthma in a Caribbean population
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Lean smokers
No. of Asthma attacks per year
8/15/2019 Jan_2015_HSB 001 - answers
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Source: cxcpaper.blogspot.com
(i) Based on the information in Figure 1, which
TWO factors reduce the risk for asthma?
(2 marks)
ANSWER: How ‘lean’ or ‘obese’ the person is.
(ii) Describe the trend illustrated in Figure 1. (3
marks)
ANSWER: There is a strong relationship between the number asthma
attacks suffered by
smokers if they are lean or obese, both factors result in a
higher number of asthma attackswhen compared to non-smokers.
(c) Every year tons of Sahara dust are transported over the
Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean.
Figure 2 shows the yearly deposition of Sahara dust in the
Caribbean,
Figure 2. Yearly deposition of Sahara dust in the Caribbean
(i) Which month has the LOWEST level of Sahara dust? (1
mark)
ANSWER: June
(ii) Which month has the HIGHEST level of Sahara dust? (1
mark)
ANSWER: March
(iii) Suggest TWO health implications of high levels
of Sahara dust in the atmosphere (2 marks)
ANSWER: 1. Asthma, 2. Respiratory distress
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J F M A M J J A S O N D
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