Examples of pisa test questions

DNA TO FIND KILLER 
Smithville, yesterday:
A man 
died from multiple stab 
wounds in Smithville 
yesterday. Police say that 
there were signs of a struggle 
and that some of the blood 
found at the scene of the 
crime did not match the 
victim's blood. They suspect 
that this blood came from the 
killer. 
To help find the killer, police 
scientists have prepared a 
DNA profile from the blood 
sample. When compared to 
DNA profiles of convicted 
criminals, kept on a 
computer database, no match 
was found.
 
Photo of typical DNA profiles 
from two people. The bars are 
different fragments of each 
person's DNA. Each person has 
a different pattern of bars. Like 
fingerprints, these patterns can 
identify a person. 
 
Police are now asking all 
citizens of Smithville to 
come forward to have their 
DNA analysed. 
Sergeant Brown of the 
Smithville police said, "We 
just need to take a harmless 
scraping from the inside of 
the cheek. From this 
scientists can extract DNA 
and form a DNA profile like 
the one pictured." 
Except for identical twins, 
there is only a 1 in 100 
million chance that two 
people will have the same 
DNA profile.
Person A 
Person B 
Question 1: CATCHING THE KILLER 
S402Q01
This newspaper article refers to the substance DNA. What is DNA? 
A A chemical substance in cell membranes that stops the cell contents leaking out. 
B A chemical substance that contains the instructions to build our bodies. 
C A protein found in the blood that helps carry oxygen to all the tissues. 
D A hormone in blood that helps regulate glucose levels in the body cells. 

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