Paper 1A: multiple-choice questions

How Paper 1A works

Paper 1A is the multiple-choice part of Paper 1. At SL it has 30 questions on SL material; at HL it has 40 questions on SL and additional higher level material. Each question is worth one mark, and no marks are deducted for wrong answers, so every question should be answered. Paper 1A is taken together with Paper 1B, the data-based questions, without a break, and the two parts share one block of time.

Every question has a stem (the question itself, sometimes with a diagram, graph or table) and four options, A to D. One option is the correct answer, called the key. The other three are distractors: answers designed to look right to a student who has a specific misunderstanding or who reads carelessly.

Multiple-choice questions cover the whole course, so Paper 1A rewards breadth. A topic that is unlikely to carry a full extended response, such as the classification of joints or the names of planes and axes, can still appear in two or three multiple-choice questions. The questions test all three assessment objectives: recall (which structure, which term), application (which lever class, which training principle fits a case) and analysis (which conclusion follows from the graph, which option explains the result).

Timing

Paper 1 at SL lasts 90 minutes for 55 marks (30 in Paper 1A and 25 in Paper 1B); at HL it lasts 1 hour 45 minutes for 65 marks (40 and 25). The time is not split for you. A sensible plan is to spend about one minute per multiple-choice question: roughly 30 minutes on Paper 1A at SL and 40 minutes at HL. That leaves more time per mark for Paper 1B, where reading the study and the data takes longer.

Some questions take ten seconds and some, especially calculations and graphs, take two minutes. Work at a steady pace, and if a question is taking more than about two minutes, choose your best answer, mark the question number on the paper and return to it at the end. A random guess scores one time in four, and far more often after one or two options have been eliminated.

Strategies that work

Read the whole stem, then predict

Read the stem to the end before looking at the options, and underline the key words: the structure or variable asked about, the direction (increase or decrease), the time point (during or after exercise), and any qualifier such as "main", "first" or "most likely". Then try to answer in your head. If your predicted answer is among the options, it is very likely to be the key, and the distractors are less likely to pull you away from it.

Many distractors are true statements that do not answer the question. In a question about what happens during recovery, an option describing what happens during exercise may be correct physiology and still be wrong. The stem decides which true statement is the answer.

Eliminate

If you cannot predict the answer, work through the options and cross out those that are definitely wrong. Distractors often fall into recognisable groups:

• Opposites: two options that say opposite things (increases / decreases; shifts left / shifts right). Often one of them is the key.

• Half-right options: the first half correct and the second half wrong, such as "shifts right, so haemoglobin has a higher affinity for oxygen".

• Wrong level or wrong system: a correct fact about the wrong structure, such as the AV node when the question is about what initiates the beat.

• Unit and magnitude traps: the right digits with the wrong unit or a factor of 1,000 or 60 out.

• Absolute words: "always", "never", "only", "all". Biology rarely works in absolutes, so these options are often wrong (but not always).

Watch for NOT, LEAST and EXCEPT

A negative stem turns the question round: three options are true and the key is the false one. Under time pressure it is easy to choose the first true statement out of habit. When a stem contains NOT, LEAST, EXCEPT or INCORRECT (usually printed in bold or capitals), underline the word, and then test each option with "true or false?" The key is the only false one.

Units and quick calculations

Calculations in Paper 1A are short, and you do not need to show working, but you do need to be accurate. Use the data booklet equation, convert units first and check the order of magnitude of the answer. A cardiac output of 18,000 L min⁻¹ or a sprinter’s velocity of 0.1 m s⁻¹ cannot be right, and checking the size of the answer removes most unit traps.

Estimation saves time. If the options are 0.47, 2.1, 10.6 and 53 m s⁻², rounding 10.6 ÷ 5 to "about 2" is enough to choose. A calculator is allowed, but a rough estimate first protects against keying errors.

Graph and diagram questions

Read the axes before the curve: the variables, the units and whether the scale starts at zero. Then identify what the question needs: a value read from the graph, a gradient (rate of change, such as acceleration on a velocity–time graph) or an area (a quantity accumulated over time, such as oxygen deficit on an oxygen consumption graph). Labelled points and regions (P, Q, X, Y) are there to be matched to concepts, so name each one in your head before reading the options.

When two options both look right

Choose the option that answers the stem most completely and most precisely. If one option says "heart rate increases" and another says "cardiac output increases because heart rate and stroke volume increase", and the stem asks why more oxygen reaches the muscles, the second is better because it links the change to the outcome. If two options are genuinely equivalent, you have probably misread the stem; reread it.

Practice questions

The following questions are invented in the style of Paper 1A and cover all three themes. Try each one before opening the answer, and use the explanation of why each distractor is wrong to identify what kind of mistake you are prone to.

Theme A: exercise physiology and nutrition

The next question tests a half-right distractor: two options mention the correct shift, but only one gives the correct consequence.

Question 3 is a negative question. Mark each option true or false before choosing.

Question 4 is a calculation with a unit trap. Check the size of the answer.

Questions 5 and 6 use a graph. Read the axes first, then name each labelled region in your head.

Question 6 asks for an application of the steady-state idea to the same graph.

Questions 7 and 8 apply concepts to sporting cases.

Question 8 checks a training principle against a description.

Theme B: biomechanics

Questions 9 and 10 use the velocity–time graph of a sprinter.

Question 10 asks for an average from the same graph; an estimate is enough to choose.

Question 11 uses a lever diagram. Identify the middle component first.

Question 12 tests the pairing of planes with axes.

Question 13 is an impulse question set in a sporting context.

Question 14 concerns projectiles. Picture the event before reading the options.

Theme C: sports psychology and motor learning

Question 15 asks you to identify a phase from a description.

Question 16 is a classification question. Each option has three parts, and all three must be right.

Question 17 uses a graph of the inverted U. Match each point to a level of arousal before reading the options.

Question 18 tests goal types. Ask what the athlete controls in each option.

Question 19 is a negative question on self-determination theory.

Question 20 combines a research design with psychology content. It tests variables, which also appear in Paper 1B.

HL questions (HL only)

H2 returns to the oxygen consumption graph used in question 5.

H3 is a sliding filament question from theme B.

H4 is a power calculation. It has four terms, the HL maximum.

H5 applies attribution theory to an athlete’s explanation.

H6 is a training question on the lactate inflection point.

Learning from your mistakes

Practice questions are most useful when every wrong answer is diagnosed. A wrong answer has one of a few causes, and each needs a different fix.

Before you start Paper 1A

• To do:

  Plan about one minute per question: about 30 minutes at SL and 40 minutes at HL.

• To do:

  Read each stem to the end and predict the answer before reading the options.

• To do:

  Underline NOT, LEAST, EXCEPT and mark each option true or false.

• To do:

  Read the axes before the curve in every graph question.

• To do:

  Convert units first and check the size of every calculated answer.

• To do:

  Eliminate, then choose; flag slow questions and come back to them.

• To do:

  Transfer answers to the answer sheet carefully, and leave no question blank.

Summary

• Paper 1A has 30 one-mark questions at SL and 40 at HL, with no penalty for wrong answers; answer every question.

• Allow about one minute per question, and use the time saved for Paper 1B.

• Read the whole stem and predict the answer; then eliminate distractors (opposites, half-right options, wrong system, unit traps, absolute words).

• In NOT questions, mark each option true or false and choose the false one.

• For calculations, use the data booklet equation, convert units first and check the size of the answer.

• For graphs, read the axes first; gradients give rates and areas give accumulated quantities.

• Diagnose every wrong answer by its cause and fix that cause.