NEET (UG) · Botany, Class 11
The Living World: NEET PYQ, 2018–2026
The Living World (Botany, Class 11) has been asked 6 times in the 7 NEET papers from 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026: about 0.9 questions a paper, 2% of all Botany questions. It is the 17th most-asked of 17 Botany chapters. NEET 2026 had 3 from it. Last checked 28 October 2026.
Questions per paper
Year by year.
| Year | Questions |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 1 |
| 2020 | 0 |
| 2021 | 1 |
| 2023 | 0 |
| 2024 | 0 |
| 2025 | 1 |
| 2026 | 3 |
From 2021 to 2024 each paper had 200 questions (a Section B with a choice); the others had 180.
Inside the chapter
Topics asked most.
- Taxonomic categories4
- Taxonomical aids1
- What is living1
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10 The Living World questions to practise.
Our own questions, written in the NEET pattern and checked, each with an explanation. Pick an option to see the answer.
Q1 · Botany · The Living World
The basic structural and functional unit of all living organisms is:
Answer: (A)
Principle: the cell is the fundamental unit of life, and all higher levels of organisation (tissues, organs, organ systems) are built from cells. Application: since the cell carries out life functions by itself in unicellular forms, it is the basic unit. Each distractor is a higher level of organisation.
Q2 · Botany · The Living World
Evolution is considered a defining property of living organisms. At which level is evolution correctly observed?
Answer: (B)
Evolution is a change in the heritable characteristics of a population over generations. Individuals carry the traits they inherited and do not evolve during their lives. Evolution is therefore observed at the population level, and it applies to all populations of living organisms, unicellular or multicellular. Changes in non-living systems are not evolution because they are not heritable.
Q3 · Botany · The Living World
In a scientific paper, the species is first written in full as Mangifera indica Linn. Later in the same text, the genus is written as M. indica. Which statement about this later usage is correct?
Answer: (A)
Principle: after the genus has been written in full once in a text, it may be abbreviated to its initial letter, but the specific epithet is always written in full. Apply: the full name appears first, so M. indica is acceptable in later mentions. Students who think abbreviation is forbidden, or who extend it to the epithet or to the author citation, misapply the convention.
Q4 · Botany · The Living World
A living organism keeps its internal body temperature, pH and water content within a narrow range even when the external environment changes. This ability is called:
Answer: (A)
Principle: homeostasis is the self-regulating maintenance of a stable internal environment, which is a feature of living organisms. Application: keeping temperature, pH and water content within a narrow range despite outside changes is homeostasis. The other three options describe different life processes.
Q5 · Botany · The Living World
Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) and pea (Pisum sativum) both belong to the family Fabaceae. Which statement about them is correct?
Answer: (B)
Each genus is a group of closely related species, and each family groups genera that share broader characters. Since Cicer and Pisum are different genera, they can still share one family. The family is the higher category, so a shared family does not imply a shared genus.
Q6 · Botany · The Living World
Two plant species, X and Y, belong to the same family but to different genera. Which of the following statements about them is necessarily true?
Answer: (A)
Principle: the seven obligatory ranks are nested, with kingdom above division, class, order, family, genus and species. Each lower rank lies entirely inside one unit of the rank above. X and Y share a family, so the family lies within one order, and that order within one class. Being in different genera only says they are split at the genus level, which is below the family. So the order and class are shared, while genus and species can differ.
Q7 · Botany · The Living World
Why are Latin names chosen for scientific naming of organisms?
Answer: (A)
Scientific names use Latin because Latin is no longer changing as a spoken language. This stability means a name means the same thing to scientists everywhere and over time.
Q8 · Botany · The Living World
In the zoological name Panthera tigris altaica, what does the third word denote?
Answer: (A)
Zoological names can include a third term for a subspecies, as in Panthera tigris altaica. The first word is the genus, the second is the species epithet, and the third is the subspecies. Plant names use the term variety for an equivalent rank, which is a different convention.
Q9 · Botany · The Living World
Tobacco mosaic virus can be purified and crystallised in a test tube, and the crystals show a highly ordered molecular arrangement. Which conclusion about its status as a living entity is best supported?
Answer: (D)
NCERT lists growth, reproduction, metabolism, cellular organisation and response to stimuli as defining features. Order in a crystal is a physical property, and it does not show life. An isolated virus particle does not carry out its own metabolism or reproduction, so a crystal in a test tube does not meet the criteria, even though virus status is debated. Students who equate order or chemical composition with life make the errors in options A to C.
Q10 · Botany · The Living World
Who introduced the system of binomial nomenclature that is used for naming organisms today?
Answer: (A)
Binomial nomenclature means naming each organism with two Latin words, a genus name and a specific epithet. Carl Linnaeus introduced this system. Aristotle, Darwin and Whittaker are associated with classification or biological theory, not with the naming system itself.
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All 6 real NEET questions from The Living World.
The questions from the actual papers, with the official answer and an explanation for each — chapter by chapter, or as full timed papers.
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About The Living World in NEET.
How many questions come from The Living World in NEET?
The Living World (Botany, Class 11) has been asked 6 times in the 7 NEET papers from 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026: about 0.9 questions a paper, 2% of all Botany questions. It is the 17th most-asked of 17 Botany chapters. NEET 2026 had 3 from it.
Which topics of The Living World are asked most in NEET?
Taxonomic categories (4), Taxonomical aids (1), What is living (1), counted over the papers from 2018–2026.
Is The Living World important for NEET 2027?
It is in the syllabus in force, so it can be asked. By past papers it ranks 17 of 17 in Botany; use that to decide how much time it gets, not whether to study it.
Where can I solve The Living World NEET previous year questions?
On Nikaalle, free: sign up and practise every past NEET question from The Living World with an explanation for each, or sit the full papers timed. The ten questions on this page are our own, written in the same pattern.
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