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Grade 12 Biology entrance exam, 2016 E.C. (2024)

Real questions from the Grade 12 university entrance exam in Biology, as students sat it in 2016 E.C. Every question comes with the correct answer and a worked explanation.

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  • Natural science stream

    Who sits it

  • 2016 E.C. (2024)

    Exam year

  • 93 questions with answers

    In this set

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Answer each question yourself before opening the answer. The explanations point to the exact place in the textbook, so you know which page to reread when you miss one.

Question 2

What is the natural process that allows continuity of supply of nutrients to organisms in an ecosystem?

  1. A.Photosynthesis
  2. B.Sedimentation
  3. C.Respiration
  4. D.Recycling
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: D Recycling

Why

Nutrient recycling (biogeochemical cycling) ensures that essential elements like carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus are continuously cycled through the ecosystem, maintaining a constant supply for living organisms.

Question 3

The nitrogen content of dead plants and animals enters into the nitrogen cycle by a process of

  1. A.nitrification
  2. B.ammonification
  3. C.nitrogen fixation
  4. D.assimilation
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: B ammonification

Why

Ammonification is the process by which decomposers (bacteria and fungi) break down the nitrogenous waste and organic remains of dead plants and animals into ammonia or ammonium ions.

Question 4

Which of the following is correct about primary and secondary succession?

  1. A.Secondary succession starts from bare ground and previously uncolonized habitat
  2. B.Primary succession takes much longer to be completed
  3. C.Secondary succession passes through phases of decline before reaching climax
  4. D.Primary succession doesn't attain a climax community
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: B Primary succession takes much longer to be completed

Why

Primary succession takes significantly longer to reach a climax community because it begins in a completely barren habitat (like bare rock) and requires hundreds to thousands of years for soil formation to occur.

Question 5

Which one of the following is NOT considered as one of the terrestrial biomes?

  1. A.Boreal forest
  2. B.Tropical rainforest
  3. C.Estuarine
  4. D.Hot desert
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: C Estuarine

Why

An estuary (estuarine ecosystem) is a coastal body of water where freshwater from rivers mixes with saltwater from the ocean, making it an aquatic ecosystem rather than a terrestrial biome.

Question 6

Our knowledge and understanding of the evolutionary history of extinct animals such as dinosaurs come from the study of bone and other hardened structural remains. What is the category of evidence for such knowledge and understanding?

  1. A.Analogy
  2. B.Palaeontology
  3. C.Comparative biochemistry
  4. D.Comparative physiology
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: B Palaeontology

Why

Palaeontology is the scientific study of prehistoric life through the investigation of fossils, which include bones, shells, and other preserved structural remains of extinct organisms like dinosaurs.

Question 7

The effect of natural selection as a cause of evolutionary changes can be supported by evidence from

  1. A.palaeontology
  2. B.comparative embryology
  3. C.comparative biochemistry
  4. D.animal breeding
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: D animal breeding

Why

Darwin used plant and animal selective breeding (artificial selection) as a powerful, observable demonstration of how selective pressure can drive dramatic evolutionary changes in a population over generations.

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Biology papers from other years

2018 E.C. (2026)2017 E.C. (2025)2015 E.C. (2023)2014 E.C. (2022)2013 E.C. (2021)2012 E.C. (2020)2011 E.C. (2019)2010 E.C. (2018)2009 E.C. (2017)2008 E.C. (2016)2007 E.C. (2015)2006 E.C. (2014)2005 E.C. (2013)1996 E.C. (2004)

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Are these the real 2016 E.C. Biology entrance exam questions?

Yes. They come from the national university entrance exam in Biology that students sat in 2016 E.C. (2024). Our set holds 93 of its questions, each with its answer and an explanation that points back to the textbook.

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Can I download the Biology 2016 E.C. paper as a PDF?

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