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Grade 12 Biology entrance exam, 2017 E.C. (2025), version 1

Real questions from the Grade 12 university entrance exam in Biology, as students sat it in 2017 E.C. Every question comes with the correct answer and a worked explanation. The 2017 E.C. exam went out in several versions. This page holds version 1; the others are listed further down.

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  • Natural science stream

    Who sits it

  • 2017 E.C. (2025), version 1

    Exam year

  • 95 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 1

One of the following renowned Ethiopian biologists has discovered a 3.3 million-year-old humanoid child fossil in 2006.

  1. A.Dr Tshaynesh Meselle
  2. B.Dr Berhane Asfaw
  3. C.Dr Zeresenay Alemseged
  4. D.Dr Melaku Worede
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: C Dr Zeresenay Alemseged

Why

Dr Zeresenay Alemseged led the team that recovered the fossil child known as Selam from the Dikika area in the Afar region, and the full description was published in 2006. The skeleton is about 3.3 million years old and belongs to Australopithecus afarensis, the same species as Lucy. Dr Berhane Asfaw is the tempting choice because he is also a well known Ethiopian palaeoanthropologist, but his famous work is on Ardipithecus and on the Herto skulls, not on the Dikika child.

Question 2

Which of the above comparison of electron and light microscope is CORRECT? (Based on a table comparing Electron Microscope and Light Microscope across four rows: 1. Living cell vs Only dead cell, 2. Beam of electron vs Beam of light, 3. Limited resolving power vs Higher resolving power, 4. Specimen examined in plenum vs vacuum)

  1. A.1
  2. B.2
  3. C.3
  4. D.4
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: B 2

Why

Row 2 is the only line that states the difference the right way round: the electron microscope forms its image with a beam of electrons, and the light microscope uses a beam of light. Row 3 is the tempting one, but it is reversed. Electrons have a far shorter wavelength than light, so the electron microscope has the higher resolving power, not the lower. Row 1 and row 4 are reversed in the same way, because it is the electron microscope that needs a vacuum and therefore cannot show a living cell.

Question 3

Which of the following statements best states the cell theory?

  1. A.Cells can arise spontaneously from non-living matter
  2. B.Only plant cells can perform photosynthesis
  3. C.Cells are only found in multicellular organisms
  4. D.Cells are the basic unit of life
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: D Cells are the basic unit of life

Why

The cell theory has three parts: all living things are made of cells, the cell is the basic unit of structure and function in life, and new cells come only from cells that already exist. Option D states that middle part, so it is the best statement of the theory. Option A is the idea the theory replaced. Spontaneous generation was disproved by the work of Pasteur, and the theory insists instead that every cell comes from another cell.

Question 4

If a cell is observed under a microscope and has a large permanent central vacuole, which type of cell is it most likely to be?

  1. A.Animal Cell
  2. B.Bacterial cell
  3. C.Plant cell
  4. D.Fungal cell
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: C Plant cell

Why

One vacuole that fills most of the cell and stays there for the whole life of the cell is a plant feature. It holds cell sap and pushes outward on the cell wall, and that turgor pressure is what keeps a soft plant stem upright. Animal cells are the tempting answer because they can have vacuoles too, but theirs are small, few and temporary, so they never fill the cell the way a plant vacuole does.

Question 5

If a cell is placed in hypertonic solution, what will most likely happen to the cell?

  1. A.It will shrink
  2. B.It will swell
  3. C.It will remain the same size
  4. D.It will burst
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: A It will shrink

Why

A hypertonic solution holds more dissolved solute and less free water than the inside of the cell. Water moves by osmosis from where there is more of it to where there is less, so water leaves the cell and the cell shrinks. Bursting is the tempting answer, but that happens in the opposite case: an animal cell placed in a hypotonic solution takes water in until the membrane gives way.

Question 6

Which one of the following is CORRECT regarding the food test observation? (Sample 1: Iodine = Brown, Benedict's = Red precipitate, Biuret = Blue. Sample 2: Iodine = Brown, Benedict's = Yellow, Biuret = Blue)

  1. A.There is high amount of protein in sample 1
  2. B.High amount of reducing sugar in sample 2
  3. C.Sample 2 contains starch
  4. D.There is high amount of reducing sugar in sample 1
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: D There is high amount of reducing sugar in sample 1

Why

Benedict's solution starts blue and moves through green, yellow and orange to a brick red precipitate as the amount of reducing sugar rises. Sample 1 gave the red precipitate, so it holds a lot of reducing sugar. Option B is the trap: sample 2 turned only yellow, so it does hold some reducing sugar, but less than sample 1, not more. Biuret stayed blue in both samples, so neither has much protein, and iodine stayed brown, so neither contains starch.

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The other Biology papers of 2017 E.C.

2017 E.C. (2025)2017 E.C. (2025), version 2

Biology papers from other years

2018 E.C. (2026)2018 E.C. (2026), round 12018 E.C. (2026), version 12016 E.C. (2024)2016 E.C. model exam2015 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 2017 E.C. Biology entrance exam questions?

Yes. They come from the national university entrance exam in Biology that students sat in 2017 E.C. (2025). Our set holds 95 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 2017 E.C. paper as a PDF?

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