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CBSE · Class 11 · Biology

The Living World

Standard difficulty · 20 questions · 40 marks

Name: Date: Score: ____ / 40

Show your working for Sections B and C. Answers are on the last page — try every question first!

Section A — Choose the correct answer8 × 1 = 8 marks
1.
The basic unit of classification is the:
  1. family
  2. kingdom
  3. genus
  4. species
2.
Which is the correct way to write the scientific name of tiger?
  1. Panthera tigris
  2. panthera tigris
  3. Panthera Tigris
  4. PANTHERA TIGRIS
3.
The scientific name of neem is:
  1. Homo sapiens
  2. Panthera tigris
  3. Felis catus
  4. Azadirachta indica
4.
Which shows these categories in descending order (highest first)?
  1. order → kingdom → species → class
  2. class → order → species → kingdom
  3. order → kingdom → class → species
  4. kingdom → class → order → species
5.
In the classification of man (Homo sapiens), the family is:
  1. Insecta
  2. Monocotyledonae
  3. Hominidae
  4. Poales
6.
Which taxonomic aid is a store of dried, pressed plant specimens mounted on sheets with labels?
  1. Zoological park
  2. Monograph
  3. Herbarium
  4. Taxonomic key
7.
Which of these is a defining property of living organisms?
  1. Consciousness (sensing and responding to the surroundings)
  2. Growth
  3. Increase in size by adding material on the surface
  4. Reproduction
8.
Assertion (A): Organisms of the same family share more characters than organisms of the same genus.
Reason (R): Going up the hierarchy from species to kingdom, each category holds more organisms with fewer characters in common.
  1. Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
  2. Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
  3. A is true, but R is false.
  4. A is false, but R is true.
Section B — Short answer8 × 2 = 16 marks
9.
Why is growth not a defining property of living organisms?
10.
Write the scientific name of banyan, and name its genus and specific epithet.
11.
Give the kingdom, phylum, family of man (Homo sapiens).
12.
A student wrote the scientific name of mango as "mangifera indica". Correct it and give the rule broken.
13.
Name the taxonomic aid: information about any one taxon.
14.
Arrange in descending order of the taxonomic hierarchy: order, phylum, kingdom, species.
15.
Mustard and cabbage belong to the same genus. Name the genus and write the scientific name of each.
16.
A kingdom is a group of related what?
Section C — Word problems4 × 4 = 16 marks
17.
What are the characteristics of living organisms? Which of them are defining properties?
18.
Compare the classification of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and housefly (Musca domestica). (a) Which categories do they share? (b) At which category do they first differ? (c) What does this say about how closely they are related?
19.
Correct these scientific names and state the rule broken in each: (a) ZEA MAYS; (b) panthera leo; (c) felis catus. Then give two more rules of binomial nomenclature.
20.
Fill in the blanks in the classification of housefly: kingdom: Animalia; phylum (division in plants): Arthropoda; class: Insecta; order: ______; family: ______; genus: ______; species: domestica. How does the number of shared characters change from species to kingdom?
AmbifulWorksheets
Practice that never repeats
CBSE · Class 11 · Biology

Answer key

The Living World · AW-11B-LVW-2026-V1 · For parents — fold back or tear off before handing the sheet to your child.

QAnswerWorking
1(d) species—
2(a) Panthera tigrisgenus with a capital letter, specific epithet with a small letter, printed in italics
3(d) Azadirachta indica—
4(d) kingdom → class → order → specieskingdom → phylum → class → order → family → genus → species
5(c) Hominidae—
6(c) Herbarium—
7(a) Consciousness (sensing and responding to the surroundings)growth and reproduction are not shown by all living things, or are shown by some non-living things
8(d) A is false, but R is true.A is false: genus is lower than family. R is true.
9Non-living things such as mountains and crystals also increase in mass, and many organisms (such as a mature human) stop growing; so growth alone does not mark something as living.—
10Ficus benghalensis: genus Ficus, specific epithet benghalensisgenus first, with a capital letter
11kingdom Animalia; phylum Chordata; family Hominidae—
12Mangifera indica: the genus must start with a capital letter—
13Monograph—
14kingdom → phylum → order → specieskingdom → phylum (division in plants) → class → order → family → genus → species
15Brassica: Brassica juncea (mustard), Brassica oleracea (cabbage)members of a genus share the first word of the name
16Phyla—
17Growth, reproduction, metabolism, response to stimuli (consciousness), cellular organisation. Growth and reproduction are not defining, because some non-living things grow and some living things do not reproduce. Metabolism, cellular organisation and consciousness are defining properties of life.—
18(a) none: they are in different kingdoms; (b) kingdom (Plantae and Animalia); (c) the higher the category at which they part, the more distantly they are related—
19(a) Zea mays: only the first letter of the genus is a capital; (b) Panthera leo: the genus must start with a capital letter; (c) Felis catus: the genus must start with a capital letter. Names are in Latin and printed in italics (underlined separately when handwritten).—
20order Diptera; family Muscidae; genus Musca; shared characters decrease going up from species to kingdom—