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NEET Cell: The Unit of Life: 5 practice MCQs with answers

By the PrepMatic team · Updated 9 Oct 2026 · 4 min read

Cell: The Unit of Life is one of the most NCERT-dependent chapters in Class 11 Biology. Questions test exact facts: which organelle does what, how big a ribosome is, who proposed which idea. The five MCQs below cover mitochondria, ribosomes, lysosomes, cell theory and the fluid mosaic model, and each answer points back to the NCERT line it comes from.

What this chapter covers in the NEET syllabus

The NMC Biology syllabus has a unit called Cell Structure and Function, which also holds the Biomolecules and Cell Cycle chapters. This page covers the NCERT Class 11 chapter Cell: The Unit of Life. Its topics are:

• Cell theory, and how prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells differ.
• Plant cell versus animal cell.
• The cell envelope in bacteria, the cell membrane (fluid mosaic model) and the cell wall.
• The endomembrane system: endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, lysosomes and vacuoles.
• Mitochondria, plastids, ribosomes and microbodies.
• The cytoskeleton, cilia, flagella and centrioles, and the nucleus with its membrane, chromatin and nucleolus.

Five practice MCQs on Cell: The Unit of Life

Question 1

Oxidative phosphorylation, the main site of ATP synthesis in a eukaryotic cell, occurs on the:

• A. outer mitochondrial membrane
• B. mitochondrial matrix
• C. inner mitochondrial membrane
• D. cytosol

Question 2

A prokaryotic 70S ribosome is made of two subunits, which are:

• A. 60S and 40S
• B. 50S and 30S
• C. 40S and 30S
• D. 70S and 30S

Question 3

Which cell organelle contains hydrolytic enzymes that are optimally active at acidic pH?

• A. Lysosome
• B. Peroxisome
• C. Golgi apparatus
• D. Ribosome

Question 4

The statement "omnis cellula-e cellula" (new cells arise from pre-existing cells) was made by:

• A. Schleiden
• B. Schwann
• C. Robert Hooke
• D. Rudolf Virchow

Question 5

The fluid mosaic model of the cell membrane was proposed by:

• A. Watson and Crick
• B. Danielli and Davson
• C. Singer and Nicolson
• D. Hershey and Chase

Answers and explanations

1. C. The electron transport chain and ATP synthase are embedded in the inner mitochondrial membrane, which is folded into cristae to increase surface area. The Krebs cycle enzymes sit in the matrix, but the bulk of ATP is made on the inner membrane.
2. B. Prokaryotic ribosomes are 70S, made of 50S and 30S subunits. Eukaryotic ribosomes are 80S, made of 60S and 40S subunits. The S stands for the Svedberg unit, a measure of sedimentation rate, which is why the numbers do not simply add up.
3. A. Lysosomes are membrane-bound vesicles rich in hydrolases such as lipases, proteases and carbohydrases, active in acidic pH. Peroxisomes hold oxidative enzymes such as catalase, and the Golgi apparatus processes and packages materials.
4. D. Schleiden and Schwann proposed the cell theory that all plants and animals are made of cells. Rudolf Virchow (1855) extended it by stating that new cells come from existing ones. Robert Hooke first observed and named cells in cork.
5. C. Singer and Nicolson (1972) described the membrane as a fluid lipid bilayer with proteins embedded in or floating on it. Danielli and Davson proposed the earlier sandwich model.

How to prepare Cell: The Unit of Life

• Read the chapter line by line, then make an organelle table. For each organelle write the structure, the function, one or two distinguishing facts and where it is found (plant only, animal only, both). Many questions are "which of the following is absent in..." and they come straight from the table.
• Learn the numbers NCERT gives. Sizes of ribosomes (70S, 80S), the number of microtubules in a centriole's cartwheel arrangement (nine triplets), and the 9 + 2 pattern of cilia and flagella. Numbers are easy to retain when written next to a diagram.
• Draw and label the main diagrams: a prokaryotic cell, plant and animal cells, a mitochondrion, a chloroplast, a nucleus and a Golgi complex. Compare your drawing with NCERT.
• Make comparison lists. Prokaryotes versus eukaryotes; mitochondria versus chloroplasts (both have their own circular DNA and 70S ribosomes); smooth versus rough ER.
• Link scientists to ideas. Hooke, Leeuwenhoek, Schleiden, Schwann, Virchow, Singer and Nicolson, Robert Brown (nucleus), Palade (ribosomes), Golgi, de Duve (lysosomes).

One careful read plus two revisions with the organelle table is enough to cover this chapter. Check the NMC syllabus PDF for the current sub-topic list. Chapter order for Biology is explained in the NEET Biology preparation guide, and the reading method in NCERT for NEET.

Take a full Cell, the Unit of Life test on PrepMatic

If you studied in Tamil medium, you can choose Tamil as your exam language on PrepMatic, so topic tests and mocks on terminology-heavy chapters like this one appear in Tamil. A topic test is about 15 questions in 30 minutes with NEET's negative marking. The free Basic plan includes topic tests, and more chapters are on the practice hub.

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