Sixteen multiple-choice questions spread evenly across the four compulsory topics and all four electives, so one sitting tells you which topic is weakest rather than just how many you got right. Every question is original, written to the topic framework in the Curriculum and Assessment Guide, with an explanation and a topic reference under each. The full topic framework is on the HKDSE Biology topics page; the full bank of 1,000 questions, the flashcards and the topic notes, in English, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, are in the revision app.
Which element occurs in every amino acid used to build proteins but not in carbohydrates or simple fats?
Based on: DSE Bio Compulsory I(a) Molecules of life; EDB/CDC Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6), printed pp. 19-21; NIGMS, relevant definitions: Active Site, ATP, Carbohydrate, Enzyme, ER, Golgi, Mitochondrion, Mitosis, Nucleus, Protein and Ribosome
Which description fits an allele?
Based on: DSE Bio Compulsory II(a) Basic genetics; EDB/CDC Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6), printed pp. 25-26; NHGRI, relevant definitions: Allele, Genotype, Phenotype, Chromosome, DNA, Codon, Mutation and Evolution
In a leaf, which cell layer is the main site of photosynthesis?
Based on: EDB/CDC Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6), DSE Bio Compulsory III Organisms and Environment (plant nutrition)
What is meant by a balanced diet?
Based on: EDB/CDC Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6), DSE Bio Compulsory IV Health and Diseases
Which organ is mainly responsible for regulating the water content of the blood?
Based on: EDB/CDC Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6), printed pp.45-46, Human Physiology: Regulation and Control; NIDDK, How do my kidneys work?; The glomerulus filters your blood; The tubule returns needed substances
What is a major direct consequence of large-scale deforestation of tropical rainforests?
Based on: EDB/CDC Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6), printed pp.49-51, Applied Ecology; EDB/CDC Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6), printed pp.49-51: renewable resources, conservation, restoration and sustainability
Which structure is present in a plant cell but absent in a bacterial cell?
Based on: EDB/CDC Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6), VII(a-d), printed pp54-56; NHGRI, Prokaryote, Eukaryote, Virus, Plasmid, Genetic Engineering, Restriction Enzyme
What do restriction enzymes do in genetic engineering?
Based on: EDB/CDC Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6), VIII(a-c), printed pp59-61; NHGRI, entry Restriction Enzyme
After an enzyme speeds up a reaction, the enzyme can be recovered unchanged and used again. Which role of the enzyme does this observation support?
Based on: DSE Bio Compulsory I(e) Cellular energetics: Enzymes and enzymatic reactions; EDB/CDC Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6), printed pp. 19-21; NIGMS, relevant definitions: Active Site, ATP, Carbohydrate, Enzyme, ER, Golgi, Mitochondrion, Mitosis, Nucleus, Protein and Ribosome
For an inherited autosomal single-gene condition with complete penetrance and no new mutation, two unaffected parents have an affected child. What does this indicate about the disease allele?
Based on: DSE Bio Compulsory II(a) Basic genetics; EDB/CDC Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6), printed pp. 25-26; MedlinePlus, autosomal inheritance and de novo variants
A plant absorbs nitrate ions from the soil mainly to build which type of molecule?
Based on: EDB/CDC Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6), DSE Bio Compulsory III Organisms and Environment (plant nutrition); NIST, chlorophyll a molecular formula contains N4; NCI, definition: phosphorus in phospholipids; EDB/CDC Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6), III(a), printed p.30
Which change can help explain improved endurance after a healthy student trains regularly by jogging?
Based on: NHLBI, Physical activity strengthens your heart and improves lung function; EDB/CDC Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6), IV(a), printed p40
In which structure of the nephron does ultrafiltration take place?
Based on: EDB/CDC Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6), printed pp.45-46, Human Physiology: Regulation and Control; NIDDK, How do my kidneys work?; The glomerulus filters your blood; The tubule returns needed substances; EDB/CDC Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6), printed p.44 and p.46: investigation of heart rate and breathing; recording, interpreting and displaying results
After a forest is fragmented, mature trees remain but pollinator movement between patches declines. Which long-term concern requires assessment?
Based on: EDB/CDC Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6), printed pp.49-51, Applied Ecology; EDB/CDC Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6), printed pp.49-51: renewable resources, conservation, restoration and sustainability; FAO, Collecting seed: sampling genetic diversity and avoiding bottlenecks
Which set of conditions favours the rapid growth of most bacteria?
Based on: EDB/CDC Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6), VII(a-d), printed pp54-56; US FDA, Bacterial Agents and Foodborne Viruses chapters
In gene cloning, a plasmid is described as which of the following?
Based on: EDB/CDC Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6), VIII(a-c), printed pp59-61; NHGRI, entry Plasmid
Not as a score. Sixteen questions across eight topics is two per topic, which is far too few to tell you how good you are at Biology and exactly enough to tell you where to look next. Read it as a map: the topic where you miss both, or get one right for the wrong reason, is the topic to open first. That is also why the questions are spread round-robin rather than front-loaded onto the compulsory part, even though the compulsory part is what everyone sits.
The explanation under each question says why the correct option is correct, and some also say why a tempting distractor is wrong; in Biology the distractors are usually the misconception rather than a random alternative. Getting the right answer while holding the wrong reason is the most expensive thing a candidate can do, because nothing in the result tells them, and it survives all the way to the paper. Every question in the app comes with an explanation.
Many Hong Kong candidates understand Biology in Chinese and answer in English. That gap is not a comprehension problem, it is a naming problem, and it costs marks in a way that revising harder does not fix. The practical fix is to meet each term in both languages while the concept is fresh. The questions on this page are in English because the paper is; in the app the same question, the same explanation and the same flashcard switch between English, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese at a tap, which is the point of the trilingual build.
How many questions Paper 1 has, how long it runs or how the marks are split. Those are not stated here because they are not verified against a current official document, and inventing them would poison the one thing a page like this is for. Confirm the assessment framework with the HKEAA and with your school. Everything this page does state, the eight topics and what sits inside each of them, comes from the published Curriculum and Assessment Guide.
RiverMap Learning is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, the Education Bureau or the Curriculum Development Council. Every question here is original and written to the published topic framework; no past paper question, marking scheme or textbook content is reproduced. Practice results are not a grade.
| Compulsory part | Elective part | |
|---|---|---|
| How many topics | Four | Four exist, each school enters candidates for two |
| Who studies it | Every candidate | Depends on the school's pairing |
| What it covers | Molecules and cells, genetics and evolution, organisms and environment, health and diseases | Human physiology, applied ecology, microorganisms and humans, biotechnology |
| Relationship | The base every elective builds on | One compulsory strand taken further |
| In our question bank | All four | All four, so a change of pairing costs you nothing |
Sixteen, spread two per topic across the four compulsory topics and all four elective units: Cells and Molecules of Life, Genetics and Evolution, Organisms and Environment, Health and Diseases, Human Physiology, Applied Ecology, Microorganisms and Humans, and Biotechnology. Each carries an explanation and the topic it maps to. The full bank of 1,000 questions is in the app.
No, and deliberately not. Every question is written from scratch by RiverMap Learning to the topic framework in the publicly available Biology Curriculum and Assessment Guide. No HKEAA past paper question, marking scheme or textbook content is reproduced. Scientific facts are not copyrightable; the published framework is used only to align coverage.
Two of the four. There are four electives, Human Physiology: Regulation and Control, Applied Ecology, Microorganisms and Humans, and Biotechnology, and a school normally enters its candidates for two of them. Which two is the school's decision rather than the candidate's, which is why our bank carries all four rather than a chosen pair.
This page does not state a number, because we have not verified one against a current official document. Counts quoted online are usually taken from one year's actual paper and do not bind the next sitting. Check the assessment framework published by the HKEAA and confirm with your school.
The questions on this page are in English, because the English paper is what most candidates sit. In the app every question, option, explanation, flashcard and topic note exists in English, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese, switching at a tap, so you can work out the concept in the language you think in and then check the term you will have to write.
No. Sixteen questions is a diagnostic, not a prediction, and there is no pass mark on this page or in the app because HKDSE levels are awarded by standards-referenced reporting each year rather than against a fixed mark. Use the result to pick which topic to open next, which is the only thing a sample this size can honestly do.
RiverMap Learning apps are independent study tools. They are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any government body or examination authority. Question content is original and based on publicly available official study materials.
