NEET UG · Biology · Breathing and Exchange of Gases

Mechanism of Breathing: NEET previous year questions

11 questions in ten years of NEET, in 8 of 10 papers. Pattern: Every year. Here is how it is asked and which ideas come back.

Asked in 10 years: 11; about 1.1 per paper
Years asked: 8/10; last asked 2025
Chance of a question next paper: 64%; historical rate, how we compute it
Weighted estimate: 0.8; model; history: 1.1 a paper on average, typically 0–2

Key findings

01
Asked in 8 of 10 papers, 11 questions in all: #69 of 204 topics by ten-year total. It comes back every 1.1 years on average. Last asked in 2025.
02
60% of its questions since 2018 tested an idea never asked before; 2 repeated an idea from the year before.
03
The most repeated idea is Asthma and Emphysema, asked 3 times (2018, 2019, 2025), usually as “identify lung condition in disorder”.
04
NEET has asked 2 of the 83 ideas in this topic; 80 have never been asked, directly or indirectly.
05
Mostly asked as one-line MCQ (55%); 91% easy, 0% hard, and down from 1.3 to 0.6 questions a paper since 2024.

Questions per year

Up to 2023: 1.3; per paper
Since 2024: 0.6; -0.6
Usual gap: 1.1 yrs; between papers asking it
Swing: ±0.8; questions, year to year

How it is asked

Difficulty, format and skill

Across all 11 questions on Mechanism of Breathing since 2017.

Difficulty

QUESTIONS

101

Easy10 · 91%
Medium1 · 9%
Hard0 · 0%

Format

One-line MCQ · 6 Q55%
Match the lists · 3 Q27%
Other · 1 Q9%
Numerical · 1 Q9%

Skill tested

Recall · 8 Q73%
Concept · 2 Q18%
Calculation · 1 Q9%

Repeats

New idea, or one asked before?

Each column is a paper. Blue questions tested an idea NEET had not asked before; navy ones went back to an idea from an earlier paper. 2017 is the first paper, so everything in it counts as new.

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26

Idea asked for the first time
Idea asked in an earlier paper

Coverage of the topic

NEET has asked 2 of the 83 ideas in this topic. 80 have never been asked yet.

Asked directly2 · 2%
Touched inside another question1 · 1%
Never asked80 · 96%

Ideas come from Lumi’s syllabus map of NCERT. A never-asked idea is not a safe skip: most new questions come from exactly these.

Drill down

Idea, year, question

Every idea NEET tested in this topic, with its ten papers. Open one to read the questions.

ideaAskedShareYears’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26

Repeated3 · 27%27%3/10
- 2025 · Q101
  Match List - I with List - II. List - I | List - II A. Emphysema | I. Rapid spasms in muscle due to low $Ca^{++}$ in body fluid B. Angina…
  easyMatch the lists
- 2019 · Q120
  Due to increasing air-borne allergens and pollutants, many people in urban areas are suffering from respiratory disorder causing wheezing…
  easyOne-line MCQAsked the year before
- 2018 · Q136
  Which of the following options correctly represents the lung conditions in asthma and emphysema, respectively ?
  easyOne-line MCQNew idea
Repeated3 · 27%27%3/10
1 · 9%9%1/10
1 · 9%9%1/10
1 · 9%9%1/10
1 · 9%9%1/10
1 · 9%9%1/10

Squares are the ten papers, 2017 to 2026; darker means more questions. Share is of the level above.

Ideas

Every idea inside this topic

7 different ideas were tested; 2 came more than once. Mechanism of Inspiration is the foundation for 21 other ideas in the syllabus.

Asthma and Emphysema3×
identify lung condition in disorder
One-line MCQ · 6% next
Pulmonary Capacities3×
definition recall of lung capacity
Match the lists · 6% next
Anatomical Dead Space1×
identify non-function of respiratory part
One-line MCQ · 4% next · foundation for 1
Mechanism of Inspiration1×
select correct events of inspiration
Other · 4% next · foundation for 21
Occupational Respiratory Disorders1×
identify example of occupational disorder
One-line MCQ · 4% next
Respiratory Volumes1×
match list on lung volumes
Match the lists · 4% next
Residual Volume Keeps Alveoli Open1×
match list on lung volumes
One-line MCQ · 4% next

Idea	Times	Format	Chance next	Foundation for
Asthma and Emphysemaidentify lung condition in disorder	3	One-line MCQRecall	6%	–
Pulmonary Capacitiesdefinition recall of lung capacity	3	Match the listsRecall	6%	–
Anatomical Dead Spaceidentify non-function of respiratory part	1	One-line MCQConcept	4%	1 ideas
Mechanism of Inspirationselect correct events of inspiration	1	OtherConcept	4%	21 ideas
Occupational Respiratory Disordersidentify example of occupational disorder	1	One-line MCQRecall	4%	–
Respiratory Volumesmatch list on lung volumes	1	Match the listsRecall	4%	–
Residual Volume Keeps Alveoli Openmatch list on lung volumes	1	One-line MCQRecall	4%	–

Chance next is the historical rate at which an idea with this record came back in the following paper. It is low for every idea, which is why learning the topic beats memorising past questions. All repeated ideas

Every question

Mechanism of Breathing questions, year by year

The opening words of each question as it appeared in the official paper, with the idea it tested.

NEET 20251 question

Q101
Match List - I with List - II. List - I | List - II A. Emphysema | I. Rapid spasms in muscle due to low $Ca^{++}$ in body fluid B. Angina…
Idea: Asthma and Emphysema
EasyMatch the lists

NEET 20241 question

Q159
Match List I with List II List-I | List-II A. Expiratory capacity | I. Expiratory reserve volume + Tidal volume + Inspiratory reserve…
Idea: Pulmonary Capacities
Asked last yearEasyMatch the lists

NEET 20231 question

Q171
Vital capacity of lung is ________.
Idea: Pulmonary Capacities
EasyOne-line MCQ

NEET 20221 question

Q165
Which of the following is not the function of conducting part of respiratory system ?
Idea: Anatomical Dead Space
New ideaEasyOne-line MCQ

NEET 20201 question

Q24
Select the correct events that occur during inspiration. (a) Contraction of diaphragm (b) Contraction of external inter-costal muscles (c)…
Idea: Mechanism of Inspiration
New ideaEasyOther

NEET 20192 questions

Q120
Due to increasing air-borne allergens and pollutants, many people in urban areas are suffering from respiratory disorder causing wheezing…
Idea: Asthma and Emphysema
Asked last yearEasyOne-line MCQ
Q141
Tidal Volume and Expiratory Reserve Volume of an athlete is 500 mL and 1000 mL respectively. What will be his Expiratory Capacity if the…
Idea: Pulmonary Capacities
New ideaEasyNumerical

NEET 20183 questions

Q136
Which of the following options correctly represents the lung conditions in asthma and emphysema, respectively ?
Idea: Asthma and Emphysema
New ideaEasyOne-line MCQ
Q138
Match the items given in Column I with those in Column II and select the correct option given below : Column I | Column II a. Tidal volume…
Idea: Respiratory Volumes
New ideaMediumMatch the lists
Q167
Which of the following is an occupational respiratory disorder ?
Idea: Occupational Respiratory Disorders
New ideaEasyOne-line MCQ

NEET 20171 question

Q148
Lungs are made up of air-filled sacs, the alveoli. They do not collapse even after forceful expiration, because of :
Idea: Residual Volume Keeps Alveoli Open
EasyOne-line MCQ

Questions from the official NEET UG papers published by NTA (CBSE before 2019). Topic and idea tags, counts and notes are Lumi’s.