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A statement-based question gives you several claims, labelled A, B, C and so on, and asks which are correct, with options such as "A, C and D only". Another form gives Statement I and Statement II and asks whether each is true. They feel slow because every statement is a small question of its own. This post shows how to judge statements quickly, works through two examples, and lists the word traps that turn a true-sounding line false.
Why do these questions catch prepared students?
The NEET (UG) 2026 Information Bulletin gives +4 for a correct answer and -1 for a wrong one, and 180 questions in 180 minutes. Statement questions test the whole of what you know, not just your favourite fact. In a crossover experiment with introductory biology students, Couch, Hubbard and Brassil (2018) compared ordinary multiple-choice questions with the same questions asked as "multiple-true-false", where each option is judged separately. Their data suggest that nearly half of the students who picked the correct multiple-choice answer held wrong ideas about the other options. A statement question is a multiple-true-false question in disguise: it finds those gaps.
How should you judge a statement?
Read it word by word. One changed word is enough: "prevents" for "does not prevent", "only" for "also".
Mark it T, F or ? in the margin. Do this for every statement before you look at the options.
Give each T or F a reason. Name the NCERT fact. If you cannot, mark it "?".
Use the options. Cross out every option that includes a statement you marked F or leaves out one you marked T. Often you can answer without settling the "?" ones.
Worked example 1: outbreeding devices
All facts are from NCERT's chapter on sexual reproduction in flowering plants.
*Which of the following statements are correct?*
A. Dioecy prevents both autogamy and geitonogamy.
B. Monoecious plants such as castor and maize prevent geitonogamy.
C. Self-incompatibility is a genetic mechanism that stops self-pollen by inhibiting pollen germination or pollen tube growth in the pistil.
D. Cleistogamous flowers are invariably autogamous.
E. Geitonogamy brings genetically different pollen grains to the stigma.
Options: (1) A, C and D only; (2) A, B and C only; (3) C, D and E only; (4) A, D and E only.
Judge each one.
A: T. NCERT says dioecy, as in papaya, "prevents both autogamy and geitonogamy".
B: F. NCERT says monoecy "prevents autogamy but not geitonogamy". The trap is one missing word.
C: T. This is NCERT's description, nearly word for word.
D: Suppose you are unsure. Mark ?.
E: F. NCERT says geitonogamy is genetically similar to autogamy; only xenogamy brings genetically different pollen.
Use the options. B is false, so (2) goes. E is false, so (3) and (4) go. Only (1) is left, and you never had to decide D. (For the record, D is true: NCERT says cleistogamous flowers are "invariably autogamous".)
Worked example 2: Statement I and Statement II
Statement I: The endosperm of flowering plants is triploid.
Statement II: Perisperm is the persistent remains of the endosperm in seeds such as black pepper and beet.
Options: (1) both true; (2) both false; (3) I true, II false; (4) I false, II true.
Statement I is true: NCERT says the primary endosperm cell forms a triploid endosperm. Statement II has the right examples but the wrong tissue. NCERT says the "residual, persistent nucellus is the perisperm". So II is false, and the answer is (3). The correct examples made the false statement sound right, a trap worth watching for in every chapter. Our post on ploidy of endosperm, nucellus and embryo sac cells explains why perisperm is 2n.
Which word traps should you watch for?
Swapped terms: monoecy for dioecy, geitonogamy for xenogamy, nucellus for endosperm.
Absolute words: always, never, only, all. Check whether NCERT is that absolute.
Negations added or dropped: "prevents" against "does not prevent".
Right example, wrong reason: the perisperm trap above.
Number changes: 7-celled against 8-celled, 47 against 45.
How should you practise?
Take one NCERT page and write five statements from it: two true, three with one word changed.
A day later, mark each one T or F with a reason, without the book.
For every F, write the corrected statement. That correction is what you will remember.
Do one mixed set of ten statement questions a week across chapters, timed at a minute each.
CBSE board papers have a cousin of this format; see our guide to assertion-reason questions. For lists with codes instead of statements, read match-the-list questions in NEET. If you are not sure where your weak chapters are, Fermi's AI tutor works out what you already know and builds a plan for the session, so you know which pages to turn into statements first.
Tonight, write five statements from one NCERT page, change one word in three of them, and test yourself tomorrow.
