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MCAT

Practice Test 9

Purchased by: Kiyumi Heard On: 1/1/0001

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Physical Sciences Time: 70 minutes Questions: 1-52

Most questions in the Physical Sciences test are organized into groups, each containing a descriptive passage. After studying the passage, select the one best answer to each question in the group. Some questions are not based on a descriptive passage and are also independent of each other. If you are not certain of an answer, eliminate the alternatives that you know to be incorrect and then select an answer from the remaining alternatives. Indicate your selected answer by marking the corresponding answer on your answer sheet. A periodic table is provided for your use. You may consult it whenever you wish.



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1 H 1.0

Periodic Table of the Elements 2

He 4.0

3 Li 6.9

4 Be 9.0

5 B

10.8

6 C

12.0

7 N

14.0

8 O

16.0

9 F

19.0

10 Ne 20.2

11 Na 23.0

12 Mg 24.3

13 Al 27.0

14 Si

28.1

15 P

31.0

16 S

32.1

17 Cl 35.5

18 Ar 39.9

19 K

39.1

20 Ca 40.1

21 Sc 45.0

22 Ti

47.9

23 V

50.9

24 Cr 52.0

25 Mn 54.9

26 Fe 55.8

27 Co 58.9

28 Ni 58.7

29 Cu 63.5

30 Zn 65.4

31 Ga 69.7

32 Ge 72.6

33 As 74.9

34 Se 79.0

35 Br 79.9

36 Kr 83.8

37 Rb 85.5

38 Sr 87.6

39 Y

88.9

40 Zr 91.2

41 Nb 92.9

42 Mo 95.9

43 Tc (98)

44 Ru

101.1

45 Rh

102.9

46 Pd

106.4

47 Ag

107.9

48 Cd

112.4

49 In

114.8

50 Sn

118.7

51 Sb

121.8

52 Te

127.6

53 I

126.9

54 Xe

131.355 Cs

132.9

56 Ba

137.3

57 La* 138.9

72 Hf

178.5

73 Ta

180.9

74 W

183.9

75 Re

186.2

76 Os

190.2

77 Ir

192.2

78 Pt

195.1

79 Au

197.0

80 Hg

200.6

81 Tl

204.4

82 Pb

207.2

83 Bi

209.0

84 Po

(209)

85 At

(210)

86 Rn (222)

87 Fr

(223)

88 Ra

(226)

89 Ac† (227)

104 Rf

(261)

105 Db (262)

106 Sg

(266)

107 Bh

(264)

108 Hs

(277)

109 Mt (268)

110 Ds

(281)

111 Uuu (272)

112 Uub (285)

114 Uuq (289)

116 Uuh (289)

* 58 Ce

140.1

59 Pr

140.9

60 Nd

144.2

61 Pm (145)

62 Sm 150.4

63 Eu

152.0

64 Gd 157.3

65 Tb

158.9

66 Dy

162.5

67 Ho

164.9

68 Er

167.3

69 Tm 168.9

70 Yb

173.0

71 Lu

175.0

† 90 Th

232.0

91 Pa

(231)

92 U

238.0

93 Np (237)

94 Pu

(244)

95 Am (243)

96 Cm (247)

97 Bk

(247)

98 Cf

(251)

99 Es

(252)

100 Fm (257)

101 Md (258)

102 No

(259)

103 Lr

(260)


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Passage I

Students constructed the electrical circuit shown below to study capacitors. A battery with a voltage of 10 V is connected through a switch to a capacitor and a 500-Ω resistor. The capacitor is constructed from two flat metal plates, each with a surface area of 5.0 × 10–5 m2. The plates are separated by 1.0 × 10–3 m, and the space between the plates is a vacuum. The connecting wires have no resistance. After the switch is closed and the capacitor is fully charged, a particle with a charge of 8.0 × 10–19 C and a speed of 1.0 m/s is injected midway between the capacitor plates.

Figure 1 Circuit 1. Which of the following graphs best illustrates how

charge accumulates on the plates of the capacitor after the switch is closed?

A )

B )

C )

D )

2. If the speed of the charged particle described in the

passage is increased by a factor of 2, the electrical force on the particle will:

A) decrease by a factor of 2.

B) remain the same.

C) increase by a factor of 2.

D) increase by a factor of 4. 3. Making which of the following changes to a circuit

element will increase the capacitance of the capacitor described in the passage?

A) Replacing the 500-Ω resistor with a 250-Ω resistor

B) Replacing the 10-V battery with a 20-V battery

C) Increasing the separation of the capacitor plates

D) Increasing the area of the capacitor plates 4. A charged particle with a mass of m and a charge

of q is injected midway between the plates of a capacitor that has a uniform electric field of E. What is the acceleration of this particle due to the electric field?

A) Eq/m

B) Em/q

C) mq/E

D) Emq 5. Another capacitor, identical to the original, is

added in series to the circuit described in the passage. Compared to the original circuit, the equivalent capacitance of the new circuit is:

A) 1/2 as great.

B) the same.

C) 2 times as great.

D) 4 times as great.


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6. Which of the following best describes the motion of a negatively charged particle after it has been injected between the plates of a charged, parallel-plate capacitor? (Note: Assume that the area between the plates is a vacuum.)

A ) It moves with constant speed toward the positive plate.

B ) It moves with constant speed toward the negative plate.

C ) It accelerates toward the positive plate.

D ) It accelerates toward the negative plate.


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Passage II

Gasoline is a mixture of nonpolar hydrocarbons that reacts with oxygen in an automobile engine to produce energy, carbon dioxide, and water vapor. If the gasoline burns too rapidly, a metal piston can be slammed against a metallic part, resulting in a “knocking” sound and a reduction in engine efficiency. The octane rating of a gasoline is a measure of its antiknock qualities. The higher the octane rating of a hydrocarbon mixture, the slower it burns and the smoother the piston operates.

The octane rating scale derives its name from isooctane (C8H18), a hydrocarbon with good antiknock qualities. A 90:10 mixture of isooctane and heptane (C7H16) has an octane rating of 90. Oxygenates are oxygen-containing compounds that can be added to a gasoline to increase the octane rating. Two oxygenates currently in use are MTBE and ETOH. Data for these oxygenates and two other potential additives are shown in Table 1. A disadvantage of MTBE is that it has a strong and offensive odor that humans can smell even at concentrations below 0.26 ppm in air.

Table 1 Data for Gasoline Additives

Additive Formula Octane rating

Vapor pressure

(torr, 25°C)

Heat of formation (kJ/mole)

MTBE C4H9OCH3 110 25 –580 ETOH C2H5OH 115 58 –278 ETBE C4H9OC2H5 112 20 –675 TAME C5H11OCH3 111 15 –680

7. What type of intermolecular interaction can ETOH

undergo with water that MTBE can NOT?

A ) van der Waals

B ) Dipole–dipole

C ) Hydrogen bonding

D ) Covalent bonding

8. The formation of one mole of which oxygenate shown in Table 1 releases the most energy?

A) ETOH

B) MTBE

C) ETBE

D) TAME 9. What are the coefficients for oxygen and carbon

dioxide, respectively, if the equation shown below is balanced? 1CH3OCH3(ℓ ) + ? O2(g) → __ H2O(g) + ? CO2(g)

A) 2 and 1

B) 2 and 2

C) 3 and 1

D) 3 and 2 10. Which of the following nonoxygenated analogs

of MTBE is most likely to mimic MTBE in its antiknock properties?

A) C4H9Si(CH3)3

B) C4H9N(CH3)2

C) C4H9SCH3

D) C4H9P(CH3)2 11. The entropy change for the combustion reaction

of gasoline is always greater than zero because the:

A) number of gaseous molecules in the products always exceeds the number of gaseous molecules in the reactants.

B) enthalpy change is always positive.

C) temperature of the combustion is always more than 100°C.

D) free energy change is always positive.


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12. Which compound shown in Table 1 evaporates fastest at 30°C?

A ) MTBE

B ) ETOH

C ) ETBE

D ) TAME

13. If one mole of each additive shown in Table 1 undergoes complete combustion, which compound requires the least amount of oxygen?

A) MTBE

B) ETOH

C) ETBE

D) TAME


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These questions are not based on a descriptive passage and are independent of each other. 14. H2O is liquid at room temperature, whereas H2S,

H2Se, and H2Te are all gases. Which of the following best explains why H2O is liquid at room temperature?

A ) Hydrogen bonds form between H2O molecules.

B ) Oxygen lacks d orbitals.

C ) H2O has a lower molecular weight.

D ) H2O is more volatile. 15.

How do the pressures Pw and Pm compare, measured at the bottom of two identical containers filled to the levels shown in the figure with water and mercury? (Note: Density of water = 1 g/cm3; density of mercury = 14 g/cm3.)

A ) Pm = 2Pw

B ) Pm = 7Pw

C ) Pm = 14Pw

D ) Pm = 28Pw

16. If the second floor and the top floor of a building

are separated by a distance of 100 m, what is the approximate difference between the air pressures of the two levels? (Note: Air density = 1.2 kg/m3 and gravitational acceleration = 10 m/s2. Neglect the compressibility of air.)

A) 600 N/m2

B) 800 N/m2

C) 1000 N/m2

D) 1200 N/m2


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Passage III

The compounds nitric acid (HNO3), nitrous acid (HNO2), acetic acid (CH3COOH), hypochlorous acid (HClO), and ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3), are all water soluble and produce acidic solutions. The Ka values for these compounds are given in Table 1.

Table 1 Ka Values

Compound Ka, 25°C HNO3 Large HNO2 4.5 × 10–4 CH3COOH 1.8 × 10–5 HClO 3.2 × 10–8 NH4NO3 5.6 × 10–10

The titration of these acids with sodium hydroxide

can be done using an indicator to signal the endpoint. Table 2 contains information about some common acid-base indicators.

Table 2 Indicator Properties

Indicator pH range Acidic color

Basic color

Methyl violet 0.15–3.2 yellow violet

Methyl red 4.4–6.2 red yellow Phenol red 6.4–8.2 colorless purple

Nitramine 10.8–13.0 colorless brown

17. Which of the following mixtures, with each

component present at a concentration of 0.1 M, has a pH closest to 7?

A ) HClO(aq) and NaClO(aq)

B ) HNO2(aq) and NaNO2(aq)

C ) CH3COOH(aq) and NaCH3COO(aq)

D ) HNO3(aq) and NaNO3(aq)

18. Which of the following equations correctly

represents the dissolution of NH4NO3(s) in water? H2O

A ) NH4NO3(s) → NH4(aq) + NO3(aq) H2O

B ) NH4NO3(s) → NH4–(aq) + NO3

+(aq) H2O

C) NH4NO3(s) → NH2+(aq) + NO2

–(aq) + H2O H2O

D ) NH4NO3(s) → NH4+(aq) + NO3

–(aq)

19. When 2.0 mL of 0.1 M NaOH(aq) is added to

100 mL of a solution containing 0.1 M HClO(aq) and 0.1 M NaClO(aq), what type of change in the pH of the solution takes place?

A) A slight (<0.1 pH unit) increase

B) A slight (<0.1 pH unit) decrease

C) A significant (>1.0 pH unit) increase

D) A significant (>1.0 pH unit) decrease 20. What is the best explanation for the fact that a

solution of NaNO2(aq) is basic?

A) NO2– is hydrolyzed with the formation of OH –

(aq) ions.

B) Na+ is hydrolyzed with the formation of OH –(aq) ions.

C) NaNO2(aq) decreases the Ka of HNO2(aq).

D) NaNO2(aq) increases the Ka of HNO2(aq).


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Passage IV

One can sometimes obtain a fairly good description of a phenomenon by focusing on a few key characteristics of a system and ignoring the subtleties. For example, in the flow of a liquid, fairly decent results can sometimes be obtained by ignoring the viscosity of the liquid. (Physicist Richard Feynman called the approximation of viscousless water “dry water.”)

An approximate expression for the fundamental frequency f of liquid sloshing in a tank (as in Figure 1) is given by

f = (3gH)1/2/πL

where H is the height of the liquid, L is the length of the tank, and g denotes the acceleration due to gravity, 10 m/s2. This equation assumes that the liquid lacks viscosity and surface tension, and that the liquid surface is always flat throughout the sloshing cycle. Calculations using these simplifying assumptions result in uncertainties of about 10%.

The sloshing modes are called seiches. They have been observed in lakes, bays, and swimming pools. Amplitudes of seiches in Lake Geneva in Switzerland have been observed as large as 5 ft. A seiche in Lake Michigan in 1954 had an amplitude of some 10 ft and swept away several people who were fishing from piers. Such seiches can be caused by seismic disturbances or sudden changes in the atmospheric pressure above one region of a lake.

Figure 1 The fundamental sloshing mode of a tank of liquid. The sloshing occurs between extremes I and III, while II denotes the equilibrium level.

21. Suppose that the atmospheric pressure suddenly dropped at one end of a large lake, inducing a seiche like that shown in Figure 1. The atmospheric pressure differential between the two ends of a lake is directly proportional to the:

A) frequency of the oscillations.

B) period of the oscillations.

C) wave speed.

D) amplitude of the oscillations. 22. The principal restoring force responsible for

maintaining the sloshing oscillations in a body of “dry water” for which surface tension is very small is the:

A) gravitational force.

B) viscosity of the water.

C) atmospheric pressure above the water.

D) hydrostatic pressure at the bottom of the container.

23. Compute the period of oscillation for the

fundamental mode of a seiche induced in a lake that averages a depth of 30 m, with a length of 6000 m over which the wave propagates.

A) 50π s

B) 200π s

C) 300π s

D) 400π s 24. The actual oscillating surface in Figure 1 would

not remain precisely flat; it would have a half- sine-wave shape. Use this fact to determine the wavespeed v of the fundamental mode of oscillation.

A) v = (2gH)1/2

B) v = (3gH)1/2

C) v = (3gH)1/2/π

D) v = 2(3gH)1/2/π


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25. Assume that a pan of “dry water” is momentarily disturbed. Which of the following concepts best explains why the resulting sloshing oscillations persist for a fairly long time?

A ) Energy conservation

B ) Momentum conservation

C ) Newton’s third law

D ) Archimedes’ principle

26. Regarding Figure 1, which velocity profile depicted below best shows the variation in velocities across the air–liquid interface of II just after I has occurred?

A)

B)

C)

D)


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These questions are not based on a descriptive passage and are independent of each other. 27. In which of the following does sound travel most

rapidly?

A ) Air (0°C)

B ) Water (10°C)

C ) Iron (20°C)

D ) Sound travels at approximately the same speed in all of the above.

28.

A )

B )

C )

D )

29. Which action involves more work: lifting a weight from A to B or lowering the weight from B to A?

A) Lifting from A to B

B) Lowering from B to A

C) Equal work in both actions

D) No work is required using a pulley. 30. What is the standard emf for the galvanic cell in

which the following overall reaction occurs?

2Na(s) + Cl2(g) → 2Na+(aq) + 2Cl–(aq)

Half-reaction E° red

(V) Na+(aq) + e– → Na(s) –2.71 Cl2(g) + 2e– → 2Cl–(aq) +1.36

A) –1.35 V

B) +1.35 V

C) +4.07 V

D) +6.78 V


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31. Which of the following shows the electron configuration of chlorine in NaCl?

A ) 1s22s22p63s23p4

B ) 1s22s22p63s23p5

C ) 1s22s22p63s23p6

D ) 1s22s22p63s23p44s2


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Passage V

Earthquake lights (EQLs) have been reported for centuries. These lights are seen in association with seismic activity and have been reported at distances hundreds of kilometers from the earthquake, and often at sea or near large bodies of water. EQLs are usually blue or bluish-white, but yellow lights have occasionally been reported. The source of EQLs has not been identified, but it has recently been suggested that they are produced by sonoluminescence (SL), the production of light by sound waves in a liquid.

SL occurs when bubbles form in the liquid during the rarefaction phase of a sound wave and are then rapidly compressed during the compressional phase of the wave. The rapid compression causes a large increase in the temperature of the gas inside the bubble, causing light to be emitted. Both continuum emission, with a blackbody spectrum, and line emission from atoms and molecules have been observed in the laboratory from SL in water.

SL has been produced in water in the laboratory by sound waves carrying an energy density of about 10 erg/cm3. Advancing seismic wavefronts carry a kinetic energy density e, given by

e = 2π2ρ(A/τ)2

in which ρ is the density of the ambient medium, A is the wave amplitude, and τ is the wave period. Estimates of these quantities obtained from ground-motion records of earthquakes give values for e that are often consistent with the SL hypothesis.

The SL spectrum of pure water peaks at a wavelength of 3.10 × 10–7 m in the ultraviolet. Dissolved salts might contribute to the yellow color. Sodium has, in fact, a particularly strong characteristic emission at 5.89 × 10–7 m.

32. Which of the following statements could explain the frequently bluish color of EQLs?

A) Sodium salts are common in the earth’s crust, and sodium emissions can be quite bright.

B) In transparent substances, dispersion effects are in general greater for longer wavelengths.

C) The ultraviolet radiation is absorbed by molecules that then fluoresce at yet shorter wavelengths.

D) The ultraviolet radiation is absorbed by molecules that then fluoresce at yet longer wavelengths.

33. During their compression, little heat is lost by

conduction from the hot vapor bubbles responsible for SL effects because:

A) the process occurs too rapidly for heat loss to be appreciable.

B) the heat is carried on the advancing wavefront.

C) the surrounding liquid is subjected to the same compressional force.

D) convection predominates over other processes in liquids at ordinary temperatures.

34. Heating of the vapor bubbles occurs during the

compression phase of the passing waves in SL because:

A) the heat of vaporization of water is high and serves as a barrier to the effect.

B) constructive interference in the wave motion is greater than at other times.

C) work is being done on the vapor bubbles by forces external to them at that time.

D) energy propagates primarily by means of transverse waves at that time.


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35. Atomic hydrogen has a characteristic spectral emission at a wavelength of 6.56 × 10–7 m that might contribute to EQLs. What color is this characteristic H emission?

A ) Violet

B ) Blue

C ) Green

D ) Red


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Passage VI

Aluminum is obtained commercially by the electrolysis of Al2O3, which is the major compound in the ore bauxite. Pure Al2O3 is obtained from bauxite by the Bayer process.

The finely ground ore is treated with concentrated NaOH (35–38%) for 6–8 hours at a high temperature and pressure, converting Al2O3 into Al(OH)3(aq), which then reacts with NaOH(aq) to produce Na[Al(OH)4] as shown in Equation 1.

Al(OH)3(aq) + NaOH(aq) → Na[Al(OH)4](aq) Equation 1

The aqueous base converts the major impurity in the ore, Fe2O3, into the insoluble Fe(OH)3, which is removed by filtration.

After the impurity is removed, carbon dioxide is passed through the mixture to precipitate Al(OH)3, which is collected and dehydrated at 1000°C to yield pure Al2O3 (equations 2 and 3).

2Na[Al(OH)4](aq) + CO2(g) → Na2CO3(aq) + 2Al(OH)3(s) + H2O(ℓ)

Equation 2

2Al(OH)3(s) + heat → Al2O3(s) + 3H2O(g) Equation 3

The Al2O3 is mixed with Na3AlF6, a compound that lowers the melting point of Al2O3 from over 2000°C to about 950°C, making the electrolysis of the molten salt commercially viable. Pure aluminum is produced by the reaction shown in Equation 4.

2Al2O3(ℓ) → 4Al(s) + 3O2(g) Equation 4

36. Aluminum belongs to what block of elements in

the periodic table?

A ) s

B ) p

C ) d

D ) f

37. What is the oxidation number of aluminum in

Na[Al(OH)4](aq)?

A) +1

B) +2

C) +3

D) +4 38. What is the geometry of the hexafluoroaluminate

ion (AlF63–)?

A) Octahedral

B) Tetrahedral

C) Trigonal bipyramidal

D) Hexagonal 39. Approximately how much Al2O3 is required to

make 100 kg of Al?

A) 500 kg

B) 200 kg

C) 80 kg

D) 50 kg 40. In the reaction shown in Equation 1, Al(OH)3

acts as what kind of acid or base?

A) Lewis acid

B) Lewis base

C) Brønsted acid

D) Brønsted base 41. At which electrode is aluminum produced in a

galvanic cell and in an electrolytic cell?

A) At the anode in both cells

B) At the cathode in both cells

C) At the anode in the galvanic cell and cathode in the electrolytic cell

D) At the cathode in the galvanic cell and anode in the electrolytic cell


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42. In the reaction shown in Equation 2, three moles of Al(OH)3 is chemically equivalent to what volume of CO2(g) measured at 1 atm and 0°C?

A ) 11.2 L

B ) 16.8 L

C ) 22.4 L

D ) 33.6 L


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Passage VII

An experimental system is assembled to measure the focal lengths of lenses and mirrors. The system consists of objects, lenses, mirrors, and devices for locating images. It is placed on a metered optical bench. The system is operated in several configurations.

Converging Lens To measure the focal length of a converging lens,

an object is placed at A, the 0-cm mark of an optical bench, and a converging lens is placed at B, the 30-cm mark of the bench. This situation forms an image at D, the 90-cm mark as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Optical bench

Convex Mirror A convex mirror is inserted between the

converging lens (B) and the image position (D). When the mirror is located at C (50-cm mark), the light rays are reflected back along the incoming path, as shown in Figure 2. The dashed lines between points C and D indicate the path of light rays before the convex mirror is inserted.

Figure 2 Convex mirror

Diverging Lens The convex mirror is removed from the setup, and

a diverging lens is placed at position C (50-cm mark) so that the new image is observed at E (110-cm mark), as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3 Diverging lens 43. Changing which of the following will change the

focal length of the convex mirror in Figure 2?

A) Index of refraction of the mirror

B) Radius of curvature of the mirror

C) Position of the lens at B

D) Focal length of the lens at B 44. As the light passes from the air into the glass, it

makes an angle θa in air and an angle θl in the lens material, relative to the normal at the surface. What equation relates the angles θl and θa?

A) θa = θl

B) 1/θa = 1/θl

C) nasin θa = nlsin θl

D) na/sin θa = nl/sin θl 45. The converging lens in Figure 1 is removed and

the diverging lens is placed in position B, as shown in the figure below. Which of the following best describes the light rays from the diverging lens in this configuration?

A) Converging rays

B) Parallel rays in and out

C) Reflected rays diverging

D) Diverging rays


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46. If a very bright light source shines on a mirror, the mirror may become warm because:

A ) all of the light is reflected, and, by momentum conservation, the molecules in the mirror move, producing heat energy.

B ) some of the light passes through the mirror, and, by energy conservation, potential energy is produced.

C ) some of the light is absorbed by the mirror, and, by energy conservation, thermal energy is produced.

D ) none of the light is reflected, and, by energy conservation, mass is converted to energy.

47. Visible light travels more slowly through an optically dense medium than through a vacuum. A possible explanation for this could be that the light:

A) is absorbed and re-emitted by the atomic structure of the optically dense medium.

B) is absorbed and re-emitted by the nucleus of the material in the optically dense medium.

C) bounces around randomly inside of the optically dense medium before emerging.

D) loses amplitude as it passes through the optically dense medium.


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These questions are not based on a descriptive passage and are independent of each other. 48. If the magnitude of a positive charge is tripled,

what is the ratio of the original value of the electric field at a point to the new value of the electric field at that same point?

A ) 1:2

B ) 1:3

C ) 1:6

D ) 1:9 49. A 7-N force and an 11-N force act on an object at

the same time. Which of the following CANNOT be the magnitude of the sum of these forces?

A ) 2 N

B ) 8 N

C ) 12 N

D ) 18 N 50. A student plans to add HCl to a solution

containing Pb(NO3)2(aq). To determine how much Pb2+ will precipitate from solution when the HCl is added, the student needs to know which of the following?

A ) Ka for HCl

B ) Ka for HNO3

C ) Ksp for PbCl2

D ) Keq for the reaction Pb2+ + 2 e– Pb

51.

A block of weight W is pulled across a rough floor by a rope that exerts a force T on the block. The frictional force between the floor and the block is F. Which of the following expressions equals the frictional force F when the block moves with a constant speed?

A) T

B) W – T

C) T sin θ

D) T cos θ 52. When an element undergoes β decay, a nuclear

neutron is converted to a nuclear proton as the nucleus emits an electron. What happens to the atomic number and atomic mass of an element that undergoes β decay?

A) The atomic number increases, but the atomic mass stays approximately the same.

B) The atomic number stays the same, but the atomic mass decreases.

C) Both the atomic number and the atomic mass decrease.

D) The atomic number decreases, but the atomic mass stays approximately the same.


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24 of 62

Verbal Reasoning

Time: 60 minutes Questions: 53-92

There are seven passages in the complete Verbal Reasoning test. Each passage is followed by several questions. After reading a passage, select the one best answer to each question. If you are not certain of an answer, eliminate the alternatives that you know to be incorrect and then select an answer from the remaining alternatives. Indicate your selected answer by marking the corresponding answer on your answer sheet.



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Passage I

A phenomenon such as “female fiction” does not exist, but in the 1960s there began to appear novels about the “female experience” by both male and female writers. It is necessary to separate these books from anything called “female fiction,” which would suggest that the culture bifurcates into two distinct experiences, one male and one female. That such experiences differ, there can be no disagreement; but that such experiences overlap, there should also be no disagreement. I concur with Elaine Showalter’s statement:

Women writers should not be studied as a distinct group on the assumption that they write alike, or even display stylistic resemblances distinctively feminine. But women do have a special literary history susceptible to analysis, which includes such complex considerations as the economics of their relation to the literary marketplace, the effects of social and political changes in women’s status upon individuals, and the implications of stereotypes of the woman writer and restrictions of her artistic autonomy.

There is by now a sizable body of fiction that focuses on female experiences or conditions, in which women must find their way personally, professionally, socially, in what is basically a patriarchy. This term we may define as any society in which men control authority and determine the roles women should or should not play.

An example of the female imagination at work comes in the following way. In Jane Eyre, Bertha, the “madwoman in the attic,” is presented as the element that must be eliminated in order for Rochester and Jane to complete their destiny together. Imprisoned in the upper reaches of Thornfield, she is a threat to foreground order and stability, a principle of chaos, in fact. Since Charlotte Brontë was writing a romance, Bertha could become expendable.

In a society more oriented to the overall female experience, Jean Rhys in Wide Sargasso Sea perceived in Bertha the characteristic victim of a male-dominated society, a woman moved around as

an object, living out others’ sense of her experience, not her own, and becoming mad as the sole way of breaking through an unyielding situation. In this view, Bertha’s plight is more archetypically female than Jane’s, by far, since Jane is moving in a fairy tale of sorts in which elements yield to her, whereas Bertha has moved in the real world of power. There is, I feel, no male novelist who could have picked up the thread of Bertha’s existence and turned it into an emblem, as Jean Rhys did; and here alone we note the way the female novelist can perceive aspects of experience that remain (at least in our era) outside the reach of the male writer. Reading back from Rhys, we experience Jane Eyre differently.

More recently, Virginia Woolf has become a powerful influence in analyses of the female experience by U.S. writers. Not only her fiction and literary essays but a book such as A Room of One’s Own (1929) have served to reinforce what many women writers were already saying. Woolf offered, also, something of an aesthetic, in that she asserted women had to develop a prose of their own. After mentioning Newman, Sterne, Dickens, Thackeray, among others, she says: “The weight, the pace, the stride of a man’s mind are too unlike her own.” She quotes a typical early-nineteenth-century sentence and adds: “That was a man’s sentence; behind it one can see Johnson, Gibbon, and the rest. It was unsuited for a woman’s use.” She sums up: “There is no reason to think that the form of the epic or of the poetic play suits a woman any more than the sentence suits her. But all the older forms of literature were hardened and set by the time she became a writer. The novel alone was young enough to be soft in her hands.” 53. The passage discussion of male and female

experience assumes that:

A) female experience is entirely different from male experience.

B) there is a degree of similarity between female and male experience.

C) male experience is inferior to female experience.

D) female experience almost always influences male experience.


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54. According to the author, a characteristic of many novels of female experience is that they:

A ) portray women struggling to achieve identity in a patriarchy.

B ) display a distinctively feminine prose style.

C ) present female characters from a male point of view.

D ) portray female characters as emblems. 55. In the second to last paragraph, the author asserts

that the novelist Jean Rhys:

A ) reworked the character of Bertha in a way no male writer could have.

B ) created a new literary form based on adaptations of older works.

C ) created a distinctively feminine prose style that is difficult for male writers to imitate.

D ) misunderstood Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre.

56. The author suggests that Bertha’s imprisonment in the upper reaches of Thornfield:

I. could have been explored equally well by male or female novelists.

II. provided Jean Rhys with an archetypal symbol of the plight of women.

III. functioned for Charlotte Brontë primarily as a plot device.

A) I only

B) I and II only

C) I and III only

D) II and III only 57. According to the passage, Virginia Woolf

believed the novel was more suitable to women writers than was the epic or the poetic play because the:

A) novel was a more recent and thus more flexible genre.

B) novel did not depend on “a man’s sentence” for its effect.

C) epic and poetic play were newer genres.

D) epic and poetic play required that women develop a prose of their own.


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Passage II

What makes clouds turn into rain? More specifically, the question is: How do the tiny droplets of a cloud coalesce into water drops big enough to fall as rain?

The beam of a searchlight pointed upward at night shows that even apparently clear air is actually a “soup” of particles. The air may contain anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 particles per cubic inch. When the relative humidity is high, water vapor condenses on many particles and begins to form droplets; this condensation accounts for the haziness of the air on a muggy day and for the poor visibility you may have noticed while flying in an airplane below a cloud. An actual cloud materializes when the humidity reaches a certain critical value which turns most of the dust particles into water droplets. Under the right conditions, the cloud droplets combine rapidly into raindrops; a concentration of 10,000 cloud droplets per cubic inch yields one raindrop per 10 cubic inches. There are two general theories about the way this takes place.

One is the ice-crystal theory. In the cold upper regions of a high cloud, the droplets are supercooled. If ice crystals are present, they evaporate the droplets and then absorb the vapor, much as crystals of calcium chloride and other drying agents absorb moisture. The ice crystals, feeding on the cloud droplets, may grow to a large size and either fall as snow or melt into rain. But rain can fall from warm clouds as well as cold. How is it generated in clouds that lack ice crystals and supercooled droplets?

We must find some other mechanism that can combine droplets into big drops, bringing us to the second theory, which suggests that large particles grow into raindrops by sweeping up the smaller droplets. The big particles form comparatively large cloud droplets, which, as they move through the cloud, pick up the smaller droplets in their path, just as a rolling drop of mercury gathers up any mercury drops it encounters. Thus the larger dust nuclei in a cloud can grow to the size of a raindrop. A cloud will produce rain, according to this theory, when it contains sufficient moisture and a suitable number of giant nuclei.

We are therefore led to two interesting questions: What are the giant nuclei, and where do they come from? First, there can be no doubt that winds blowing over the oceans pick up a substantial load of salt particles. Second, it is equally plain that the winds transport a great deal of salt from the sea over the land. Systematic surveys have verified that salt particles, large and small, are spread through the atmosphere, from the ground up into high altitudes.

Next, there is statistical evidence of a relationship between the amount of salt carried inland from the sea and the amount of salt in our rainfall. Salt greedily takes up water from the air, as anyone who has dealt with a salt shaker on a humid morning is well aware. A salt crystal kept in damp air collects enough water to dissolve completely into a droplet. All of this certainly seems to indicate that salt particles act as nuclei to produce raindrops and precipitation. The idea gains further support from the finding that the number of drops per unit volume in rain over the sea is about the same as the number of salt particles in ocean air. 58. In order for the process described in paragraph

3 to occur, the temperature of ice crystals in a cloud must be higher than that of:

A) calcium chloride crystals.

B) the upper regions of the cloud.

C) the lower regions of the cloud.

D) the supercooled droplets. 59. On the sole basis of the passage, one could

conclude that it might be possible to reduce the rainfall in a region by:

A) warming the clouds.

B) decreasing the number of particles in the air.

C) cooling the clouds.

D) increasing the amount of salt in the clouds.


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60. The passage assertion that salt is largely responsible for rainfall from warm clouds is based on evidence that:

I. salt particles are spread throughout the atmosphere.

II. the amount of salt in rainfall is related to the amount of salt carried inland from the sea.

III. the number of drops per unit volume in rain over the sea is similar to that of salt particles in ocean air.

A ) III only

B ) I and III only

C ) II and III only

D ) I, II, and III

61. Which of the following statements most strongly challenges the author’s assertions about the way raindrops are formed in clouds at subfreezing temperatures?

A) Humidity in a region must be extremely high in order to turn most of its dust particles to water droplets.

B) A concentration of 10,000 cloud droplets per cubic inch yields one raindrop per 100 cubic inches.

C) No ice crystals are present in the upper regions of clouds at high altitudes.

D) Calcium chloride crystals do not absorb as much moisture as do ice crystals.

62. Assume that a particular inland region in a warm

climate receives a great deal of rain. Given the information in the passage, which of the following proposed explanations of this phenomenon is the LEAST plausible?

A) There is very little wind over the region.

B) There is an especially high percentage of salt particles in the region’s atmosphere.

C) The region is located near an ocean.

D) There is an especially high percentage of large particles in the clouds over the region.


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Passage III

Americans were raised with a sentimental attachment to rural living and with a series of notions about rural people and rural life that I have chosen to designate as the agrarian myth. The agrarian myth represents a kind of homage that Americans have paid to the fancied innocence of their origins.

Like any complex of ideas, the agrarian myth cannot be defined in a phrase, but its component themes form a clear pattern. Its hero was the yeoman farmer, its central conception the notion that he is the ideal man and the ideal citizen. Unstinted praise of the special virtues of the farmer and the special values of rural life was coupled with the assertion that agriculture, as a calling uniquely productive and uniquely important to society, had a special right to the concern and protection of government. The yeoman, who owned a small farm and worked it with the aid of his family, was the incarnation of the simple, honest, independent, healthy, happy human being. Because he lived in close communion with beneficent nature, his life was believed to have a wholesomeness and integrity impossible for the depraved populations of cities.

In origin the agrarian myth was not a popular but a literary idea, a preoccupation of the upper classes, of those who enjoyed a classical education, read pastoral poetry, experimented with breeding stock, and owned plantations or country estates. It was clearly formulated and almost universally accepted in America during the last half of the eighteenth century.

By the early nineteenth century it had become a mass creed, a part of the country’s political folklore and its nationalist ideology. The roots of this change may be found as far back as the American Revolution, which, appearing to many Americans as the victory of a band of embattled farmers over an empire, seemed to confirm the moral and civic superiority of the yeoman, made the farmer a symbol of the new nation, and wove the agrarian myth into its patriotic sentiments and republican idealism.

To what extent was the agrarian myth actually false? When it took form in America during the eighteenth century, its stereotypes did indeed correspond to many of the realities of American

agricultural life. There were commercial elements in colonial agriculture almost from the earliest days, but there were also large numbers of the kind of independent yeomen idealized in the myth.

Between 1815 and 1860, the character of American agriculture was transformed. The independent yeoman, outside of exceptional or isolated areas, almost disappeared before the relentless advance of commercial agriculture. The cash crop converted the yeoman into a small entrepreneur, and the development of horse-drawn machinery made obsolete the simple old agrarian symbol of the plow. Farmers ceased to be free of what the early agrarian writers had called the “corruptions” of trade. They were, to be sure, still “independent,” in the sense that they owned their own land. They were a hardworking lot in the old tradition. But no longer did they grow or manufacture what they needed: They concentrated on the cash crop and began to buy more and more of their supplies from the country store.

The triumph of commercial agriculture not only rendered obsolete the objective conditions that had given to the agrarian myth so much of its original force, but also showed that the ideal implicit in the myth was contesting the ground with another, even stronger ideal—the notion of opportunity, of career, of the self-made man. The same forces in American life that had given to the equalitarian theme in the agrarian romance its most compelling appeal had also unleashed in the nation an entrepreneurial zeal probably without precedent in history, a rage for business, for profits, for opportunity, for advancement. 63. The central argument of the passage is that the

agrarian myth:

A) has no factual basis in the realities of American agricultural life.

B) is a sentimental representation of the role that agriculture played in American life.

C) accurately reflects the nature of American agriculture, both in the past and today.

D) understates the negative aspects of life on the farm in America.


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64. The passage suggests that the agrarian myth originated:

A ) in literature.

B ) on country estates in Europe.

C ) on small farms owned and worked by yeoman farmers.

D ) among the urban elite who romanticized the virtues of the simple life of the farmer.

65. Based on the passage, the agrarian myth assumes

that:

I. yeoman farmers are wholesome and honest.

II. yeoman farmers are morally superior to most citizens.

III. agriculture deserves special treatment from the government.

A ) I only

B ) I and II only

C ) II and III only

D ) I, II, and III 66. Based on the passage, the agrarian myth

became part of a mass creed because:

A ) the country’s nationalist ideology stood in need of the kind of patriotic sentiments that the agrarian myth could provide.

B ) farmers were credited with having played a major role in the American victory in the Revolutionary War.

C ) most of the American population lived on family farms during the late eighteenth century.

D ) the yeoman farmer, as an ideal, corresponded to many of the realities of American life in the late eighteenth century.

67. According to the passage, the agrarian myth

implied that yeoman farmers were:

A) honest entrepreneurs.

B) classically educated.

C) sentimentally patriotic.

D) happy and industrious. 68. Which of the following assertions, if true,

would most weaken the main point of the passage?

A) The contribution made by American farmers to victory in the Revolutionary War has been greatly exaggerated.

B) The agrarian myth was what might be called “a noble lie”: it was false but generally beneficial.

C) The agrarian myth played a part in the thinking of only a handful of Americans during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

D) American farmers during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries had very little in common with the idealized yeoman farmer of the agrarian myth.

69. What does the passage suggest about whether

or not the agrarian myth was false?

A) It was clearly false, because it bore little resemblance to actual farm life in America at the time.

B) Very few people lived the life idealized in the myth.

C) It conformed to reality only in its commercial elements.

D) Its stereotypes corresponded to many of the realities of early American agricultural life.


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Passage IV

Nature is extraordinarily fertile and ingenious in devising means, but it has no ends that the human mind has been able to discover or comprehend. Perhaps, indeed, the very conception of an end or ultimate purpose is exclusively human; but at least it must be said that the most characteristically human effort is to transform a means into an end.

Sensibility and intelligence arose in the animal in order to serve animal purposes, for through the first, it was able to distinguish those things that favor the survival of it and its race, and through the second, it was able to go about in a more efficient manner to secure them. Both were, like all things in nature, merely means toward the achievement of that humanly incomprehensible end, mere survival. But the philosopher-artist has detached both from their natural places.

When sensibility has been detached from its animal setting, it may develop into a quest for that self-justifying beauty which is humanly valuable but biologically useless. When intelligence is detached, it not only tends to paralyze natural impulse by criticizing natural aims but develops certain intellectual virtues which are biological vices. We are, for example, inclined to regard skepticism, irony, and above all, the power of dispassionate analysis as the marks of the most distinctly human intelligence. We admire anyone whose reason is capable of more than scheming, whose logic is not the mere rationalization of desires.

But intelligence as detached as this is a vital liability. It puts its possessor at a disadvantage in dealing with those whose intelligence faithfully serves their purpose by enabling them to scheme for their ends and to justify to themselves their desires. Such is the animal function of intelligence, and whenever it develops beyond this level, it inhibits rather than aids that effective action in the pursuit of natural ends which was the original function of mind.

The same process occurs in every nation that has developed a national mind capable of detachment and has passed beyond that stage of invigorating delusion which could make it fancy itself master by right of an inherent superiority. One after another, the great

nations of history have founded on aggression the civilization that then supported for a time, but for a time only, great periods of human culture, that flourished at their height just as the substructure crumbled. Animals made humans possible, and conquerors prepared the way for poets and philosophers, but neither poet nor philosopher can survive long after the conquest.

Nor need we be surprised to see nations enfeebled by civilization as though by vice. That detachment of mind from its function which makes philosophy possible and which encourages dispassionate analysis is exactly parallel to the detachment of the sexual functions from their purposes, which results in the cult of the senses. Thought for thought’s sake is a kind of perversion. Civilizations die from philosophical calm, irony, and the sense of fair play quite as surely as they die of debauchery.

Nor can it be said that to understand this paradox of humanism helps us in any way to solve it. The analysis that we perform is, indeed, itself an example of one of those exercises of the mind that is perverse because it does not serve as a means toward a natural end. And when we have admitted that the human ideal is one that the human animal cannot even approach without tending to destroy itself, we have, by that very admission, diminished our biological fitness.

70. Which of the following statements best

summarizes the central problem addressed by the passage?

A) Truth and beauty are unattainable illusions.

B) Sensibility and intelligence are biologically useless.

C) Unbiased thought is inconsistent with human survival.

D) We are most fully human when we behave like animals.


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71. Which of the following statements, if true, would most directly undermine the author’s central argument?

A ) Some highly developed civilizations are peaceable.

B ) Aggressive people are often much admired.

C ) Nonhuman animals often behave altruistically.

D ) Logic is not always the mere rationalization of desires.

72. Suppose that persons of average intelligence

tend to have higher incomes than those of very intelligent persons. The author would be most likely to argue that this difference exists because:

A ) competitive success reduces one’s interest in art and philosophy.

B ) intelligence and competitive success are unrelated.

C ) the more intelligent one is, the more one despises material success.

D ) a highly developed intelligence inhibits competitive action.

73. Which of the following passage contentions might it be possible to refute by clear counterexamples?

I. The intelligence of poets tends to paralyze natural impulse.

II. Transforming means into ends is the most characteristically human effort.

III. The great nations of history were founded on aggression.

A) II only

B) III only

C) I and II only

D) I and III only

74. Some research into unconscious motivation

suggests that even apparently impartial thought processes may be deeply self-serving. What is the relevance of this consideration to the author’s argument?

A) It weakens the distinction drawn between “animal” and “human” uses of intelligence.

B) It challenges the assumption that humans value dispassionate analysis.

C) It supports the observation that intellectual detachment is biologically useless.

D) It strengthens the contention that some uses of intelligence are biological vices.


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Passage V

The perception of a color when one hears words is the most common example of the phenomenon of synesthesia. Synesthesia can be visual-tactile, visual-gustatory, tactile-visual, or almost any combination of two senses, but reports are dominated by visually related synesthesias, and olfactory and gustatory synesthesias are less common. Two possible reasons for this difference are the proximity in the cortex of the visual areas to the auditory and motor areas, the areas implicated in taste and olfaction being relatively distant, and the fact that vision dominates normal behavior and is therefore more likely to form associations with the other senses.

The nature of the color-word associations made by synesthetes is surprising. The link is not between meaning and color, or sound and color, but between the visual appearance of the first letter of the word and color. Thus, a subject reporting the perception of red on hearing the word photograph would also report perceiving red on hearing the word palladium but a different color on hearing the word fish. The experience is described more accurately, then, as a color-grapheme association than as a color-word association. This association is not so far removed from the normal experience of linking the letters of a word with its sound. For example, it takes longer to decide that enough and bough do not rhyme than to make this decision about rough and how.

The finding that the association is graphemic in color-word synesthesia greatly constrains the possible explanations of the experience. Grapheme perception is not present at birth and only begins to develop when a child is learning to write. This fact opens up the possibility that color-grapheme synesthesia emerges during a critical period of maximum plasticity in the visual system, when it is involved in learning to link letters with sounds and strings of letters with objects.

Evidence from neuropsychological studies also points to the visual system. In 1893, Phillipe reported that 30 out of 150 blind subjects reported colored hearing after losing the sense of sight, a finding that is consistent with the remedial plasticity that occurs following cortical damage. In another case, a seeing

person who had been synesthetic lost that experience after suffering brain damage that also resulted in color blindness. These findings suggest that color-grapheme synesthesia depends on activity within the visual cortex that is initiated by the responding of certain cells specialized to integrate such features as color and shape.

A different view suggests that subcortical limbic areas are more important for synesthesia. A crucial part of the reasoning behind this hypothesis lies in the argument that only humans can make cross-modal associations. This argument is mistaken. It is widely known that monkeys can make cross-modal associations, and it is by no means clear that the cortex is not involved. For example, Haenny recorded from neurons in cortical visual area V4 while monkeys were performing orientation discrimination tasks and found that many neurons responded to the visual orientation of the stimuli, as one might expect from this visual area, but that many were also sensitive to the tactile orientation of a grooved plate if its orientation was relevant to the task. Further evidence implicating visual areas in cross-modal transfer comes from a study in which monkeys were impaired in the learning of tactile-visual associations following lesions of the cortical area dedicated to the processing of tactile sensations. 75. Which of the following research findings would

undermine the argument about the development of color-word synesthesia?

A) Left-handed children are especially likely to be synesthetic.

B) Color-word synesthesia can develop in literate adults.

C) Color-word synesthesia can accompany the earliest attempts to read.

D) Damage to the visual cortex seldom results in synesthesia.


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76. According to the author’s explanation, one pair of words that would be likely to evoke the same synesthetic experience is:

A ) know and no.

B ) knit and kit.

C ) snuff and enough.

D ) cite and site. 77. The author implies that visual synesthesia can

occur because certain neurons respond to the co-occurrence of a particular color and shape. A plausible hypothesis is that such cells evolved because they increased processing speed in the identification of:

A ) dangerous predators on the basis of incomplete visual information.

B ) group members by either their appearance or their vocalizations.

C ) appropriate foods by any combination of characteristics.

D ) environmental forms and patterns associated with the home territory.

78. As the word is used in the passage, a grapheme is best described as:

A) the synesthetic element of a letter.

B) the written representation of a syllable.

C) one of the units of a spoken word.

D) one of the units of a written word. 79. Which of the following phenomena is an example

of synesthesia?

A) Thinking of the sound of words while silently reading

B) Hearing a loud note when seeing the word trumpet

C) Mentally generating a tune while following written notes

D) Visualizing a scene while listening to a description


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Passage VI

Poussin had come to Rome one or two years after Guercino had left it. And a few years later (presumably about 1630), he produced the earlier of his two Et in Arcadia ego compositions. Being a classicist, Poussin revised Guercino’s composition by adding the Arcadian river god Alpheus and by transforming the decaying masonry into a classical sarcophagus.

But in spite of these improvements, Poussin’s picture does not conceal its derivation from Guercino’s. In the first place, it retains to some extent the element of drama and surprise: The shepherds approach as a group from the left and are unexpectedly stopped by the tomb. In the second place, there is still the actual skull, placed upon the sarcophagus above the word Arcadia, although it has become quite small and inconspicuous and fails to attract the attention of the shepherds, who seem to be more intensely fascinated by the inscription than they are shocked by the death’s-head.

After another five or six years, however, Poussin produced a second and final version of the Et in Arcadia ego theme, the famous picture in the Louvre. And in this painting we can observe a radical break with the medieval, moralizing tradition. The element of drama and surprise has disappeared. Instead of two or three Arcadians approaching from the left in a group, we have four, symmetrically arranged on either side of a sepulchral monument. Instead of being checked in their progress by an unexpected and terrifying phenomenon, they are absorbed in calm discussion and pensive contemplation. The form of the tomb is simplified into a plain rectangular block, and the death’s-head is eliminated altogether.

Here, then, we have a basic change in interpretation. The Arcadians are not so much warned of an implacable future as they are immersed in mellow meditation on a beautiful past. In short, Poussin’s Louvre picture no longer shows a dramatic encounter with Death but a contemplative absorption in the idea of mortality. We are confronted with a change from thinly veiled moralism to undisguised elegiac sentiment.

When read according to the rules of Latin grammar (“Even in Arcady, there am I”), the phrase had been consistent and easily intelligible as long as the words could be attributed to a death’s-head and as long as the shepherds were suddenly and frighteningly interrupted in their walk. These conditions are manifestly true of Guercino’s painting, and they are also true, if in a considerably lesser degree, of Poussin’s earlier picture.

When facing the Louvre painting, however, the beholder finds it difficult to accept the inscription in its literal, grammatically correct, significance. In the absence of a death’s-head, the ego in the phrase might seem to refer to the tomb itself. But it is infinitely more natural to ascribe the words to the person buried therein. Such is the case with 99 percent of all epitaphs.

Thus Poussin himself, while making no verbal change in the inscription, invites, almost compels, the beholder to mistranslate it by relating the ego to a dead person and by connecting the et with ego instead of with Arcadia. The development of his pictorial vision had outgrown the significance of the literary formula, and we may say that those who, under the influence of the Louvre picture, decided to render the phrase Et in Arcadia ego as “I, too, lived in Arcady,” rather than as “Even in Arcady, there am I,” did violence to Latin grammar but justice to the meaning of Poussin’s art.

80. As used in the passage, the term elegiac is closest

in meaning to:

A) piously hopeful.

B) serenely reflective.

C) profoundly grieving.

D) poetically praising.


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81. Suppose that a painting contained words with no apparent relevance to the scene depicted. The passage suggests that in discussing this painting, the passage author would be most likely to:

A ) assume that the artist intended to puzzle the viewer.

B ) interpret the scene on the basis of the words.

C ) interpret the words on the basis of the scene.

D ) discuss the scene without reference to the words. 82. By the end of the eighteenth century, the

inscription on Poussin’s second Arcadia painting was translated as “Even in Arcady, there am I” only in England. In conjunction with passage information, this fact most strongly implies that in comparison with other Europeans, the English were:

A ) less familiar with Latin grammar.

B ) less receptive to medieval moralizing.

C ) more sophisticated in their response to art.

D ) more influenced by the Guercino painting. 83. Suppose that when Poussin’s Louvre painting is

cleaned, a skull is discovered on the tomb. This discovery means that the author’s thesis about this painting:

A ) has been confirmed.

B ) is more plausible.

C ) is less plausible.

D ) has been disproved.

84. According to the author, which details of Poussin’s Louvre painting support the belief that it reveals his decision to reject the moralizing tradition in art?

I. A classical tomb II. A pagan river god

III. A symmetrical composition

A) II only

B) III only

C) I and II only

D) I and III only 85. What is the significance to the passage

argument of the information that the shepherds are already at the tomb rather than approaching it?

A) It shows that they are not surprised by the reminder of death.

B) It indicates the classicism of Poussin’s vision.

C) It ensures that the viewer interprets the inscription as an epitaph.

D) It emphasizes the simplicity of the tomb. 86. Which of the following statements, if true,

would most weaken the author’s reasoning about the historical significance of the changes introduced in Poussin’s second Arcadia painting?

A) Guercino’s Arcadia painting contains as many classical elements as do either of Poussin’s versions.

B) The skull in Guercino’s Arcadia painting is small and inconspicuous.

C) The painting was completed by one of Poussin’s students.

D) Many of Poussin’s later paintings have strongly moralistic themes.


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Passage VII

Chemistry and physics began with the observation of gross phenomena, such as those relevant to cooking, distillation, medicine, falling bodies, and celestial movements. These sciences reached the level of mathematical abstraction only after a long period of detailed familiarity with concrete phenomena. The behavioral and social sciences must now pass through a phase in which a core of concrete facts relevant to the mind and to society slowly accrue before they can arrive at meaningful abstract formulations of their problems. When that stage has been reached, they may reexamine their relation to the natural sciences and perhaps become partly anchored in physiology, ecology, and other biological sciences.

Science and the technologies derived from it can best contribute to civilization not through a further expansion of the mega-machine but by helping in the maintenance of the ecological balance and in the development of human potentialities. This change will be made difficult by attitudes inherited from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We have trained our social reflexes for technological “advances,” however trivial their goals and deleterious their long-range effects. Instead of conveying a teleological quality, the word progress now means just moving on, even though the forward motion is on a road that leads to disaster or despair. Worthwhile goals for social progress must be formulated before planning can provide a desirable and enjoyable structure for the human effort.

Concern with the future used to be expressed in the form of literary exercises, or at best of purely social utopias, formulated on the basis of certain theological, political, or economic beliefs, shared by the members of the utopian group. Utopias are no longer fashionable today, partly because we lack a stable ground of generally accepted values to provide the hard foundation on which to construct viable social systems. It may be also that the eclipse of human beings’ normative functions results from the acceptance by many scientists and sociologists of the view that the world of science and technology sets its own “arising ends.” A tired resignation to the imperatives of economics and scientific technology along with the collapse of the old metaphysics may

account for this acceptance. In any case, the tendency during recent decades has been to limit planning to the here and now. The future is imagined not as a really new venture but as a mere extension of the past.

To escape from this static and paralyzing view of civilized life, it will be necessary to construct multiple models of possible futures different from the present state of affairs and to imagine courses of action that would bring such futures into being. Since anticipations govern the policies of change, they paradoxically, but very effectively, become the causative agents of change. Causative anticipations differ from predictions in that the future they describe must not only be “possible” but also embody considerations of the “desirable.” They imply value judgments as to what is desirable or not, good or bad, and thus inevitably give a direction to the social and scientific enterprise.

Contemporary humanity seems to be poised between passive acceptance of scientific technology for its own sake, violent rejection of it, and conscious use of it for some ultimate concern. The social ferment that is beginning to agitate the community of scientists gives hope that humanity still has a chance to control its destiny by imposing a direction on the scientific endeavor and, in particular, by consciously planning the scientific technology that will shape the modern world.

87. Which of the following statements, if true, would most weaken the author’s argument about the way society should plan for the future?

A) Having a goal firmly in mind decreases the chances of achieving that goal.

B) People tend to be less happy living in societies with planned economies.

C) People tend to be less happy living in technologically advanced societies.

D) People tend to be happier living in technologically advanced societies.


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88. Which of the following factors is NOT part of the author’s explanation of the reason that utopian thinking is now unfashionable?

A ) The lack of consensus about what is desirable

B ) The idea that science will furnish itself with goals

C ) The collapse of the old metaphysics

D ) The failure of utopian social experiments in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries

89. Implicit in the author’s ideas about the future

and the role of science is the belief that judgments about what is good or bad are:

A ) best decided democratically.

B ) inappropriate for scientists to make.

C ) best decided by historical research.

D ) an appropriate part of scientific planning.

90. The author expresses hope that society will impose pressure on the scientific community to create a better future as a result of:

A) the restructuring of political systems.

B) a greater trust in the ability of the scientific community.

C) the failure of the behavioral and social sciences.

D) greater focus on science as an agent of change. 91. As used in the passage, teleological most nearly

means:

A) religious.

B) purposive.

C) innovative.

D) unorthodox. 92. According to the passage, a precondition for

effective scientific planning is the:

A) formulation of desirable social goals.

B) suspension of value judgments.

C) formulation of a single, unified plan for success.

D) acceptance and trust of the scientific community by society.


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Writing Sample

Time: 60 minutes 2 Prompts, separately timed:

30 minutes each

This is a test of your writing skills. The test consists of two parts. You will have 30 minutes to complete each part. Use your time efficiently. Before you begin writing each of your responses, read the assignment carefully to understand exactly what you are being asked to do. Because this is a test of your writing skills, your response to each part should be an essay of complete sentences and paragraphs, as well organized and clearly written as you can make it in the time allotted.



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93. Consider this statement: The primary goal of every business should be to maximize profits. Write a unified essay in which you perform the following tasks. Explain what you think the above statement means. Describe a specific situation in which maximizing profits might not be the primary goal of a business. Discuss what you think determines whether or not the primary goal of a business should be to maximize profits.


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94.

Consider this statement: A politician’s lifestyle should reflect his or her political views. Write a unified essay in which you perform the following tasks. Explain what you think the above statement means. Describe a specific situation in which a politician’s lifestyle might not reflect his or her political views. Discuss what you think determines whether or not a politician’s lifestyle should reflect his or her political views


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Biological Sciences

Time: 70 minutes Questions: 95 – 146

Most questions in the Biological Sciences test are organized into groups, each containing a descriptive passage. After studying the passage, select the one best answer to each question in the group. Some questions are not based on a descriptive passage and are also independent of each other. If you are not certain of an answer, eliminate the alternatives that you know to be incorrect and then select an answer from the remaining alternatives. Indicate your selected answer by marking the corresponding answer on your answer sheet. A periodic table is provided for your use. You may consult it whenever you wish.



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1 H 1.0

Periodic Table of the Elements 2

He 4.0

3 Li 6.9

4 Be 9.0

5 B

10.8

6 C

12.0

7 N

14.0

8 O

16.0

9 F

19.0

10 Ne 20.2

11 Na 23.0

12 Mg 24.3

13 Al 27.0

14 Si

28.1

15 P

31.0

16 S

32.1

17 Cl 35.5

18 Ar 39.9

19 K

39.1

20 Ca 40.1

21 Sc 45.0

22 Ti

47.9

23 V

50.9

24 Cr 52.0

25 Mn 54.9

26 Fe 55.8

27 Co 58.9

28 Ni 58.7

29 Cu 63.5

30 Zn 65.4

31 Ga 69.7

32 Ge 72.6

33 As 74.9

34 Se 79.0

35 Br 79.9

36 Kr 83.8

37 Rb 85.5

38 Sr 87.6

39 Y

88.9

40 Zr 91.2

41 Nb 92.9

42 Mo 95.9

43 Tc (98)

44 Ru

101.1

45 Rh

102.9

46 Pd

106.4

47 Ag

107.9

48 Cd

112.4

49 In

114.8

50 Sn

118.7

51 Sb

121.8

52 Te

127.6

53 I

126.9

54 Xe

131.355 Cs

132.9

56 Ba

137.3

57 La* 138.9

72 Hf

178.5

73 Ta

180.9

74 W

183.9

75 Re

186.2

76 Os

190.2

77 Ir

192.2

78 Pt

195.1

79 Au

197.0

80 Hg

200.6

81 Tl

204.4

82 Pb

207.2

83 Bi

209.0

84 Po

(209)

85 At

(210)

86 Rn (222)

87 Fr

(223)

88 Ra

(226)

89 Ac† (227)

104 Rf

(261)

105 Db (262)

106 Sg

(266)

107 Bh

(264)

108 Hs

(277)

109 Mt (268)

110 Ds

(281)

111 Uuu (272)

112 Uub (285)

114 Uuq (289)

116 Uuh (289)

* 58 Ce

140.1

59 Pr

140.9

60 Nd

144.2

61 Pm (145)

62 Sm 150.4

63 Eu

152.0

64 Gd 157.3

65 Tb

158.9

66 Dy

162.5

67 Ho

164.9

68 Er

167.3

69 Tm 168.9

70 Yb

173.0

71 Lu

175.0

† 90 Th

232.0

91 Pa

(231)

92 U

238.0

93 Np (237)

94 Pu

(244)

95 Am (243)

96 Cm (247)

97 Bk

(247)

98 Cf

(251)

99 Es

(252)

100 Fm (257)

101 Md (258)

102 No

(259)

103 Lr

(260)


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Passage I

A classic example of a negative feedback control system in mammals is the regulation of hypothalamic and pituitary secretions by hormones from the gonads (ovaries or testes).

The adult reproductive system is ultimately regulated by the neuropeptide gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). GnRH is released from the hypothalamus of the brain and transported via a portal-vessel system to the anterior pituitary. Here GnRH stimulates pituitary cells to secrete the two gonadotropins, luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), which then act on the gonads, causing them to produce steroid hormones. When the sex steroids enter the circulation, they “feed back” to the hypothalamus and pituitary, inhibiting further release of GnRH and gonadotropins.

All living vertebrates except the Agnatha (the jawless fishes) have a functional hypothalamic-pituitary axis (a portal-vessel system connecting the two structures) that is similar to the mammalian system. The Agnatha have no direct vascular connection between the hypothalamus and the anterior pituitary, and there is no evidence that the hypothalamus secretes hormones that regulate pituitary function. Two hypotheses have been suggested to explain this difference.

• Agnathans represent an ancestral state, and a vascular connection evolved later in the vertebrate lineage.

• Agnathans represent a degenerative state, and a previously existing vascular connection was lost in this specialized group.

95. A researcher studies sections of embryonic agnathan brains and discovers a transitory stage in which a pituitary portal system develops. In regard to the evolution of the vertebrate neuroendocrine axis, this finding best supports the hypothesis that adult agnathans:

A) represent a degenerative state.

B) represent an ancestral state.

C) resemble adult mammals.

D) resemble embryonic mammals. 96. Suppose a newly discovered fossil agnathan

skull (with its enclosed fossilized brain) shows a fully vascular connection between the hypothalamus and the pituitary. This finding supports which of the following statements about the evolution of the vertebrate hypothalamic-pituitary axis?

A) Ancient agnathans possess degenerate axes.

B) Ancient agnathan axes are similar to existing bird axes.

C) Existing agnathan axes are similar to ancient vertebrate axes.

D) Mammals are more similar to existing agnathans than to ancient agnathans.

97. Which of the following is a negative feedback

system involving the anterior pituitary?

A) LH suppression of estrogen release

B) LH stimulation of GnRH release

C) GnRH suppression of estrogen release

D) Estrogen suppression of LH release


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98. In the year 2010, a paleontologist provides convincing evidence that existing agnathans have been incorrectly classified and should belong to an earlier and previously undescribed vertebrate class. Fossils of this newly described class lack a pituitary portal system. This finding suggests that the new class of vertebrates (including agnathans):

A ) represents a degenerative state.

B ) represents an ancestral state.

C ) represents a newly derived state.

D ) is similar to other classes of living vertebrates.

99. In the adult female rat, cyclical changes in sex steroids secreted by the developing follicle switch to a positive feedback mechanism around the time of ovulation. The positive feedback mechanism by which LH secretion is affected can best be described as:

A) an inhibition of LH by progesterone.

B) an inhibition of LH by GnRH.

C) a stimulation of LH by LH.

D) a stimulation of LH by estrogen. 100. In an adult female mammal, a greatly decreased

production of FSH will most likely result in a decrease in all of the following factors EXCEPT:

A) progesterone production.

B) estrogen production.

C) GnRH production.

D) follicle maturation.


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Passage II

A patient had a persistent skin abscess. To determine what microbial organism was responsible and to choose an appropriate antibiotic treatment path, the wound was cultured. After isolation of a predominant microbial colony, a study of the organism’s growth was initiated. The data collected from this growth rate study are shown in Figure 1. Nutrient culture medium was inoculated with the microbes at point A and allowed to grow for several hours. Standard culture plate counts were made every hour for 17 hours, and all incubations took place under the same conditions of temperature, moisture, and oxygen concentration. Antibiotic Z was added to the culture at point B.

Figure 1 Results of growth study 101. Which of the following organelles is(are) found

in both bacterial and eukaryotic cells?

I. Plasma membrane II. Mitochondrion

III. Endoplasmic reticulum

A ) I only

B ) II only

C ) I and II only

D ) I and III only

102. Which of the following compounds could contribute to the nitrogen requirement in the growth medium?

A) Glucose

B) Glycerol

C) Glycine

D) n-Hexanoic acid 103. If antibiotic Z acts by inhibiting translation, its

cellular site of action would most likely be the:

A) nucleus.

B) cell membrane.

C) lysosomes.

D) ribosomes. 104. The approximate generation time (doubling

time) observed between points A and B in Figure 1 is:

A) 30 min.

B) 1 h.

C) 2 h.

D) 5 h.


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105. A semilogarithmic plot of the data used to generate Figure 1 would look like which of the following graphs?

A )

B )

C )

D )


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These questions are not based on a descriptive passage and are independent of each other. 106. When a biological membrane separates two

fluid compartments with different solute concentrations, an osmotic pressure differential between the two compartments can arise because the membrane:

A ) dissolves only nonpolar substances.

B ) allows the passage of solute molecules only.

C ) allows the passage of solvent molecules but not most solute molecules.

D ) has electrical charges that attract some solute particles while repelling others.

107.

The above graph represents an action potential recorded from the cell body of a neuron. What type of ion movement is causing the depolarization of the neuronal membrane at the time denoted by the arrow?

A ) Sodium ions are moving into the neuron down a concentration gradient.

B ) Sodium ions are being moved out of the neuron via active transport.

C ) Potassium ions are moving out of the neuron down a concentration gradient.

D ) Potassium ions are being moved into the neuron via active transport.

108. Compound A is shown below.

Compound A

Which of the following structures has a configuration that is identical to that of Compound A?

A)

B)

C)

D)


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Passage III

Healthy kidneys function to excrete toxic metabolic byproducts and return needed substances to the bloodstream, thereby maintaining a relatively constant blood plasma solute concentration. For people with chronic renal failure, hemodialysis is a life-sustaining procedure. Figure 1 shows features of an early hemodialysis unit design. Figure 2 shows a more recent, improved hemodialysis unit.

Figure 1 Early hemodialysis unit

Figure 2 Improved hemodialysis unit

Blood from the patient is pumped through a dialysis filter, which is bathed in dialysate fluid that is continuously pumped out of the dialyzing chamber. After passing through the dialyzing chamber, the blood is returned to the patient. The dialysis membrane is made of a thin semiporous material, which allows diffusion of solutes with molecular weights up to 1000–2000 daltons, depending on the size of the membrane pores. Protein molecules are too

large to diffuse through the membrane. After the solutes have passed through the membrane, they are washed away in the dialysate fluid; excess fluid and waste products are thus removed from the patient’s bloodstream. Table 1 lists concentrations of various solutes in normal plasma, in plasma from a typical renal failure patient before dialysis, and the range of solute concentrations used in dialysate solutions.

Table 1 Solute Concentrations

Dialysate range

Solute Normal plasma

Renal failure Low High

Sodium 140 mEq/L

138 mEq/L

128 mEq/L

140 mEq/L

Chloride 100 mEq/L

92 mEq/L

95 mEq/L

110 mEq/L

Potassium 4.0 mEq/L

5.0 mEq/L

1.0 mEq/L

2.0 mEq/L

Bicarbonate 24 mEq/L

18 mEq/L

35 mEq/L

40 mEq/L

Urea nitrogen

20 mg/100

mL

60 mg/100

mL 0 0

Creatinine 1

mg/100 mL

4 mg/100

mL 0 0

Solution pH 7.40 7.35 6.80 7.80 109. The osmotic concentration of plasma proteins

in the venous side of capillaries helps reduce the amount of interstitial fluid in tissues by inducing:

A) passive H2O diffusion along a concentration gradient.

B) passive ion diffusion along an electrochemical gradient.

C) facilitated ion transport along an electrochemical gradient.

D) active H2O transport mediated by an ATP-dependent pump.


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110. Capillaries in the kidney and elsewhere in the body maintain fluid homeostasis by balancing hydrostatic and osmotic pressures. Which of the following is the initial effect of a blood clot forming on the venous side of a capillary bed?

A ) Net fluid flow in the direction of interstitial spaces will increase.

B ) Net fluid flow in the direction of interstitial spaces will decrease.

C ) Capillary osmotic pressure will increase.

D ) Capillary osmotic pressure will decrease. 111. Which of the following changes in flow rate or

in solute concentrations would NOT occur if the blood inflow rate were increased, increasing the pressure in the dialysis chamber?

A ) The blood volume reaching the outflow tube per unit time would increase.

B ) The osmotic concentration of proteins in the dialysate fluid would increase.

C ) The osmotic concentration of proteins in the blood outflow would increase or remain unchanged.

D ) The filtration rate across the dialysis membrane would increase.

112. Bicarbonate ions in the blood and the dialysate

are important for maintaining physiological levels of:

A ) water.

B ) chloride.

C ) hydrogen ions.

D ) glucose.

113. Why are high concentrations of sodium included in the dialysate (Table 1)?

A) To induce water movement from the blood into the dialysate fluid

B) To maintain a high osmotic pressure in the dialysate solution

C) To maintain isotonicity of the dialysate solution with blood

D) To compensate for the urea nitrogen and creatinine in the blood


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114. Which of the following figures (A–D) shows expected solute filtration rates (mEq/mL-min) as a function of molecular weight for two dialysis membranes: Membrane 1 with large pores and Membrane 2 with small pores?

A )

B )

C )

D )


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Passage IV

A group of students investigated the free radical halogenation of 2,3-dimethylbutane I, Reaction 1.

Reaction 1

The reaction was monitored by gas chromatography, which showed the initial formation of the monobromo product II followed by the rapid conversion to the dibromo product III. Data obtained at one point in the reaction are given in Table 1. The retention times of authentic samples of I, II, and III, at equal concentrations, used as standards, are given in Table 2.

Table 1

Reaction mixture from Reaction 1

Retention time (s)

Peak area (cm2)

Peak 1 60 5 Peak 2 74 10

Table 2

Compound (standards)

Retention time (s)

Peak area (cm2)

I 40 10 II 60 10 III 75 10

The bromination of 2,2-dimethylbutane IV was

attempted under the same conditions without success.

Reaction 2

Finally, the students carried out a competitive bromination experiment using a mixture of II and V (Reaction 3). The product of the bromination of Compound II was the only product observed.

Reaction 3 115. Compound II can also be prepared by treatment

of 2,3-dimethyl-2-butanol with:

A) Br2/light.

B) Br2/CCl4.

C) NaBr.

D) HBr.


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116. Which of these cycloalkanes will undergo free radical bromination most rapidly?

A )

B )

C )

D )

117. According to the gas chromatographic data in

Table 1, what is the composition of the reaction mixture from Reaction 1?

A ) 33% II and 67% III

B ) 33% III and 67% II

C ) 45% II and 55% III

D ) 45% III and 55% II

118. What stereochemical outcome is expected in the formation of Compound II?

A) It would be formed as a pair of enantiomers, because invasion of the bromine radical can approach from either side.

B) It would be formed as a pair of enantiomers, because inversion is faster than carbon–bromine bond formation.

C) It would be formed as a pair of diastereomers, because the bromine radical can approach from either side.

D) It is an optically inactive compound, because it has no chiral carbon.

119. The 1H NMR of Compound II would consist

of:

A) two singlets.

B) a doublet and a septet.

C) a singlet, a doublet, and a septet.

D) two singlets, a doublet, and a septet.


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Passage V

During metabolism, carbohydrates are converted into many other biologically important oxygen-containing compounds.

In glycolysis, phosphate esters and anhydrides are particularly important. A phosphate ester can be thought of as the product of the reaction between an alcohol and phosphoric acid (Equation 1).

Equation 1

A phosphate anhydride is the product of the reaction of an organic acid and phosphoric acid (Equation 2).

Equation 2

The intermediates of the citric acid cycle are carboxylic acids or their α-keto derivatives. One key intermediate, pyruvate, is a molecular link between glycolysis, the pathway in which it is produced from the carbohydrate glucose, and the citric acid cycle, the pathway in which it is metabolized to CO2.

Figure 1 shows the structures of some intermediates in carbohydrate metabolism.

Figure 1 Intermediates in carbohydrate metabolism

120. Which of the following compounds is the precursor for the oxygen atoms in the glycolysis intermediates?

A) Glucose

B) Atomic oxygen (O)

C) Molecular oxygen (O2)

D) Carbon dioxide (CO2) 121. Which of the following classifications apply to

dihydroxyacetone?

I. Alcohol II. Ketone

III. Carbohydrate IV. Acetal

A) I and II only

B) III and IV only

C) I, II, and III only

D) I, II, and IV only 122. Which of the following structures is the enol

form of pyruvate?

A)

B)

C)

D)


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123. A reaction in the citric acid cycle is shown below. (The equation is not balanced.)

This reaction would be described as:

I. oxidation–reduction. II. decarboxylation.

III. isomerization.

A ) I only

B ) II only

C ) Both I and II

D ) Both I and III

124. The four five-carbon carbohydrates shown below illustrate principles of carbohydrate nomenclature.

Another five-carbon carbohydrate is xylulose. Which of the following statements apply(applies) to xylulose?

I. It is an isomer of deoxyribose. II. It is an isomer of ribose.

III. It is an isomer of xylose.

A) I only

B) II only

C) I and III only

D) II and III only


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These questions are not based on a descriptive passage and are independent of each other. 125. One characteristic common to arteries, veins,

and capillaries is the:

A ) presence of a layer of endothelial cells.

B ) presence of numerous valves that prevent the backflow of blood.

C ) ability to actively dilate or constrict in regulating blood flow.

D ) ability to supply surrounding tissues with nutrients by filtration and diffusion.

126. Tissue that is very active metabolically, such as

skeletal muscle, contains large numbers of:

A ) nuclei.

B ) fat deposits.

C ) blood capillaries.

D ) lymphatic vessels. 127. The finches observed by Darwin on the

Galapagos Islands are an example of adaptive radiation. In order to set up conditions that would produce adaptive radiation, it would be necessary to place members of:

A ) one species in one rapidly changing environment.

B ) one species in several different environments.

C ) several very similar species in the same environment.

D ) several unlike species in one environment to compete for the same resources.

128. Which of the compounds shown below can form hydrogen bonds with water?

CH3–CH2–CH3 Compound 1

CH3–CH2–NH2 Compound 2

A) Compound 1 only

B) Compound 2 only

C) Both compounds

D) Neither compound 129. The term α-helix refers to what kind of protein

structure?

A) Primary

B) Secondary

C) Tertiary

D) Quaternary


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Passage VI

Bone remodeling is a cyclic process involving bone resorption by osteoclasts (OC), followed by bone formation by osteoblasts (OB). How this event is triggered is uncertain. A new drug, Peptide A, binds to specific sites on the plasma membranes of OB, the bone-forming cells. Two experiments were done to study Peptide A.

Experiment 1 Peptide A was added to the growth medium of

cultured OB. The medium and cells were analyzed 24 hours later. The only apparent effect of Peptide A on OB was an increase in the production and secretion of a peptide called osteoblatin. Figure l shows these results. Upon further investigation, osteoblatin was found to be 97% homologous to osteoactivin, a peptide that markedly stimulates osteoclastic bone resorption.

Figure 1 Effect of Peptide A on osteoblatin

Experiment 2 Growth medium with and without Peptide A (25

ng/mL) was then incubated with OB only, OC only, or OB plus OC. After 24 hours, the medium and cells were tested for the amount of osteoblatin secreted, for bone-forming activity (OB activity), and for bone-resorbing activity (OC activity). The results are shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Effects of Peptide A

Group

OB activity (units)

OC activity (units)

[Osteoblatin] (ng/mL)

1. OB only 10 NA 0 2. OB + Peptide A 9 NA 9 3. OC only NA 1 NA 4. OC + Peptide A NA 2 NA 5. OB + OC 11 1 0 6. OB + OC + Peptide A 2 23 50

(NA = not applicable)

Peptide B competes with Peptide A for the same plasma membrane receptors; however, Peptide B has no effect on the OB, does not stimulate osteoblatin production, and competitively inhibits Peptide A. 130. Which conclusion about Peptide A receptor

binding can be reached from Figure 1?

A) Peptide A requires 100% receptor binding to produce the most osteoblatin.

B) Peptide A produces the most osteoblatin possible at less than 100% receptor binding.

C) At 50% binding to its receptors, Peptide A produces 50% of the maximal amount of osteoblatin.

D) Peptide A continues to stimulate increasing levels of osteoblatin production at over 50% receptor binding.

131. When OB is incubated with a constant

concentration of Peptide A (25 ng/mL) and increasing concentrations of Peptide B, osteoblatin concentration:

A) increases exponentially.

B) increases linearly.

C) remains constant.

D) decreases.


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132. What can be concluded about Peptide A from Experiment 2?

A ) It is ineffective in stimulating osteoclastic activity.

B ) It acts directly on OC to increase bone resorption.

C ) It acts indirectly through OB to increase bone resorption.

D ) It acts directly on OB to increase bone formation. 133. In Experiment 2, which three groups

demonstrated cell line viability and allowed the determination of basal cellular activities?

A ) Groups 1, 2, and 3

B ) Groups 1, 3, and 5

C ) Groups 2, 4, and 6

D ) Groups 4, 5, and 6

134. To most effectively study the effect of Peptide A on transcription of the osteoblatin gene, a scientist should determine the:

A) sequence of the osteoblatin gene.

B) amount of osteoblatin mRNA in the cell.

C) amount of osteoblatin peptide in the cell.

D) total RNA in the cell. 135. The overall effect of Peptide A on bone is to:

A) increase bone mass.

B) decrease bone mass.

C) narrow haversian canals.

D) maintain constant bone mass.


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Passage VII

A new strategy of drug design uses nucleic acid macromolecules to prevent the expression of a gene. The target of the drug can be a gene in a bacterial cell, a cancer cell, or a virus-occupied eukaryotic cell; the macromolecular drug can be either produced within a biological system or added to it. Normally produced messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules are known as the sense RNA. Antisense nucleic acids, which are complementary to a portion of the sense mRNA, can be synthesized. The antisense molecules will bind specifically to the sense mRNA and prevent the production of the natural gene product.

A problem encountered in the design of antisense drugs was that oligonucleotides may only persist for a matter of minutes before they are degraded by cellular processes. Antisense drugs became feasible when phosphorothioate analogs of the oligonucleotides were developed; these analogs can exist for days or weeks within the cell.

Genes that produce an antisense sequence can also be synthesized and added to the genome of organisms. In this manner antisense and sense RNA molecules could be produced simultaneously—in effect, preventing the production of the gene product permanently. 136. When used as described in the passage,

antisense drugs prevent:

A ) DNA replication.

B ) RNA transcription.

C ) RNA translation.

D ) cell replication.

137. To be an effective therapy, an antisense gene that is incorporated into a genome that contains the target gene must be:

A) on the same chromosome as the target gene but not necessarily be physically adjacent.

B) on the same chromosome as the target gene and must be physically adjacent.

C) regulated in a similar manner as the target gene.

D)

coded on the same strand of DNA as the target gene.

138. Phenylketonuria is a genetic disorder caused by a mutation in the gene for the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase, which eliminates its enzymatic activity. Could an antisense drug help individuals with this disorder?

A) Yes, if it binds to the mRNA of the phenylalanine hydroxylase gene and prevents its translation

B) Yes, if it is incorporated into the chromosome and prevents the expression of the phenylalanine hydroxylase gene

C) No, because mRNA does not persist in the cytoplasm of the cell

D) No, because blockage of phenylalanine hydroxylase gene expression will not remedy the original disorder

139. Which of the following nucleotide sequences

describes an antisense molecule that can hybridize with the mRNA sequence 5′-CGAUAC-3′?

A) 5′-GCTATG-3′

B) 5′-GCUAUG-3′

C) 3′-GCUAUG-5′

D) 3′-GCAUAG-5′


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140. An effective and efficient method for the delivery of an antisense gene could be:

A ) orally as an emulsified product.

B ) microinjection into individual body cells.

C ) intravenously as a nonantigenic, blood-stable product.

D ) infection of an embryo by a virus modified to carry the gene.

141. If oligonucleotides such as mRNA were not degraded rapidly by intracellular agents, which of the following processes would be most affected?

A) The production of tRNA in the nucleus

B) The coordination of cell differentiation during development

C) The diffusion of respiratory gases across the cell membrane

D) The replication of DNA in the nucleus


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These questions are not based on a descriptive passage and are independent of each other. 142. When muscles in the skin contract and cause

the hair of an animal to “stand on end,” the skin could be functioning as a regulator of:

A ) pH.

B ) salt excretion.

C ) body temperature.

D ) skeletal muscle tone. 143. Of the isomeric alcohols (compounds 1–4),

which is most reactive in an SN1 reaction with HBr?

A ) Compound 1

B ) Compound 2

C ) Compound 3

D ) Compound 4

144. If chromosomal duplication before tetrad formation occurred twice during spermatogenesis, while the other steps of meiosis proceeded normally, which of the following would result from a single spermatocyte?

A) One tetraploid sperm

B) Four diploid sperm

C) Four haploid sperm

D) Eight haploid sperm 145. All of the following occur during normal

inspiration of air in mammals EXCEPT:

A) elevation of the rib cage.

B) relaxation of the diaphragm.

C) reduction of pressure in the pleural cavity.

D) contraction of the external intercostal rib muscles. 146. Radioactively labeled uracil is added to a

culture of actively dividing mammalian cells. In which of the following cell structures will the uracil be incorporated?

A) Chromosomes

B) Ribosomes

C) Lysosomes

D) Nuclear membrane


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Physical Sciences 1 (A) (B) (C) (D) 2 (A) (B) (C) (D) 3 (A) (B) (C) (D) 4 (A) (B) (C) (D) 5 (A) (B) (C) (D) 6 (A) (B) (C) (D) 7 (A) (B) (C) (D) 8 (A) (B) (C) (D) 9 (A) (B) (C) (D)

10 (A) (B) (C) (D) 11 (A) (B) (C) (D) 12 (A) (B) (C) (D) 13 (A) (B) (C) (D) 14 (A) (B) (C) (D) 15 (A) (B) (C) (D) 16 (A) (B) (C) (D) 17 (A) (B) (C) (D) 18 (A) (B) (C) (D) 19 (A) (B) (C) (D) 20 (A) (B) (C) (D) 21 (A) (B) (C) (D) 22 (A) (B) (C) (D) 23 (A) (B) (C) (D) 24 (A) (B) (C) (D) 25 (A) (B) (C) (D) 26 (A) (B) (C) (D) 27 (A) (B) (C) (D) 28 (A) (B) (C) (D) 29 (A) (B) (C) (D) 30 (A) (B) (C) (D) 31 (A) (B) (C) (D) 32 (A) (B) (C) (D) 33 (A) (B) (C) (D) 34 (A) (B) (C) (D) 35 (A) (B) (C) (D) 36 (A) (B) (C) (D) 37 (A) (B) (C) (D) 38 (A) (B) (C) (D)

39 (A) (B) (C) (D) 40 (A) (B) (C) (D) 41 (A) (B) (C) (D) 42 (A) (B) (C) (D) 43 (A) (B) (C) (D) 44 (A) (B) (C) (D) 45 (A) (B) (C) (D) 46 (A) (B) (C) (D) 47 (A) (B) (C) (D) 48 (A) (B) (C) (D) 49 (A) (B) (C) (D) 50 (A) (B) (C) (D) 51 (A) (B) (C) (D) 52 (A) (B) (C) (D)

Verbal Reasoning

53 (A) (B) (C) (D) 54 (A) (B) (C) (D) 55 (A) (B) (C) (D) 56 (A) (B) (C) (D) 57 (A) (B) (C) (D) 58 (A) (B) (C) (D) 59 (A) (B) (C) (D) 60 (A) (B) (C) (D) 61 (A) (B) (C) (D) 62 (A) (B) (C) (D) 63 (A) (B) (C) (D) 64 (A) (B) (C) (D) 65 (A) (B) (C) (D) 66 (A) (B) (C) (D) 67 (A) (B) (C) (D) 68 (A) (B) (C) (D) 69 (A) (B) (C) (D) 70 (A) (B) (C) (D) 71 (A) (B) (C) (D) 72 (A) (B) (C) (D) 73 (A) (B) (C) (D) 74 (A) (B) (C) (D) 75 (A) (B) (C) (D)

76 (A) (B) (C) (D) 77 (A) (B) (C) (D) 78 (A) (B) (C) (D) 79 (A) (B) (C) (D) 80 (A) (B) (C) (D) 81 (A) (B) (C) (D) 82 (A) (B) (C) (D) 83 (A) (B) (C) (D) 84 (A) (B) (C) (D) 85 (A) (B) (C) (D) 86 (A) (B) (C) (D) 87 (A) (B) (C) (D) 88 (A) (B) (C) (D) 89 (A) (B) (C) (D) 90 (A) (B) (C) (D) 91 (A) (B) (C) (D) 92 (A) (B) (C) (D)

Writing Sample

93 94

Biological Sciences

95 (A) (B) (C) (D) 96 (A) (B) (C) (D) 97 (A) (B) (C) (D) 98 (A) (B) (C) (D) 99 (A) (B) (C) (D)

100 (A) (B) (C) (D) 101 (A) (B) (C) (D) 102 (A) (B) (C) (D) 103 (A) (B) (C) (D) 104 (A) (B) (C) (D) 105 (A) (B) (C) (D) 106 (A) (B) (C) (D) 107 (A) (B) (C) (D) 108 (A) (B) (C) (D) 109 (A) (B) (C) (D) 110 (A) (B) (C) (D)

111 (A) (B) (C) (D) 112 (A) (B) (C) (D) 113 (A) (B) (C) (D) 114 (A) (B) (C) (D) 115 (A) (B) (C) (D) 116 (A) (B) (C) (D) 117 (A) (B) (C) (D) 118 (A) (B) (C) (D) 119 (A) (B) (C) (D) 120 (A) (B) (C) (D) 121 (A) (B) (C) (D) 122 (A) (B) (C) (D) 123 (A) (B) (C) (D) 124 (A) (B) (C) (D) 125 (A) (B) (C) (D) 126 (A) (B) (C) (D) 127 (A) (B) (C) (D) 128 (A) (B) (C) (D) 129 (A) (B) (C) (D) 130 (A) (B) (C) (D) 131 (A) (B) (C) (D) 132 (A) (B) (C) (D) 133 (A) (B) (C) (D) 134 (A) (B) (C) (D) 135 (A) (B) (C) (D) 136 (A) (B) (C) (D) 137 (A) (B) (C) (D) 138 (A) (B) (C) (D) 139 (A) (B) (C) (D) 140 (A) (B) (C) (D) 141 (A) (B) (C) (D) 142 (A) (B) (C) (D) 143 (A) (B) (C) (D) 144 (A) (B) (C) (D) 145 (A) (B) (C) (D) 146 (A) (B) (C) (D)


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Aamc MCAT Test z

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