Test your basic knowledge |

MCAT Prep Biology

Subjects : mcat, science
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. A group of sensory neuron cell bodies found just posterior to the spinal cord on either side. A pair of root ganglia exists for each spinal nerve that expands from the spinal cord. The ganglia are part of the peripheral nervous system (PNS).






2. A virus that infects a bacterium.






3. DNA replication in prokaryotes - so named because as replication proceeds around the single - circular chromosome - it takes on the appearnce of the Greek letter theta.






4. One of the main pancreatic proteases; it is activated (from chymotrypsinogen) by trypsin.






5. The darkly pigmented middle layer of the eyeball - found between teh sclera (outer layer) and the retina (inner layer).






6. The volume of air inhaled and exhaled in a normla - resting breath - typically about 500 mL.






7. A clear fluid the circulates around through the brain and spinal cord that helps to physially support teh brain and act as a shock absorber - and taht also exchanges nutrients and wastes with teh brain and spinal cord.






8. A protein channel in the nuclear envelope that llows the free passage of molecules smaller than 60 kD.






9. The phase of mitosis during which the cell physically splits into two daugter cells. Cytokinesis begins near the end of anaphase - and is completed during telophase.






10. In skeleta and cardiac muscle tissue - a filament composed of actin - tropomyosin - and troponin. Thin filaments are attached to teh Z lines of the sarcomers and slide over thick filaments during muscle contraction.






11. The enzymatic process of reading a strand of DNA to produce a complemenetary strand of RNA






12. A subphase of male orgasm. Emission is the movement of sperm (via the vas deferens) and semen into the urtehra in prepartion for ejaculation.






13. The volume of blood pumped out the heart in a single contraction.






14. The division between neighboring cardiac muscle cells. Intercalcated discs include gap junctions - which allow the cells to function as a unit.






15. The largest bundle of white matter (axons) connecting th two cerebral hemispheres.






16. Muscle tissue found in the walls of hollow organs - e.g. - blood vessels - the digestive tract - the uterus - etc. Smooth muscle is non - striated - uninucleate - and under involuntary control (controlled by the autonomic nervous system).






17. The RF value - the percentage of recombinant offspring resulting from a given genetic cross. The recombination frequency is proportional to the physical distance between genes on a chromosome. If a recombination frequency is low - the genes under con






18. The outer layer of smooth muscle in the wall of the digestive tract. When the longitudinal muscle contracts the tube shortens.






19. A person with blood type AB+. Because this person's red blood cells possess all of the typical blood surface proteins - they will not display an immune reaction if transfused with any of the other blood types.






20. The synapse between a motor neuron and a muscle cell. At the NMJ - the muscle cel lmembrane is invaginated and the axon terminus is elongated so that a greater area of membrane can be depolarized at one time.






21. A protein - based substance secreted by cells of the epiderms as they migrate outward. The keratin makes the cells tougher (better able to withstand abrasion) and helps make the skin waterproof.






22. Extremely small pseudo - cells in the blood - important for clotting. They are not true cells - but are broken - off bits of a larger cell (a megakaryocyte).






23. A subset of a species consisting of members that mate and reproduce with one another.






24. The valvecontrolling release of bile and pancreatic juice into the bloodstream.






25. An ion channel that is constitutively open - allowing the movement of teh ion across the plasma membrane according to its concentration gradient.






26. A dense grwoth of bacteria that covers the surface of a petri dish.






27. The division of the periperal nervsous system that innervates and cotnrols the visceral organs (everything but the skeletal muscles). It is also knowns as the involuntary nervous system and an be subdivided into the sympathetic and parasympathetic di






28. All parts of the nervous system except for the brain and spinal cord.






29. A haploid cell resulting from the first meiotic division of oogenesi (not that the cytoplasmic division in this case is unequal - producing one large cell with almost all of they cytoplasm - the secondary oocyte - and one smaller cell with virtually






30. The product of glycolysis; 2 pyruvic acid (pyruvate) molecules are produced from a single glucose molecule. In the absence of oxygen - pyruvic acid undergoes fermentation and is reduced to either lactic acid or ethanol; in the presence of oxygen - py






31. The constant inhibition provided to the heart by the vagus nerve. Vagal tone reduces the intrinsic firing rate of teh SA node from 120 beats/minute to around 80 beats/minute.






32. The osmotic pressure in the blood vessels due only to plasma proteins (primarily albumin) --> causes water to rush back into capillaries at end.






33. The unit of combact bone - also called a Haversian system. Osteons are essentially long cylinders of bone; the hollow center is called the central canal - and is where blood vessels - nervs - and lymphatic vessels are found. Compact bone is laid down






34. The band of the sarcomere that extends the full length of the thick filament. The A band includes regions of thick and thin filament overlap - as well as a region of thick filament only. A bands alternate with I bands to give skeletal and cardiac mus






35. A haploid but immature cell resulting from the second meiotic division f spermatogenesis. Spermatids undergo significant physical changes to become mature sperm (spermatozoa).






36. The sphincter that separates the final part of the small intestine (the ileum) from the fron part of the large intestine (the cecum). It is typically kept contracted (closed) so that chyme can remain in the small intestine as long as possible. The il






37. Aso called a subcutaneous layer - this is a layer of *fat located under the dermis of the skin. The hypodermis helps to insulate the body and protects underlying muscles and other structures.






38. A gene that has effects on several different characteristics.






39. Multiple sites of replication found on large - linear eukaryotic linear eukaryotie chromosomes.






40. A nucleotide sequence on DNA that contians three elemtns: a coding sequence for one or more enzymes - *a coding sequence for a regulatory protein - and upstream regulatory sequences where the regulatory proteins can bind. An example is the lac operon






41. A string of several hundred adenine nucletodies added to the 3' end of the eukaryotic mRNA.






42. The most common class of bone in the body - long bones have a well - defined shaft (the diaphysis) and two well - defined ends (the epiphyses).






43. An integral membrane protein that undergoes a conformational change to move a molecule from one side of the membrane to another. See also 'uniporter' - 'antiporter' - and 'symporter'.






44. A large system of folded membranes within a eukaryotic cell that has ribosomes bound to it - giving a rough appearnce. These ribosomes synthesize proteins that will ultimately be secreted from the cell - incorporated into the plasma membrane - or tra






45. A series of enzyme complexes found along the inner mitochondrial membrane. NADH and FADH2 are oxidized by tehse enzymes; the electrons are shuttled down the chain and are ultimately passed to oxygen and to produce water. The electron energy is used t






46. A mature - cartilage cell.






47. A hormone released by the posterior pituitary that stimulates uterine contractions during childbirth and milk ejection during breastfeeding.






48. The third phase of meiosis II. During anaphase II the sister chromatids are finally spearated at their centromeres and puled to opposite sides of teh cell. Note that anaphase II is identical to mitotic anaphase - excep the number of chromosmes was re






49. A fibrous protein found on the intracellular side of the plasma membrane (also associated with the Golgi complex) that helps invaginate the membrane. Typically cel surface receptors are associated with clathrin - coated pits at the plasma membrane bi






50. A receptor that responds to changes in temperature.