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. The flow of blood through a tissue; ischeia is when there is no blood flow - anoxia when there is no O2 available (ischemia is more dangerous b/c of waste build - up)






2. Gaps in the myelin sheath of the axons of peripheral neruons. Action potentials can 'hump' from node to node - thus increasing the speed of conduction (saltatory conduction).






3. The structure in the cochlea of the inner ear made up of the basilar membrane - the auditory hair cells - and the tectorial membrane. The Organ of Corti is the site where auditory sensation is detected and transduced to action potentials.






4. The outer protein coat of a virus (the whole coat)






5. A nucleotide sequence that intervenes between protein - coding sequences. In DNA - these intervening sequences typically contain **regulatory sequences - however - in RNA they are simply spliced out to form the mature (translated) transcript.






6. The second phase of meiosis II. Metaphase II is identical to mitotic metaphase - except that the number of chromosomes was reduced by half during meiosis I.






7. A mutation caused by an insertion or deletion of base pairs in a gene sequence in DNA such that the reading frame of the gene (and thus teh amino acid sequence of the protein) is altered.






8. A gland that secretes a waxy product - found in the external ear canal.






9. The final phase of the digestive tract - also called the colon. The primary funcion of the large intestine is to reabsorb water and to store the feces.






10. Pain receptors. Nociceptors are found everywhere in the body except for the brain.






11. 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.






12. The flow of blood from the heart - through the lungs - and back to the heart.






13. The opening to the uterus The ervix is typically plugged with a sticky acidic mucus during non - fertile times (to form a barrier against the entry of pathogens) - however during ovulation the mucus becomes more watery and alkaline to facilitate sper






14. The volume of blood pumped out of the heart in one minute (vol/min); the product of the stroke volume (vol/beat) and the heart rate (beat/min). Cardiac output is directly proportional to blood pressure**.






15. The division of the inner cell mass of a blastocyst (developing embryo) into the three primary germ layers. Gastrulation occurs during weeks 2-4 of gestation.






16. Arise in blood pH due to hyperventilation (excessive breathing) and a resulting decrease in CO2.






17. A structure near the middle of eukaryotic chromosomes to which the fibers of the mitotic spindle attach during cell division.






18. A point mutation in which a condon that specifies an amino acid is mutated into a stop (nonsense) codon.






19. The movement of molecules through the plasma membrane against their concentration gradients. Active transport requires input of cellular energy - often in the form of ATP. An example is the Na+/K+ ATPase in the plasma membrane of all cells.






20. The stoppage of bleeding; blood clotting.






21. A long - coiled duct on the outside of the testis in which sperm mature.






22. A short period of time **prior to exponential growth of a bacterial population during which no - or very limited - cell division occurs.






23. The sum of all genetic material in a population.






24. DNA that is loosely packed around histones. This DNA is more accessible to enzymes and the genes in euchromatin can be activated if needed.






25. A function of the reproductive system controlled by the sympathetic nervous system. In males - organs includes emission and ejaculation; in females it is mainly a series of rhythmic contraction of the pelvic floor muscles and the uterus.






26. Toward the 5' end of an Rna transcript (the 5' end of the DNA coding strand). The promoter and start sites are upstream.






27. A life cycle of animal viruses in which the mature viral particles bud from the host cell - acquiring an envelope (a coating of lipid bilayer) in the process.






28. A projection of the cell body of a neuron that recieves a nerve impulse form a different neuron and send the impulse to the cell body. Neurons can have one or several dendrites!






29. A red blood cell; they are filled with hemoglobin - and teh function of the erythrocytes is to carry oxygen in the blood.






30. The small artery that carries blood away from the capillaries of the glomerulus.






31. The portion of the nephron tubule after the loop of Henle - but before teh collecting duct. Selective reabsorption and secretion occur here - most notably regulated reabsorption of water and sodium.






32. An alkaline - fructose - rich fluid produced by three different glands in the male reproductive tract and released during ejaculation. Semen is very nourishing for sperm.






33. 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






34. In skeletal and cardiac muscle tissue - a filament composed of bundles of myosin molecules. The myosin head groups attach to the thick filaments and pull the toward the center of the sarcomere during muscle contraction.






35. The interior of a mitochondrion (the region bounded by the inner membrane). - The matrix is the site of action of pyruvate dehydroganse complex and the Krebs cycle.






36. The first step in viral infection. Attachemen of a virus to its host is very specific and is also known as adsorption.






37. The nervous system of the gastrointestinal tract. It controls secretion and motility within teh Gi tract - and is linked to the central nervous system.






38. A single piece of double - stranded DNA; part of the genome of an organism. Prokaryotes have circular chromosomes and eukaryotes have linear chromosomes.






39. The fourth of meiosis I. Telophase I is identical to mitotic telophase - except that the number of chromosoms is now reduced by half. After this phase the cell is considered to be haploid. Note however - that the chromosomes are still replicated - an






40. Also called thryoid hormone - thyroxine is produced and secreted by follicle cells in the thyroid gland. it targets all cells in the body and increases overall body metabolism.






41. The muscle tissue of the heart Cardiac muscle is striated - uninucleate - and under involuntary control (controlled by teh autonomic nervous system). Note also that cardiac muscle is self - stimulatory - and autonomic control serves only to modify th






42. A blood clot that forms in an unbrokened blood vessel. Thrombi are dangerous they can break free and begin travelin in the bloodstream (become an embolus). Emboli ultimately become stuck in a small vessel and prevent adequate blood delivery to tissue






43. The newly forming daughter strand of DNA that is replicated in a discontinuous fashion - via Okazaki fragments that will ultimately be ligated together; the daugther strand that is replicated in the opposite direction that parallel DNA is unwinding






44. The mechanism described by Charles Darwin that drives evolution. Through mutation - some organisms possess genes that make them better adapted to their environment. These organisms survive and reproduce more than those that do not possess the benefic






45. A normal blood protein produced by the liver - angiotensin is converted to angiotensim I by renin (secreted by kidney when blood pressur falls). Angiotensin I si further onverted to angiotensim II by ACE (angiotensin converting enzyme). Angiotensin I






46. A fibrous - connective - tissue protein taht has the ability to recoil to its original shape after being stretche.d Elastin is found in great amounts in lung tissue - arterial tissue - skin - and the epiglottis.






47. The third phase of meiosis I. During anaphase I the rplicated homologous chromosomes are separated (the tetrad is split) and pulled to opposite sides of the cell.






48. Movement across the membrane of a cell that does not require energy input from the cell. Passive transport relies on concentration gradients to provie the driving force for movement - and includes both simple and facilitated diffusion.






49. The percentage of wholeblood made up of erythrocytes The typical hematocrit value is between 40-45%.






50. An abdominal organ that is considered part of the immune system. THe spleen has four functions: (1) it filters antigen from the blood (2) it is the site of B cell maturation - (3) it stors blood - and (4) it destroys old red blood cells.