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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 elimination of wastes from the body.






2. The largest artery in teh body; the aorta carries oxygenated blood away from the left ventricle of the heart.






3. (Singular:villus). Folds of the intestinal mucosa that project into the lumen of the intestine; vili serve to increase the surface area of the intestine for absorption.






4. The process by which neighboring cells can influence the determination (and subsequent differentiation) of a cell.






5. The failure of homologous chromosomes or sister chromatids to separate properly during cell division. This could ocur during anaphase I of meiosis (homologous chromosomes) [--> leaving 2 gametes w/ 2 copies and 2 gametes w/ no copies of chromosome] -






6. A hormone produced and secreted by teh adrenal medulla that prolongs and increases teh effects of the sympathetic nervous system.






7. A form of symbiosis in Which both organisms involved benefit from the association.






8. Chemoreceptors on the tongue that respond to chemicals in a food.






9. The capillaries that surround the tubules of the nephron. The vasa recta reclaims reabsorbed substances - such as water and sodium ions.






10. A chemical released by the axon of a neuron in response to an action potential that binds to receptors on a postsynaptic cell and causes that cell to either depolarize slightlly (EPSP) or hyperpolarize slightly (IPSP). Examples are acetylcholine - no






11. A looser - more porous type of bone tissue found at the inner core of the epiphyses in long bones and all other bone types. Spongy gone is filed with red bone marrow - important in blood cell formation.






12. A large - mature - ovarian follicel with a well - developed antrum and a secondary oocyte. Ovulation of the oocyte occurs from this type of follicle.






13. A group of three enzymes that decarboxylates pyruvate - creating an acetyl group and carbon dioxide. The acetyl group is then attached to coenzyme A to produce acetyl - CoA - a substrate in the Krebs cycle. In the process - NAD+ is reduced to NADH. T






14. A protein hormone secreted by sustenacular cells of the testes that acts to inhibit the release of FSH and LH from the anterior pituitary.






15. The 'blind spot' of the eye - this is where the axons of the ganglion cells exist the retinal to form the optic nerve. There are no photoreceptors in the optic disk.






16. The liquid portion of blood; plasma contains water - ions - buffers - sugars - proteins - etc. Anything that dissolves in blood dissolves in the plasma portion.






17. A normal component of the outer membrane of Gram - negative bacteria. Endotoxins produce extreme immune reactions (septic shock) - particularly when many of them enter the circulation at once.






18. Physical structures in two different organism that have funcitonal similarity due to their evoluntion in a common environment - but have different underlying structure. Analogous structures arise from convergent evolution.






19. DNA replication in which each of the parental strands is read to make a complementary daughter strand - ethus each new DNa molecule is composed of half the parental molecule paired with a newly synthesized strand.






20. The enzymes that catalyzes the phosphorylation of glucose to form glucose -6- phosphate in the first step of glycolysis. This is one of the ain regulatory steps of this pathway. Hexokinase is feedback - inhibited by glucose -6- P.






21. The current understanding of membrane structure - in which teh membrane iscomposed of a mix o lipids and proteins (a mosaic) that are free to move fluidly among themselves.






22. A form of evolution in which the same organism is placed into different environments with different selection pressures. This causes organisms to evolve differently - to diverge from their common ancestor. The resulting (new) species may share struct






23. The division of the autonomic nervous system known as the 'fright or flight' system. It causes a genera increase in body activities such as heart rate - respiratory rate - and blood pressure - and an increase in blood flow to skeleltal muscle. It cau






24. A person with blood type O-. Because this person's red blood cells possess none of the typical blood suface proteins - they cannot initiate an immune reaction in a recipient.






25. The division of the autonomic nervous system known as the 'resting and digesting' system. It causes a general decrease in body activities such as heart rate - respiratory rate - and blood pressure - and an increase in blood flow to the GI tract and d






26. An enzyme whose transcription can be stopped by an abundance of its product (as opposed to inducible enzymes). Usually part of anabolism of product.






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






28. The cytoskeleton filaments with the smallest diameter. Microfilaments are composed of the contractile protein actin. They are dynamic filaments - constantly beig made and broken down as needed - and are responsible for events such as pseudopod format






29. A receptor that responds to changes in temperature.






30. The connection of a mosin head group to an actin filament during muscle contraction (the sliding filament theory).






31. Also called occluding junctions - tight junctions form a seal between cells that prevents the movement of substances across the cell layer - except by diffusion through the cell membranes themselves. Tight junctions are found between the epithelial c






32. Also called vasopressin - this hormone is produced in the hypothalamus and secreted by teh posterior pituitary gland. It tartes teh kidney tubules - increasing their permeability to water - adn thus increasing water retention by the body. Also raises






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






34. 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.






35. Complementary DNA. DNA produced synthetically by reverse trascribing mRNA. Because of eukaryotic mRNA splicing - cDNA contains no inrons.






36. 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






37. A cyoplasmic Ca2+- binding protein. Calmodulin is particularly important in smooth muscle cells - where binding of Ca2+ allows calmodulin to activate myosin light - chian kinase - the first step in smooth muscle cell contraction.






38. A network of membranes inside eukarytoic cells invovled in lipid synthesis (steroid in gonads) - detoxification (in liver cells) - and/or Ca2+ storage (muscle cells).






39. An organism that has only a single copy of its genome in each of its cells. Haploid organisms possess no homolous chromosomes.






40. A statistical rule stating that the probability of two independent events occuring together is the product of their individual probabilities.






41. One of the four basic tissue types in the body (epithelial - connective - muscle - and nervous). Epithelial tissue is a lining and covering tissue (e.g. skin - the lining of the stomach and intestines - the lining of the urinary tract - etc. ) or a g






42. The three small bones found in the middle ear (the malleus - the incus - and the stapes) that help to amplify the vibrations from sound waves. The malleus is atached to the tympanic membrane and the stapes is attached to the oval window of the cochle






43. A neuron with a single axon and multiple dendrites; the most common type of neuron in the nervous system.






44. The period of time following an action potential when it is possible - but difficult - for the neuron to fire a second action potential due to the fact that membrane is further from theshold potential (hyperpolarized).






45. A helical protein that winds around actin helices in skeletal and cardiac muscle cells to form the thin filament of the sarcomere. In the absence of Ca2+ - tropomyosin covers the myosin - binding sites on actin and prevents muscle contraction. When c






46. 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.






47. A thick - transpartent coating rich in glycoproteins that surrounds an oocyte.






48. The first generation of offspring from a given genetic cross.






49. A sensory receptor that responds to mechanical disturbances - such as shape changes (being squashed - bent - pulled - etc.). Mechanoreceptors include touch receptors in the skin - hair cells - in the ear - muscle spindles - and others.






50. A passageway leading from behind the nasal cavity to the trachea. The pharynx is divided into three regions - named for their location. The nasopharynx is behind the nasal cavity - the oropharynx is behind the oral cavity - and the laryngopharynx is