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Test your basic knowledge |
MCAT Prep Biology
Start Test
Study First
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 fusion of a sperm with an ovum during sexual reproduction. Fertilization typically occurs in the uterine tubes and requires capacitation of the sperm and relase of the acrosomal enzymes. Fertilization is a species - specific process - requiring b
Fertilization
Sphygmomanometer
Acetylcholine (Ach)
Gray matter
2. A layer of connective tissue underneath the epidermis of the skin. The dermis contains blood vessels - lymphatic vessels - nerves - sensory receptors - and glands.
Dermis
End plate potential
Pyloric sphincter
Iris
3. A short period of time **prior to exponential growth of a bacterial population during which no - or very limited - cell division occurs.
Lag phase
Loop of Henle
Baroreceptor
Longitudinal muscle
4. An enzyme that unwinds the double helix of DNA and separates the DNA strands in preparation for DNA replication.
Distal convoluted tubule
Oxidative phosphorylation
Cochlea
Helicase
5. The portion of the brain responsible for visual and auditory startle reflexes.
Adrenocoricotropic hormone (ACTH)
Relication fork(s)
Midbrain
Exocrine gland
6. The stoppage of bleeding; blood clotting.
Exclusion
Hemostasis
Glucagon
Dominant
7. A lubricating - nourishing fluid found in joint capsules.
Neuralation
Rule of addition
Tolerant anaerobe
Synovial fluid
8. A peptide hormone produced and secreted by the Beta cells of the pancreas. Insulin targets cells in the body - especially the liver and muscle - and allows them to take glucose out of gthe blood (thus lowering blood glucose levels).
Respiratory alkalosis
Phenotype
Insulin
Appendix
9. The final portion of the large intestine.
Rectum
Plasmid
Codon
T cell
10. An insulating layer of membranes wrapped around the axons of almost all neurons in the body. Myelin is essentially the plasma membranes of specialized cells; Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system - and oligodendrocytes in the central nervous
Myelin
Helicase
Osteoblast
Pupil
11. The cord that connects the embryo of a developing mammal to the placenta in the uterus of the mother. The umbilical cord contains fetal arteries (carry blood toward the placenta) and veins (carry blood away from the placenta). The umbilical vessels d
Umbilical cord
Okazaki fragments
Mutualism
Dense connective tissue
12. The regino of the digestive tract where virtually al digestion and absorption occur. It is subdivided into three regions: the duodenum - the jejunum - and the ileum.
Na+/K+ ATPase
Nonsense mutation
Small intestine
Liver
13. A red blood cell; they are filled with hemoglobin - and teh function of the erythrocytes is to carry oxygen in the blood.
Intron
Transmembrane domain
Chymotrypsin
Erythrocyte
14. The female primary sex organ. The ovary produces female gametes (ova) and secretes estrogen and progesterone.
Accessory glands
Goblet cells
Interstitial cell
Ovary
15. The attachment of an amino acid to a tRNA (not that this a specific interaction). tRNa loading requires two high - energy phosphate bonds.
Amylase
Leading strand
Residual volume
tRNA loading
16. The intracellular process triggered by the binding of a ligand to its receptor on the cell surface. Typically this activates seond messenger pathways.
Signal transduction
Bile
Oxytocin
Obligate anaerobe
17. A small - extrachromosomal (outside the genome) - circular DNA molecule found in prokaryotes.
Rule of addition
Amylase
Prosthetic group
Plasmid
18. The enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine in the synaptic cleft.
Sex- linked rait
Atrioventricular bundle (AV) bundle
Chymotrypsin
Acetylcholinesterase (AChE)
19. A genetic cross between an organism displaying a recessive phenotype (homozygous recessive) and an organism displaying a dominant phenotype (for whic the genotype is unknown) - done to determine the unknown genotype.
Fast block to polyspermy
Autosome
Testcross
Primary oocytes
20. A large - ring shaped lipid found in cell membranes. Cholesterol is the precursor for steroid hormones - and is used to manufacture bile salts.
Tetanus
Cholesterol
Tympanic membrane
Pleiotropic gene
21. The sum of all genetic material in a population.
Start site
Gene pool
Dominant
Obligate aerobe
22. A cell characterized by the presence of a nucleus and other membrane - bound organelles. Eukaryotes can be unicellular (protists) or multicellular (fungi - plants and animals).
Mucosa
S phase
Cytosine
Eukaryotic
23. A molecule formed by joining many monosaccharides together. POlysaccharides are typically energy- storage molecules (glycogen in animals - starch in plants) or structural molecules (cellulose in plants - chitin in exoskeletons).
Polysaccharides
Antigen presenting cell
Thermoreceptor
Efferent neuron
24. The release of milk from the mammary glands via contraction of ducts within the glands. Contraction is stimulated by oxytocin - which is released from the posterior pituitary when the baby begins nursing.
Milk letdown
Schwann cell
Allosteric regulation
Hemizygous gene
25. The string between beads of DNA on histones. They are also wrapped around a single histone - called linker histone - may not really have to know..
Linker DNA
Avascular
Jejunum
Fibroblast
26. 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'.
Embryonic stage
Convergent evolution
Bronchioles
Carrier protein
27. An enzyme inhibitor that binds at a site other than the active sit of an enzyme (binds at an allosteric site). THis changes the three - dimensional shape of the enzyme such that it can no longer catalyze the reaction
Ossicles
Neuron
Circular smooth muscles
Noncompetitive inhibitor
28. A structure composed of a ring of nine microtube triplets - found in pairs in the MTOC (microtubule organizing center) of a cell. The centrioles duplicate during the cell division - and serve as the organizing center for the mitotic spindle.
Centriole
Autotroph
Dense connective tissue
Hemostasis
29. 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
Okazaki fragments
Tight junction
Endocrine system
Phagocytosis
30. A non - protein - but organic - molecule (such as vitamin) that is covalently bound to an enzyme as part of the active site.
Prosthetic group
Nociceptors
Follicle
Bone marrow
31. The outer layer of an organ - e.g. the renal cortex - the ovarian cortex - the adrenal cortex - etc.
Hypodermis
Glycolipid
Myofibril
Cortex
32. The valves in the heart that separte the atria from teh ventricles. The tricuspid valve separates teh right atrium from the right ventricel - and the bicuspid (mitral) valves separates the left atrium from the left ventricle. These valves close at th
Olfactory receptors
Atrioventricular valves
Pleiotropic gene
Chorion
33. A contact point between the afferent arteriole of the glomerulus and the distal convoluted tubule of the nephron. It is involved in regulating blood pressure.
Glomerulus
Efferent neuron
Juxtaglomerular apparatus (JGA)
Hfr bacterium
34. The deliberate exposure of a person to an antigen in order to provoke the primary immune response and memory cell production. Typically the antigens are those normally associated with pathogens - thus if the live pathogen is encountered in the future
Vaccination
Sertolli cells
Efferent neuron
Okazaki fragments
35. A constant input to the arteries that keeps them somewhat constricted to maintain a basal level of blood pressure.
Adrenergic tone
Auxotroph
yngergist
Transduction
36. Paired masses of lymphatic tissue near the back of the throat that help trap inhaled or swallowed pathogens.
Hfr bacterium
Tonsils
Soma
Vestibular glands
37. A chemical secreted by a T cell (usually the helper Ts) that stimulates activation and proliferation of other immune system cells.
Anterioir pituitary gland
Lymphokine
Vena cava
Penetrance
38. The portion of the nephron after the glomerulus and apsule; the region of the nephron where the filtrate is modified along its path to becoming urine.
Respiratory acidosis
Hfr bacterium
Dermis
Renal tubule
39. (1) The integration of input (EPSPs and IPSPs) from many presynaptic neruons by a single postsynaptic neuron - either temporaly or spatially. Summation of al input can either stimulate the postsynaptic neuron and possibly lead to an action potential
Cytokinesis
Summation
Longitudinal muscle
Ejaculation
40. A rapid from of action potential conduction along the axon of a neuron in which the action potential appears to jump from nodde of Ranvier to node of Ranvier.
Periperal nervous system
Placental villi
Filtration
Saltatory conduction
41. Zygot - derived projections that extend into the endometrium of the uterus during pregnancy. Fetal capillaries grow into the placental villi - which are surrounded by a pool of maternal blood. THis facilitates nutrient and gas exchange between the mo
Fibrinogen
Placental villi
Mesoderm
Cleavage
42. 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.
B cell
Cytokinesis
hick filament
Telencephalon
43. The second most common of the five classes of leukocytes. Lymphocytes are involved in specific immunity and include two cell types - B- cells and T cells. B- cells produce and secrete antibodies and T- cells are invovled in cellular immunity.
F (fertility) factor
Androgens
Lymphocyte
Exon
44. The process of breaking down large molecules into smaller precursors - e.g. digesion of starch into glucose.
Mitochondrion
Inner cell mass
Catabolism
Seondary active transport
45. An immune organ located near the heart. THe thymus is the site of T cell maturation and is larger in children and adolescents.
Thymus
First law of Thermodynamics
Respiratory alkalosis
Baroreceptor
46. The first branches of the trachea. There are two primary bronchi - one for each lung.
Primary bronchi
Outer ear
Rough endoplasmic reticulum
Vein
47. The inside of the a hollow organ (e.g. - the somach - intestines - bladder - etc.) or a tube (e.g. - blood vessels - ureters - etc.)
Antagonist
Lumen
Erythropoietin
Nuclear pore
48. The pressure measured in the arteries while the ventricles are relaxed (during diastole).
Diastolic pressure
H zone
RNA dependent RNA polymerase
Sarcoplasmic reticulum
49. A viral life cycle in which the viral genome is incorporated into the host genome where it can remain dormant for an unspecified period of time. Upon activation - the viral genome is excised from the host genome and typically enters the lytic cycle.
Lysogenic cycle
Iris
Cholesterol
Carbohydrates
50. A toxin that secreted by a bacterium into its surrounding medium that help the bacterium compete with other species. Some exotoxins cause serious disease in humans (botulism - tetanus - diptheria - toxic shock syndrome).
Cervix
Exotoxin
Autoimmune reaction
Nuclear envelope