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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 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






2. The cerebral hemispheres.






3. A bundle of skeletal muscle cells. Fascicles group together to form skeletal muscles.






4. A neuron that arries information (action potentials) to the central nervous system; a sensory neuron.






5. The fertilization of an oocyte by more than one sperm. This occurs in some animals - but in humans - blocks to polyspermy exist (the fast block and the slow block) so that only a single sperm can penetrate the oocyte.






6. 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






7. The outer layer of an organ - e.g. the renal cortex - the ovarian cortex - the adrenal cortex - etc.






8. The main duct of the pancreas. The pancreatic duct carries the exocrine secretions of the pancreas (enzymes and bicarbonate) to the small intestine (dueodenum).






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






10. A type of synapse at which a chemical (a neurotransmitter) is released from teh axon of a neuron into the ysnaptic cleft where it binds to receptors on the next structure in sequence - either another neuron or an organ.






11. A mass of lymphatic tissue at the befenning of the large intestine that helps trap ingested pathogens.






12. Aromatic bases found in DNa and RNA that have a single - ring structure. They include cytosine - thymine - and uracil.






13. A blood vessel that carries blood toward the heart chambers. Veins do not have muscular walls - have valves to ensure that blood flows in one direction only - and are typically low - pressure vessels.






14. The ball of capillaries at the beginning of the nephron where blood filtration takes place.






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






16. One of the four basic tissue types in the body (epithelial - connective - muscle - and nervous). Connective tissue is a supportive tissue consisting of a relatively few cells scattered among a great deal of extracellular material (matrix) - and inclu






17. The theory that mitochondria and chloroplasts originated as independent unicellular organsims living in symbiosis with larger cells






18. A protein - digesting enzyme secreted by the chief cells of the gastric glands. Pepsin is secreted in its inactive form (pepsinogen) and is activated by gastric acid. It is unusual in that its pH optimum is around 1-2; most of these enzymes in the bo






19. Bacteria that have a thick peptido glycan cell wall - and no outer membrane. They stain very darkly (purple) in Gram stain.






20. 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.






21. A motor neuron and all the all the skeletal muscle cells it innervates. Large motor units are typically found in large muscles (e.g. - the thighs and buttocks) and produce fross movements. Small motor untis are found in smaller muscles (e.g. the rect






22. The neurotransmitter used throughout the parasympathetic nervous system as well as the neuromuscular junction.






23. One of the four aromatic bases found in DNA and RNA; also a component of ATP - NADH - and FADH2. Adenine is apurine; it pairs with thymine (in DNA) and with uracil (in RNA)






24. The membrane that separate the outer ear from the middle ear. The tympanic membrane is also known as the eardrum.






25. A type of syanpse in which the cells are connected by gap junctions - allowing ions (and therefore an action potential) to spread easily from cell to cell - usually in smooth and cardiac muscle. - compared to chemical synapse.






26. Active transport that releies on an established concentration gradient - typically set up by a primary active transporter. Secondary active transport relies on ATP indirectly.






27. A region at the head of a sperm cell that contains digestive enzyems which - when released during the acrosome reaction - can facilitate penetration of the corona radiata of the egg - and subsequently - fertilization






28. An RNA polymerase that creates a primer (made of RNA) initiate DNa replication. DNA pol binds to the primer and elongates it.






29. 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**.






30. DNA that is densely packed around histones. The genes in heterochromatin are generally inaccessible to enzymes and are turned off.






31. Something that increases the rate of a chemical reaction by reducing the activation energy for that reaction. The free energy of reaction remains unchanged.






32. Fingerlike projection of the uterin (fallopian) tubes that drape over the ovary.






33. 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






34. An enzyme that cuts one or both strands of DNa to relieve the excess tension caused by the unwinding of the helix by helicase during replication.






35. 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






36. The second phase of meiosis I. During metaphase I the paired homologous chromsomes (tetrads) align at the center of the cell (the metaphase plate).






37. A nucleotide sequence in RNA that contains protein - coding information. Exons are typically separated by introns (intervening sequences) that are spliced out prior to translation.






38. 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.






39. Hardy crystals consisting of calcium and phosphate that form the bone matrix.






40. 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






41. The unit of muscle contraction. Sarcomeres are bounded by Z lins - to which thin filaments attach. Thick filaments are found in the center of the sarcomere - overlapped by thin filaments over one another during contraction reduces the distance betwee






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. The maximal volume of air that the lungs can contain. Total lung capacity is the sum of the vital capacity and the residual volume - and is typically about 6000 mL (6L).






44. The first branches of the trachea. There are two primary bronchi - one for each lung.






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






46. A protein found in the plasma membrane of all cells in the body that uses the energy of an ATP (hydrolyzes ATP) to move three Na+ ions out of the cell and two K+ ions into the cell - thus establishing concentrations gradients for these ions across th






47. Human Chorionic Gonadotropin - a hormone secreted by the trophoblast cells of a blasocyst (i.e. developing embryo) that prolongs the life of the corpus luteum - and thus increases the duration and amount of secreted progesterone. This helps to mainta






48. The cell body of a neuron.






49. In the autonomic divison of the PNS - a neuron that has its cell body located in the CNS - and whose axon extends into the PNS to synapse with a second neuron at an autonoic ganglion. (The second neuron's axon synapses with the target axon)






50. A mechanism for increasing tension (contractile length) in a muscle by activating more motor units.