100% Free Test Prep MCAT Practice Test Questions

Question 1

Today’s new urban Asia is just as sophisticated and in many ways more exciting than Western cities. Urban

Asian consumers are knowledgeable, modern, and keen to embrace the global lifestyle. Young, urban Asians

have grown up accustomed to many things that originated in the West. They have, for example, completely

embraced pizza, some even claiming that it is a part of their heritage. The story is told about a young

Singaporean boy who was taken by his father to Rome. “Hey, look, Dad,” the little boy exclaimed, “they have

pizza here too!” On sampling the product, the boy decided that it was not as good as the original back home.

Nury Vitachi, who writes for the South China Post and the Far Eastern Economic Review, describes the Asian

middle-class phenomenon: “Executives in Asia have become rich at warp speed by taking full control of their

own lives. They invest a great deal of time in their work, they use strategy to scramble up the corporate ladder,

and they demand payment in cash – so they can make their money work as hard as they do.”

Signs of affluence are everywhere, but don’t get carried away. Traveling around Asia, no matter how rich the

Asians become, signs of their frugal nature are still apparent. And they are very cost-conscious. Shopkeepers

in many Asian cities, most notably in Hong Kong, demand payments for discounted merchandise in cash

instead of plastic, and many Asians are accustomed to that. Most people save the increases in their income,

and many prefer to put it into fixed or other income-generating assets. Stock, land, and property are their

favorites.

Many affluent Asians still regard financial security as the most important form of security, and they are confident

that Asia is the place to be to achieve that. While many have begun to savor the good life, they are not letting

go of their top priority of education for their children. Education is looked upon as the most important

contributing factor to success in life. And in many of Asia’s competitive urban centers, there is a rush to acquire

a second degree and other forms of professional qualification to ensure personal competitiveness in the

workplace. There are extraordinary opportunities in Asia for education and training programs from language to

software programming.

Despite the rise in their assertiveness, Asians still look to the United States and not so much to Europe for

ideas and trends. In general, except for those in Hong Kong and Japan, they are not particularly concerned with

being fashionable. For today’s Asia, Japan and Hong Kong are the sources of Asian fashion ideas, but as Asia

becomes more affluent, there is a great opportunity to develop an indigenous fashion industry. For example, a

huge market potential exists in introducing new materials and simplified but fashionable designs for countries in

tropical Asia with a hot humid climate throughout the year.

The population density and lack of space in urban areas has prohibited Asians from exercising frequently and

few indulge in outdoor activities. This is changing. Most Asians consider themselves in good health. Compared

with Americans, few are overweight – largely as a result of their Asian diet. But now health clubs are becoming

popular among younger Asians. Potential for indoor exercise equipment holds great promise. It is also

important to dress for the gym, and younger Asians are serious about looking good, complete with makeup,

sunglasses, designer exercise shoes and outfits, and a gym bag.

In trying to hit Asia’s moving targets, regardless of what you are selling, it is a good idea to stick with market

density – not country by country, but, mostly, city by city. Asian markets can be a marketer’s dream in that their

densities are among the highest in the world. Java, Indonesia’s main island, has 115 million people. On Nanjing

Road, Shanghai’s busiest street, businesses are open twelve hours a day almost every day of the year. More

than 1.5 million people visit the shops there and spend more than $50 million every day.

Someone said that you can only become rich if you sell to the rich. I would add that you can become rich faster

if you sell to the new rich. For investors in the West, watch for Western companies that are preparing a big

push in Asia. The world has not yet seen anything like it before, and you can reap handsome dividends if you

back those stocks that are going eastward.

Suppose that Asian urban centers have seen the construction of many new hiking and nature trails. How would

this information affect the author’s observation on Asians’ interest in health?

Section: Verbal Reasoning

A : It supports the author’s claim that Asians are exercising more.

B : It refutes the claim that health clubs are becoming more popular.

C : It supports the claim that outdoor activities are becoming more popular if it can be shown that these trailsare heavily used.

D : It refutes the claim that Asians consider themselves in good health if it can be shown that these trails are heavily used.

Answer: C

Question 2

Compounds containing a hydroxyl group attached to a benzene ring are called phenols. Derivatives of phenols,

such as naphthols and phenanthrols, have chemical properties similar to those of phenols, as do most of the

many naturally-occurring substituted phenols. Like other alcohols, phenols have higher boiling points than

hydrocarbons of similar molecular weight. Like carboxylic acids, phenols are more acidic than their alcohol

counterparts. Phenols undergo a number of different reactions; both their hydroxyl groups and their benzene

rings are highly reactive. A number of chemical tests can be used to distinguish phenols from alcohols and

carboxylic acids.

Thymol, a naturally occurring phenol, is an effective disinfectant that is obtained from thyme oil. Thymol can

also be synthesized from m-cresol, as shown in Reaction A below. Thymol can then be converted to menthol,

another naturally-occurring organic compound; this conversion is shown in Reaction B.

Reaction A

Reaction B

Comparing the Ka values for cyclohexanol (Ka = 10−13) and phenol (Ka = 1.3 × 10−10) reveals that phenol is more

acidic than cyclohexanol. Which of the following explain(s) the acidity of phenol?

I. The exceptionally strong hydrogen bonding possible with phenol facilitates the loss of a proton, making it

more acidic than cyclohexanol.

II. Phenol’s conjugate base, phenoxide, is stabilized by resonance to a greater extent than phenol itself.

III. The negative charge of the oxygen atom on the phenoxide ion is delocalized over the benzene ring.

Section: Biological Sciences

A : I only

B : II only

C : II and III only

D : I, II, and III

Answer: C

Question 3

Equation 1

The modes are designated by two numbers, m and n. m indicates the number of diameter nodes, and n

indicates the number of circular nodes. Several modes of vibration are shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1

If the tension of a drum membrane is increased by a factor of four and the radius is increased by a factor of

two, then the (1,1) modal frequency would:

Section: Physical Sciences

A : not change.

B : increase by a factor of 1.59.

C : increase by a factor of 2.

D : increase by a factor of 4.

Answer: A

Question 4

Elephants have large flat feet. It helps them, having heavy weight, in walking properly on ground and

maintaining proper body posture by:

Section: Physical Sciences

A : reducing ground friction on their feet.

B : reducing their pressure on ground.

C : increasing feet penetration into ground.

D : none of the above.

Answer: B

Question 5

Several techniques have been developed to determine the order of a reaction. The rate of a reaction cannot be

predicted on the basis of the overall equation, but can be predicted on the basis of the rate-determining step.

For instance, the following reaction can be broken down into three steps.

A + D → F + G

Step 1

A → B + C

(slow)

Step 2

B + D → E + F

(fast)

Step 3

E + C → G

(fast)

Reaction 1

In this case, the first step in the reaction pathway is the rate-determining step. Therefore, the overall rate of the

reaction must equal the rate of the first step, k1 [A] where k1 is the rate constant for the first step. (Rate

constants of the different steps are denoted by kx

, where x is the step number.)

In some cases, it is desirable to measure the rate of a reaction in relation to only one species. In a secondorder reaction, for instance, a large excess of one species is included in the reaction vessel. Since a relatively

small amount of this large concentration is reacted, we assume that the concentration essentially remains

unchanged. Such a reaction is called a pseudo first-order reaction. A new rate constant, k', is established, equal

to the product of the rate constant of the original reaction, k, and the concentration of the species in excess.

This approach is often used to analyze enzyme activity.

In some cases, the reaction rate may be dependent on the concentration of a short-lived intermediate. This can

happen if the rate-determining step is not the first step. In this case, the concentration of the intermediate must

be derived from the equilibrium constant of the preceding step. For redox reactions, the equilibrium can be

correlated with the voltage produced by two half-cells by means of the Nernst equation. This equation states

that at any given moment:

Equation 1

When

a A + b B → c C + d D

Reaction 2

Note: R = 8.314 J/K·mol; F = 9.6485 × 104 C/mol.)

Which of the following is true of a reaction at equilibrium?

I) k1/k−1 = 1

II) E = E0

III) ln([C]c [D]d /[A]a [B]b) = nFE0/RT

Section: Physical Sciences

A : I only

B : III only

C : I and II only

D : I, II, and III

Answer: B

100% Free MCAT Practice Exam Questions (2026)