NUMS — Medical & Dental Entry Test
Take the NUMS Full-Length Mock Test 3 (180 MCQs): 180 multiple-choice questions (190 minutes) with instant scoring and a full answer review. Covers 81…
What this test covers
The first 5 questions of this test, with the correct answer and explanation.
Q1. Maltose, sucrose and lactose are all disaccharides. Which pair correctly names the monosaccharides released on hydrolysis of lactose?
Answer: A. Glucose and galactose
Explanation: Lactose (milk sugar) is a β-1,4 link between galactose and glucose; sucrose gives glucose + fructose and maltose gives two glucose.
Q2. Cholesterol is classified with lipids even though it has no fatty acid chains. The structural feature that places it among lipids is that it:
Answer: C. is a fused-ring steroid that is insoluble in water
Explanation: Lipids are defined by hydrophobic solubility behaviour, not by fatty acids; cholesterol is a four-ring steroid and is nonpolar.
Q3. In haemoglobin, the four polypeptide chains remain associated through weak bonds and together bind oxygen cooperatively. This level of organisation is best described as:
Answer: A. quaternary structure formed by non-covalent interactions between subunits
Explanation: Several folded polypeptides (subunits) assembled into one functional protein is quaternary structure, held mainly by weak non-covalent forces.
Q4. ATP differs from the adenine nucleotide present in RNA mainly in that ATP has:
Answer: D. three phosphate groups instead of one
Explanation: The RNA nucleotide AMP has one phosphate; ATP is adenosine with three phosphate groups, the terminal bonds being high-energy.
Q5. An enzyme digests maltose but not sucrose even though both are disaccharides. This best illustrates that:
Answer: C. the active site fits only a particular substrate shape
Explanation: Specificity results from the complementary shape and chemistry of the active site; the enzyme lowers activation energy only for its own substrate.
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Q6. Enzyme X has Km = 2 mM and enzyme Y has Km = 20 mM for their respective substrates, both measured under identical conditions. Which conclusion is justified?
Q7. A regulatory molecule binds at a site away from the active site of an enzyme and changes its shape so the substrate binds poorly. This is:
Q8. Which statement about vitamins and enzymes is correct?
Q9. In an experiment an enzyme's rate of reaction is plotted against substrate concentration. After a point the curve becomes flat. At this stage, which change would raise the rate?
Q10. Which observation would contradict the cell theory?
Q11. Cells of a plant kept in a very cold environment adapt by increasing the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids in their membrane phospholipids. The advantage is that:
Q12. Cells treated with a drug that depolymerises microtubules cannot separate chromosomes at anaphase. The reason is that microtubules:
Q13. A scientist finds that a particular cell type has a very large number of mitochondria with extensively folded inner membranes. Which activity is this cell most likely to have?
Q14. A cell lacking a functional cyclin-dependent checkpoint protein at G1 divides repeatedly even with damaged DNA. Which condition is the most probable result?
Q15. A diploid cell with 2n = 8 undergoes meiosis. How many chromatids are present in one cell during metaphase II?
Q16. One molecule of glucose passes through glycolysis in a cell. What is the net gain of ATP by substrate-level phosphorylation?
Q17. Yeast cells in dough produce bubbles that make bread rise. The gas comes from:
Q18. Oligomycin blocks the proton channel of ATP synthase. In isolated mitochondria with substrate and oxygen present, what happens to the electron transport chain?
Q19. In the light reactions of photosynthesis, which pair of products is used to drive the Calvin cycle?
Q20. On a very hot, dry day plants close their stomata. In C₃ plants the ratio of CO₂ to O₂ inside the leaf then changes. Which process increases as a result?
Q21. Maize and sugarcane thrive in hot environments because their mesophyll cells first fix CO₂ into a four-carbon compound using an enzyme with:
Q22. Which of the following is the correct sequence of taxonomic ranks from the largest to the smallest group?
Q23. A single-celled eukaryote lives in pond water, moves by cilia, and ingests bacteria into food vacuoles. It most likely belongs to:
Q24. Two species share 99% of their DNA sequence for a certain gene while a third shares only 70% with either. The most reasonable inference is that:
Q25. Bacteria reproduce rapidly in suitable conditions mainly by:
Q26. A harmless bacterium acquires resistance to an antibiotic after direct contact with a resistant cell through a hollow pilus. The process is:
Q27. A virus particle is found to contain a nucleic acid surrounded by a protein coat and an outer lipid envelope with spikes. The envelope is usually derived from:
Q28. Cyanobacteria are considered ecologically important because they:
Q29. Chewing a piece of bread for a long time makes it taste sweet. This is because salivary amylase breaks starch into:
Q30. A patient has a mutation preventing activation of trypsinogen to trypsin in the duodenum. Digestion of which substances is most reduced?
Q31. In a patient whose gall bladder has been removed, fat digestion is usually still possible but may need small meals. The reason is that:
Q32. A drug that destroys the lacteals of the villi would most seriously reduce the absorption of:
Q33. A child eating mainly maize porridge has a swollen abdomen, thin limbs and oedema, while having adequate energy intake. The deficiency most likely is of:
Q34. A person who eats no fresh fruit or vegetables for months develops bleeding gums and slow wound healing. The vitamin lacking is:
Q35. During inspiration in a healthy person, the diaphragm:
Q36. After a person holds the breath for 30 seconds, the urge to breathe comes mainly from the rise in blood:
Q37. A stab wound allows air into the pleural cavity on one side and that lung collapses. The best explanation is that:
Q38. A student's tidal volume is 500 mL, inspiratory reserve volume 3000 mL and expiratory reserve volume 1100 mL. What is the inspiratory capacity?
Q39. Compared with an adult, the haemoglobin of a fetus has a higher affinity for oxygen. This is useful because it:
Q40. A heart murmur is heard when blood leaks backwards from the left ventricle into the left atrium during ventricular contraction. The faulty valve is the:
Q41. A person's blood pressure is recorded as 120/80 mmHg. The lower value of 80 represents the pressure during:
Q42. Veins have valves while arteries generally do not because:
Q43. A person with blood group A is in need of a transfusion. Which donor's red cells would be safely accepted without agglutination?
Q44. During exercise the heart rate increases mainly because:
Q45. In a patient with a deficiency of vitamin K, clotting time increases because the liver cannot make adequate:
Q46. In a patient with hypertension, the glomerular capillary pressure rises. The immediate effect on the kidney is a:
Q47. A person losing salt through heavy sweating releases more aldosterone. This hormone acts on the distal tubule to:
Q48. A patient passes 15 litres of very dilute urine per day and has no glucose in the urine. The condition is most likely due to:
Q49. Which of the following is a function of the liver in homeostasis?
Q50. In haemodialysis the dialysing fluid contains normal plasma concentrations of glucose and ions but no urea. This ensures that:
Q51. A neuron is bathed in a fluid with a very high concentration of K⁺. Compared with normal, the resting membrane potential will become:
Q52. Botulinum toxin prevents release of acetylcholine from motor neuron terminals. The expected effect is:
Q53. A person injured in the cerebellum is most likely to show:
Q54. Which response would be caused by increased parasympathetic activity?
Q55. A person with a pancreatic tumour secreting excess insulin would be expected to have:
Q56. A farmer sprays a ripening fruit store with ethylene to even out ripening. Which of the following is an effect of ethylene?
Q57. When barley seeds begin to germinate, the embryo releases a hormone that stimulates the aleurone layer to make amylase. This hormone is:
Q58. A person recovering from an infection has high levels of IgG antibodies. A second exposure to the same pathogen leads to a faster response because of:
Q59. In an allergic reaction to pollen, the symptoms such as sneezing and runny nose are directly caused by the release of histamine from:
Q60. A person bitten by a rabid animal is given ready-made rabies antibodies immediately as well as a vaccine. The antibodies are given because they:
Q61. Osteoporosis is common in older women after menopause. The hormonal change that contributes is the decrease in:
Q62. The joint at the shoulder allowing movement in many planes is a:
Q63. In a short 100-metre sprint, muscle fibres rapidly regenerate ATP from stored:
Q64. A potted plant that is not watered wilts although its cell walls are intact. The cause is loss of:
Q65. Which cells in the testis are responsible for secreting testosterone?
Q66. Once one sperm enters the egg, the egg membrane changes rapidly to block further sperm. This prevents:
Q67. Combined oral contraceptive pills prevent pregnancy mainly because their hormones:
Q68. In the early embryo, the layer that gives rise to the nervous system, epidermis and lens of the eye is the:
Q69. In a flowering plant, double fertilisation results in a diploid zygote and a triploid cell. The triploid cell develops into:
Q70. Pink-flowered plants (Rr) of a species with incomplete dominance (RR red, rr white) are self-pollinated. What fraction of offspring is expected to show the intermediate pink colour?
Q71. A mother with blood group A and a father with group B have a child of group O. What is the probability that their next child is also group O?
Q72. Two genes are 20 map units apart on the same chromosome. In a test cross of a heterozygote with coupled alleles (AB/ab), what percentage of offspring should be recombinant?
Q73. Haemophilia is X-linked recessive. A carrier woman marries a normal man. Which is true of their children?
Q74. In semi-conservative replication, DNA labelled with ¹⁵N in both strands is allowed to replicate once in ¹⁴N medium. The resulting DNA molecules are:
Q75. A point mutation changes a codon in the middle of a gene from UAU (Tyr) to UAA. The most likely effect on the protein is:
Q76. In a population in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium, 16% of individuals show a recessive trait. What is the frequency of the heterozygous genotype?
Q77. A river changes course and divides a squirrel population into two. Over many generations they can no longer interbreed. This type of speciation is:
Q78. In a population of moths, a new mutation arises that gives darker wings, in a region where soot darkens tree trunks. The mutation increases in frequency mainly because:
Q79. In agarose gel electrophoresis, DNA fragments move towards the positive electrode because DNA is:
Q80. A herbivore receives 10,000 kJ of energy from the plants it eats. Using the 10% rule, how much energy is expected to be available to a carnivore that feeds on it?
Q81. Which group of microorganisms converts ammonia in the soil into nitrite and nitrate, making it available to plants?
Q82. How many grams of carbon dioxide (M = 44 g mol⁻¹) contain 3.011 × 10²³ molecules? (Nᴀ = 6.022 × 10²³ mol⁻¹)
Q83. Heating 10.0 g of pure CaCO₃ (M = 100 g mol⁻¹) gave 3.52 g of CO₂ (M = 44 g mol⁻¹) according to CaCO₃ → CaO + CO₂. What is the percentage yield of CO₂?
Q84. A 25.0 cm³ sample of 0.80 M NaOH is diluted with water to a final volume of 200 cm³. What is the molarity of the diluted solution?
Q85. Which ion has the ground-state configuration [Ar] 3d⁵? (Atomic numbers: Fe = 26, Co = 27, Ni = 28)
Q86. Which electronic transition in a hydrogen atom emits the photon of the greatest energy?
Q87. The H–N–H bond angle in the ammonium ion (109.5°) is larger than that in ammonia (107°). What is the reason?
Q88. What is the total number of sigma (σ) bonds in one molecule of benzene, C₆H₆?
Q89. A gas at 4.0 atm in a 2.0 dm³ vessel is allowed to expand into an evacuated 6.0 dm³ vessel connected to it, at constant temperature. What is the final pressure?
Q90. By what factor does the average kinetic energy of the molecules of an ideal gas change when its temperature is raised from 27 °C to 327 °C?
Q91. In the van der Waals equation (P + an²/V²)(V − nb) = nRT, which effect does the 'a' term correct for?
Q92. In the rock-salt (NaCl) crystal lattice, how many chloride ions surround each sodium ion?
Q93. The surface tension of a liquid decreases when it is heated. What is the best explanation?
Q94. 0.50 mol of N₂O₄ is placed in a 1.0 dm³ flask and 20% of it dissociates at equilibrium: N₂O₄ ⇌ 2NO₂. What is Kc?
Q95. A buffer contains 0.10 M ethanoic acid and 0.20 M sodium ethanoate. If pKa of ethanoic acid is 4.76 (log 2 = 0.30), what is the pH of the buffer?
Q96. Assuming complete ionisation of both protons, what is the pH of 0.0050 M H₂SO₄ at 25 °C?
Q97. In three runs of A + B → products at constant temperature, the initial rates were 2.0 × 10⁻³ mol dm⁻³ s⁻¹ ([A] = 0.10 M, [B] = 0.10 M), 4.0 × 10⁻³ mol dm⁻³ s⁻¹ ([A] = 0.20 M, [B] = 0.10 M) and 1.6 × 10⁻² mol dm⁻³ s⁻¹ ([A] = 0.20 M, [B] = 0.20 M). What is the rate constant?
Q98. Assume that the rate of a reaction doubles for every 10 K rise in temperature. By what factor does the rate increase when the temperature is raised from 300 K to 330 K?
Q99. Burning 1.15 g of ethanol (C₂H₅OH, M = 46 g mol⁻¹) raises the temperature of 200 g of water by 15.0 °C. Taking the specific heat of water as 4.2 J g⁻¹ °C⁻¹ and ignoring other heat losses, what is the enthalpy of combustion of ethanol?
Q100. A reaction has ΔH = −40 kJ mol⁻¹ and ΔS = −100 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹, both independent of temperature. Below which temperature is it spontaneous?
Q101. Molten aluminium oxide is electrolysed and a charge of 9650 C is passed. What mass of aluminium (Ar = 27) is deposited at the cathode? (F = 96 500 C mol⁻¹)
Q102. 6.0 g of urea (M = 60 g mol⁻¹) is dissolved in 200 g of water. If Kb for water is 0.52 °C kg mol⁻¹, what is the boiling point of the solution at 1 atm?
Q103. Which of these elements has the highest second ionisation energy?
Q104. Which of these isoelectronic species has the largest radius?
Q105. Which Group 2 hydroxide is the most soluble in water?
Q106. Lithium carbonate decomposes on moderate heating, whereas sodium carbonate does not. What is the reason?
Q107. Chlorine gas is bubbled through cold, dilute sodium hydroxide. Which pair of chlorine-containing products forms?
Q108. Scandium is a d-block element, yet aqueous Sc³⁺ is colourless. What is the reason?
Q109. Excess aqueous silver nitrate is added to a solution of [Cr(H₂O)₅Cl]Cl₂. How many moles of AgCl precipitate per mole of the complex?
Q110. In the Contact process SO₃ is absorbed in concentrated sulphuric acid and not in water. Why?
Q111. What is the IUPAC name of CH₃CH₂C(CH₃)₂CH₂Cl?
Q112. How many structural (chain) isomers exist for the alkane C₅H₁₂?
Q113. 2-Methylpropene reacts with hydrogen bromide in the absence of peroxides. What is the major product?
Q114. Ethene is bubbled through cold, dilute, alkaline potassium permanganate. What is observed and what is the organic product?
Q115. When ethyne is passed through a red-hot iron tube at about 600 °C, what is the main product formed by trimerisation?
Q116. Which substituent on a benzene ring directs an incoming electrophile mainly to the meta position?
Q117. In the hydrolysis of 2-bromo-2-methylpropane by aqueous NaOH, what happens to the rate if [OH⁻] is doubled while [RBr] is kept constant?
Q118. Which alcohol resists oxidation by warm acidified potassium dichromate?
Q119. Sodium ethoxide is warmed with bromomethane in the Williamson synthesis. What is the product?
Q120. Which compound does not give a red precipitate on warming with Fehling's solution?
Q121. Propanoic acid is warmed with methanol and a few drops of concentrated H₂SO₄. What is the main organic product?
Q122. Ethyl ethanoate is boiled with aqueous sodium hydroxide. Which organic products are formed?
Q123. How many peptide bonds and how many water molecules are formed when three amino acids join to make a tripeptide?
Q124. A DNA segment rich in G–C base pairs melts at a higher temperature than an A–T rich segment. Why?
Q125. Starch and cellulose are both polymers of glucose, yet humans digest only starch. What is the chief structural reason?
Q126. Which monomer polymerises to give Teflon (PTFE)?
Q127. A screw gauge has a pitch of 0.5 mm and 50 divisions on its circular scale. With the jaws closed, the circular scale reads +3 divisions (positive zero error). A wire is placed between the jaws: the main scale shows 8 full turns (4.0 mm) and the circular scale reads 27 divisions. What is the diameter of the wire?
Q128. The viscous drag on a small sphere is F = 6πηrv, where r is its radius and v its speed. What are the dimensions of the coefficient of viscosity η?
Q129. Two displacements are A = (6i + 2j) m and B = (2i − j) m. What is the magnitude of the vector A − B?
Q130. A train accelerates uniformly from rest to 20 m s⁻¹ in 5 s, moves at constant speed for the next 10 s, and then decelerates uniformly to rest in the final 5 s. What total distance does it cover?
Q131. A stone is thrown horizontally at 12 m s⁻¹ from the top of a 45 m cliff. How far from the base of the cliff does it land? (g = 10 m s⁻², air resistance ignored)
Q132. A 3 kg ball moving at 4 m s⁻¹ collides head-on and perfectly elastically with a stationary 1 kg ball. What is the speed of the 1 kg ball just after the collision?
Q133. Satellite X orbits the Earth at a radius four times that of satellite Y. What is the ratio of their orbital periods, Tₓ/T_y?
Q134. A cyclist rounds a bend on a level road by leaning inwards. Which force provides the necessary centripetal force?
Q135. A force rises uniformly from 0 to 6 N over the first 4 m of a displacement, and then stays constant at 6 N for the next 6 m, all along the direction of motion. How much work does it do over the whole 10 m?
Q136. A pump raises 600 kg of water per minute from a well 20 m deep and delivers it at negligible speed. If the pump is 80% efficient, what input power does it need? (g = 10 m s⁻²)
Q137. Water flows at 2 m s⁻¹ through a horizontal pipe of cross-section 4 cm², which narrows to 1 cm². By how much is the pressure lower in the narrow section? (density of water = 1000 kg m⁻³)
Q138. A small hole of area 2 cm² is made in the side of a wide open tank, 1.8 m below the water surface. What is the volume of water leaving per second? (g = 10 m s⁻²)
Q139. A 0.5 kg mass attached to a spring of force constant 50 N m⁻¹ oscillates on a smooth horizontal surface. What is its time period?
Q140. Tuning fork A has a frequency of 512 Hz and gives 4 beats per second with fork B. When B is loaded with a little wax the beat frequency falls to 2 per second. What was the frequency of B before loading?
Q141. A pipe closed at one end has length 0.55 m. Taking the speed of sound as 330 m s⁻¹, what is the frequency of its first overtone?
Q142. A transverse pulse travelling along a string reaches an end that is fixed rigidly to a wall. How does the reflected pulse compare with the incident one?
Q143. In a Young's double-slit experiment the slits are 0.2 mm apart and the screen is 1.5 m away. For light of wavelength 600 nm, what is the fringe spacing?
Q144. A diffraction grating has 5000 lines per centimetre. For light of wavelength 500 nm, at what angle is the second-order maximum seen?
Q145. An object is placed 30 cm in front of a converging lens of focal length 20 cm. Where is the image formed?
Q146. Light is travelling inside a glass optical fibre and meets the glass–cladding boundary. Which condition ensures that it is totally internally reflected?
Q147. A rigid sealed container holds a gas at a pressure of 1.2 atm and a temperature of 27 °C. What is the pressure when the temperature rises to 327 °C?
Q148. At the same temperature, how does the r.m.s. speed of hydrogen molecules (molar mass 2 g mol⁻¹) compare with that of oxygen molecules (32 g mol⁻¹)?
Q149. An ideal gas expands adiabatically and does work on its surroundings. What happens to its temperature, and why?
Q150. Two point charges of +2 μC and +8 μC are placed 0.30 m apart in air. What is the magnitude of the force between them? (k = 9 × 10⁹ N m² C⁻²)
Q151. A +2 μC and a −2 μC charge are 20 cm apart in air. What is the magnitude of the electric field at the midpoint between them? (k = 9 × 10⁹ N m² C⁻²)
Q152. A hollow metal sphere carries a positive charge. How does the electric potential inside the hollow compare with that on its surface?
Q153. A uniform wire of resistance 8 Ω is drawn out, at constant volume, until its length is three times the original. What is its new resistance?
Q154. A 12 V battery and a 4 V battery are connected in series-opposition (their positive terminals joined) in a single loop with a 2 Ω resistor and a 1 Ω resistor. Each battery has an internal resistance of 0.5 Ω. What current flows in the loop?
Q155. A straight wire 0.4 m long carries 5 A in a uniform magnetic field of 0.3 T, making an angle of 30° with the field. What force acts on it?
Q156. A rectangular coil of 50 turns and area 0.02 m² carries a current of 2 A. It is held with its plane parallel to a uniform field of 0.1 T. What torque acts on it?
Q157. The current in a coil of self-inductance 0.5 H rises uniformly from 0 to 4 A in 0.2 s. What emf is induced in the coil?
Q158. A series L–C–R circuit has L = 0.1 H and C = 10 μF. At what angular frequency does it resonate?
Q159. Pure silicon is doped with a small amount of boron (a trivalent impurity). What type of semiconductor results, and what are its majority charge carriers?
Q160. What is the de Broglie wavelength of an electron accelerated from rest through a potential difference of 150 V? (h = 6.63 × 10⁻³⁴ J s, m = 9.11 × 10⁻³¹ kg)
Q161. The Bohr radius of hydrogen is 0.0529 nm. What is the radius of the electron's orbit in the n = 2 state?
Q162. Uranium-238 (Z = 92) decays by emitting an alpha particle. What is the daughter nucleus?
Q163. Choose the correct option: Neither the manager nor his assistants ___ aware of the change in the schedule.
Q164. Choose the word closest in meaning to the capitalised word as used in the sentence: "The surgeon was METICULOUS about sterilising every instrument."
Q165. Choose the word opposite in meaning to GREGARIOUS.
Q166. Identify the part of the sentence that contains an error: Each of the students (A) / have submitted (B) / the assignment (C) / before the deadline (D).
Q167. Choose the correct replacement for the underlined part: "My brother is senior than me by three years."
Q168. Choose the correct option: The clerk was accused ___ forging the signature on the cheque.
Q169. Which is the correct spelling?
Q170. Choose the word that best completes the sentence: The contract was so ___ that both parties interpreted it in opposite ways.
Q171. Which is the correct passive form of: 'They will announce the results tomorrow.'
Q172. Statements: All nurses are caregivers. All caregivers are trained. Conclusions: I. All nurses are trained. II. All trained people are nurses. (Assume that every group named is non-empty.) Which option is correct?
Q173. Find the next number in the series: 1, 4, 13, 40, 121, ?
Q174. Find the next letter in the series: E, F, H, K, O, ?
Q175. Five friends A, B, C, D and E sit in a row in positions numbered 1 to 5 from left to right. C sits immediately to the right of A. D and E sit next to each other. D sits somewhere to the left of A. C sits somewhere to the left of B. Who sits in position 3 (the middle)?
Q176. Six lecturers P, Q, R, S, T and U each give one lecture, on a different day from Monday to Saturday. P lectures earlier in the week than Q. T lectures on Saturday. U lectures on the day immediately before Q. Q lectures after R. U lectures after S. Who lectures on Thursday?
Q177. Argument: "The new bridge across the river cuts the journey time between the two towns by half, so more people will now commute between them." Which assumption does the argument rest on?
Q178. Read the two statements. A: In March, a chemical factory began discharging untreated waste into a river. B: In May, large numbers of fish were found dead in the same river downstream. Which is most likely?
Q179. If the lab report is submitted on time, the student gets full marks. Hira did not get full marks. Which conclusion is certain?
Q180. Heart is to pumping as kidney is to: