Reprinted with Permission from the University of Tennessee - Memphis Academic Resources Center, Summer 1993

1. Identify what the question is really asking - underscore verbs and modifiers
2. Read the question first!
3. Treat each answer as a T/F
4. Rewrite the question in your own words if it is overly wordy or confusing
5. Make a drawing, chart or graph to help you visualize the question and answer.

1. Look for grammatical cues
2. While "all of the above" is frequently the correct answer, "none of the above" is very rarely the correct answer.
3. Unusual or rarely used answers are usually the answer (e.g. A and C)
4. Look for cues found in other questions.

1. What do your own experiences tell you about the answers/questions?
2. What does your general science background tell you about the answer?
3. What do your previous analyses of this professor's tests tell you about the kind of internal cues he/she provides, the frequency of "all of the above" or "none of the above" choices, the pattern of keyed responses, and the emphases placed on certain kinds of content?

1. In a blind guess, go with "all of the above", b or c.

Examples:

1. The patient probably has a probably a calculus of the biliary tract.
2. The elevated alkaline phosphatase and bilirubin are explained by the patients age.
3. The patient may have constitution hyperbilirubinemia.
4. The patient probably has a pancreatic or biliary tract neoplasm.

1. Is associated with all cases of pseudomembranous colitis
2. Is a likely pathogen in antibiotic-associated diarrhea
3. Defines the colonic lesions
4. Is the causative pathogen for many gastrointestinal diseases

1. Results from the failure of the facial process to fuse
2. May case an impediment of speech in children
3. May interfere with suckling in infants
4. Can be easily treated by surgical closure
5. All of the above.

1. Stabilizes the neural and muscle membrane
2. Raises the threshold for action potential generation
3. May permit the generation of spontaneous action potentials
4. Hyperpolarizes the membrane
5. Prevents increase in potassium conductance

Example:

1.The macro-broth dilution method for determining antibiotic susceptibility of the Enterobacteriaceae cannot be used effectively for the sulfonamides or trimethoprim because:

1. Misleading results occur due to inadequate concentrations of Mg++ and Ca++
2. Organisms are resistant at 35 degrees C; and 37 C endpoints are less clear unless incubated for 48 hours
3. Definite endpoints have not yet been established
4. Endpoints are difficult to determine as susceptible organisms can go through several generations before being inhibited

2.The life expectancy for white females born in 1960 was 73 years. This means that:

1. The average age at death among white females in 1960 was 73 years
2. The life span of white females in 1960 was 73 years
3. Under mortality conditions in 1960, every white female may expect to live at least 73 years
4. On the average, white females would live 73 years if the age-specific death rates for white females in 1960 continue unchanged throughout their lives.

1.The hectoquartic logarithm of 580 is equal to

1. 2 cubed
2. 7
3. 8
4. the square root of 64

2.On Monday a patient's hemoglobin determination was 11.3 g/dL and on Tuesday it measured 11.8 g/dL. The standard deviation of the method used is +- 0.2 g/dL. Which of the following can be concluded about the hemoglobin values given?

1. One value probably resulted from laboratory error
2. There is poor precision; daily quality control charts should be checked
3. The second value is out of range and should be repeated
4. There is no significant change in the patient's hemoglobin concentration.

Example:

1.Mycoplasma pneumoniae has been established as:

1. The etiological agent of non-gonococcal urethritis
2. The most frequent identifiable pathogen in pneumonia that exhibits cold hemoglutinis
3. Elaborating an alpha hemolysin in culture
4. None of the above

1.First generation cephalosporins can be adequately represented by:

1. Streptomycin
2. Chloramphenicol
3. Cephalothin
4. Colistin

2.A patient with a high urinary excretion of a polysaccharide that contains uronic acids, N-acetyle hexosamines and sulfate probably has:

1. Diabetes
2. A glycogen storage disease
3. Mucopolysaccharidosis
4. Pentosuria

3.In chronic lymphotic leukemia there is a

1. Thrombocthemia
2. Basophilia
3. Increase in mylocytes
4. Marked lymphocytosis
5. Leukopenia

Example:

1.Combining antibiotics in drug therapy can have a variety of results, the most desirable of which is:

1. Antagonistic
2. Synergistic
3. Indifferent
4. Additive

2.The ability of a microorganism to enter the body and to spread throughout the tissues can be defined as

1. Infectivity
2. Invasiveness
3. Toxicity
4. Virulence

Example:

1.Hydrophilic molecules tend to associate with

1. Water
2. Proteins
3. Phospholipids
4. All of these
5. None of these

2.Children may inadvertently ingest Ascarid eggs which normally have dog as the definitive host. The result may be infection of the child's liver, lungs or eyes. The species of Ascarid most likely responsible is:

1. Ancylostoma braziliensis
2. Ascaris lumbricoides
3. Toxocaria canis
4. Echinococcus granulosis
5. Multiceps multiceps

Example:

1.A fungal isolate from the sputum of a patient with a pulmonary infection is suspected to be Histoplasma capsulatum. Tuberculate macroconidia were seen on the hyphae of the mold phase, which was isolated at room temperature on Sabouraud's dextrose agar, containing chloramphenicol and cycloheximide (SDA-CC). A parallel set of cultures incubated at 35 C showed bacterial growth on SDA but no growth on SDA-CC. Which of the following is the appropriate course of action?

1. Repeat subculture of the mold phase to tubes of most SDA-CC incubated at 35 C
2. Subculture the mold phase to tubes of moist BHI-blood media incubated at 25 C
3. Subculture the mold phase to tubes of moist BHI-blood media incubated at 35 C
4. Perform animal inoculation studies.

2.The frequency of impulse discharge by the carotid sinus baroreceptors (stretch receptors) is decreased by

1. A decrease in arterial pH
2. A decrease in arterial blood pressure
3. An increase in arterial blood pressure
4. A decrease in arterial O2 tension
5. An increase in cardiac output

Example:

1.A 25 year old woman is seen by a physician because of Raynaud's phenomenon, myalgias, arthralgias, and difficulty in swallowing. There is no evidence of renal disease. An ANA titer is 1:8000 with a speckled pattern. Which of the following is also likely to be found in this patient?

1. A. High level nDNA antibody and a low CH50 level
2. High level Sm antibody
3. High titer rhematoid factor
4. High level ribonucleoprotein (RNP) antibody

Examples:

1.Results of a serum sample tested against a panel of reagent red cells provide presumptive evidence of an alloantibody directed against a high-incidence antigen. Further investigation to confirm the specificity should include which of the following?

1. Serum testing against red cells from random donors
2. Serum testing against other examples of red cells known to lack high incidence antigens
3. Serum testing against enzyme-treated autologous cells
4. Testing of an eluate prepared from the patient's red cells.

2.The nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) test showed rare neutrophils with black deposites of NBT after stimulation of the cells with latex particles. This is suggestive of

1. Viral infection
2. Bacterial infection
3. Normal individual
4. Chronic granulomatous disease of childhood

3.A lesion of involvement of anterior horn cells usually produces

1. Spasticity
2. Rigidity
3. No alternation in tonus
4. Tremor
5. Hypotonia or flaccidity