端木·宇 2008-6-19 22:32
Format of the SAT II Biology
Whether you take the SAT II Biology E or Biology M, the test will lastan hour and consist of 80 questions. These questions will be organizedin two main groups. The 60 core questions will come first, followed bya 20 question specialty section.
The core section of the test (andoccasionally the specialty sections) contains two different types ofquestions. Classification questions make up the first 10–12 questionsof the core, while the last 48–50 questions of the core are multiplechoice.
Classification Questions
A classification question presents you withfive possible answer choices and then a string of three to fivequestions to which those answer choices apply. The answer choices areusually either graphs or the names of five related laws or concepts.Because they allow for several questions on the same topic,classification questions will ask you to exhibit a fuller understandingof the topic at hand.
The level of difficulty within any set ofquestions is generally pretty random: you can't expect the firstquestion in a set to be easier than the last. However, each set ofclassification questions is generally a bit harder than the one thatcame before. In the core questions, for example, you should expectquestions 10–12 to be harder than questions 1–3.
Classification Question Example
[u]Directions:[/u] Each set oflettered choices below refers to thenumbered questions or statementsimmediately following it. Select theone lettered choice that bestanswers each question or best fits eachstatement, and then fill in thecorresponding oval on the answer sheet. [u]A choice may be used once, more than once, or not at all in each set[/u].
[u]Questions 1–3[/u] refer to the following organelles.
(A)Chloroplast
(B)Mitochondria
(C)Nucleus
(D)Cytoplasm
(E)Cell membrane
1. Location of cellular respiration in prokaryotes
2. Maintains proper concentrations of substances within the cell
3. Found in plant cells, but not in animal cells
You can usually answer classificationquestions a bit more quickly than the standard five-choice completionquestions, since you only need to review one set of answer choices toanswer a series of questions. Don't worry if you didn't know theanswers to these questions. The material in this question (and more)will be covered in the chapter on Cell Structure. This example is meantmainly to show you how a classification question is formatted. Ifyou're burning with curiosity, though, the answers to the questions are[b]C[/b], [b]E[/b], and [b]A[/b], respectively.
Five-Choice Completion Questions
These are the multiple-choice questions we allknow and love, and the lifeblood of any multiple-choice exam. You knowthe drill: they ask a question and give you five possible answerchoices, then you pick the best one.
[u]Directions:[/u]Each of the questions or incomplete statementsbelow is followed byfive suggested answers or completions. Somequestions pertain to a setthat refers to a laboratory or experimentalsituation. For eachquestion, select the one choice that is the bestanswer to the questionand then fill in the corresponding oval on theanswer sheet.
As the directions imply, some five-choicecompletion questions are individual questions in which the five answerchoices refer to only one question. But more than half of thefive-choice completion questions are group questions, in which a set ofquestions all refer to the same biological scenario, figure, orexperiment.
5. Giraffes with longer necks can reach more food and are more likely to survive and have offspring. This is an example of
(A)Lamarck's principle
(B)natural selection
(C)adaptive radiation
(D)convergent evolution
(E)speciation
A series of about 20 individualmultiple-choice questions are found in the core section just after theclassification questions. About five individual multiple-choicequestions will begin each specialty section. In both the core and thespecialty sections, there is a general tendency for the questions tobecome progressively more difficult. The answer to the example questionis [b]B[/b]; we cover this material in the chapter on evolution.
There are actually two types of groupquestions. Group questions that refer to figures often test yourknowledge in a very straightforward manner. For example, the test mightcontain a figure of a flower, with each part labeled with a number. Thequestions will ask you to match a function with the correct part of theflower. Group questions that deal with an experiment or scenario areusually more complicated. Some of the questions in the group may testyour ability to read the data in the experiment; others may test yourunderstanding of the experiment itself by asking you how the experimentmight have been improved, or how the results of the experiment mighthave changed along with a particular variable.
In both the core and specialty sections,group questions appear after the individual multiple-choice questions.The difficulty of the questions within a group follows no pattern, buteach group will generally be more difficult than the last. We provideexamples of both kinds of group question below.
Figure-Based Group Questions
Figure-based group questions present youwith an image or graphic and ask you to identify the structures orfunctions being represented. The questions are all five-choicemultiple-choice questions. Most of the questions dealing with figuresdemand only simple recognition and recall. The first two questions inthe following sample fit this type: you either know the name for astructure or you don't. Some figure-based questions go further, though,and ask about the major processes associated with the images you'reidentifying.
[u]Questions 5–7[/u] refer to the diagram below.
[align=center][img]http://www.24en.com/d/file/sat/sat2/biology/2008-01-24/da3a57729cf39b5bb68652b984bc3fbe.gif[/img][/align]5. Oxygen-rich blood is pumped out to the body by structure
(A)1
(B)2
(C)3
(D)4
(E)5
6.Structure 1 is termed the
(A)aorta
(B)right atrium
(C)left atrium
(D)pulmonary artery
(E)right ventricle
7. Which of the following muscle types are involved in circulating the blood?
I. skeletal
II. smooth
III. cardiac
(A)I only
(B)II only
(C)III only
(D)II and III only
(E)I, II, and III
The third question is of this second kind:it requires you to make a leap from recognizing the heart to knowingthe general characteristics of the circulatory system.
Before you start answering questions withina figure-based group, try to figure out what is being depicted andremember what biological phenomena are associated with it. Forinstance, if you recognize a drawing of mitochondria, chances areyou'll be asked about cellular respiration. If the drawing specifies amolecule or organism, keep in mind the general characteristics of theclass of molecules or organisms it represents. If you're not sure whatthe image or graphic in the figure group represents, you can probablypick up hints from the answer choices. Scanning the questions above andseeing the words “atrium,” “ventricle,” and “circulating the blood”provides pretty strong clues that the image shows a heart. Be careful,though: test writers love to seed misleading answers among the correctones.
In case you're wondering, the answers to questions 5, 6, and 7 are [b]E[/b], [b]B[/b], and [b]E[/b], respectively. We'll cover more on the heart and circulation in the chapter on Animal Structure and Function.
Experiment-Based Group Questions
The SAT II Biology uses group questionsbased on experiments, biological situations, and data to measure yourscientific reasoning and laboratory skills. There is no standardappearance for the experiments; the data can be presented inparagraphs, tables, and/or graphs.
These groups can be the most intimidatingpart of the SAT II Biology test: they often describe scenarios that aremore complex or advanced than what you've been exposed to in biologyclass or labs. But stay confident: the two main purposes of these groupquestions are to test how you understand scientific data and how youapply knowledge of biological principles to this data. Any unfamiliarterms or experimental techniques mentioned in the groups usually justmask simple concepts addressed by the individual questions. In fact,some questions might simply ask you to interpret the data. For thesequestions you won't have to think much about the concept at all.
[u]Questions 8–10[/u] refer to the following experiment and results obtained.
Dialysis bags are semipermeablemembranes, allowing the transport ofsmall molecules while prohibitinglarger ones. In an experiment,students filled dialysis bags withdifferent concentrations of sucrosesolution and placed them in abeaker of distilled water. The bags wereeach weighed before beingplaced in the beaker. After two minutes, theywere removed from thebeaker, dried, and weighed again.
8. Which dialysis bag experiences the largest percent change in mass?
(A)0.2 M sucrose
(B)0.4 M sucrose
(C)0.6 M sucrose
(D)0.8 M sucrose
(E)1.0 M sucrose
9. If the 0.6 M sucrose solution bag was left in the beaker for four minutes, all of the following occur EXCEPT
(A)mass of the dialysis bag increases to more than 30.1 g
(B)water travels down its concentration gradient
(C)decrease in the bag's molarity of sucrose
(D)sucrose leaks into the beaker
(E)volume of water in the beaker decreases
10. A glucose molecule is small enough to passthrough the bag. If glucosewas substituted for sucrose in the dialysisexperiment above, by whatprocess does it cross the membrane?
(A)Osmosis
(B)Active transport
(C)Simple diffusion
(D)Facilitated diffusion
(E)Transpiration
For each experiment, identify the following:What is being tested and why? What are the variables, and what factorsstay the same? In this example, the mass of the dialysis bags changeswith the variable of sucrose concentration. Changes in mass can onlycome from water entering or leaving the bags, so the question dealswith osmosis. (You'll learn all about osmosis, diffusion, and transportover membranes in the chapter covering the cell.)
The three sample questions are good examplesof the various types of questions the SAT II Biology asks in experimentgroups. You don't have to know anything about concentrations, osmosis,or membrane transport to answer the first question in this group;determining percent change in mass demands only simple datainterpretation. The second question requires you to extrapolate andmake predictions from the data. The third question asks you to makepredictions on what would occur if the experiment were slightlymodified. This last type of question goes beyond the numbers andrequires knowledge of the topic. If you can identify the generalbiological properties of the experiment in advance, you should have notrouble answering questions of this sort. The answers to the abovesample questions are: 8 [b]D[/b], 9 [b]D[/b], and 10 [b]C[/b].
The SAT II Biology may also present data ingraph form. For graphs, make sure you know what the axes represent.Think about what relationship exists between these concepts andidentify in advance any general trends you can think of. If it helps,sketch out your own tables or notes to sort the data and identifytrends or exceptions. For all experiment-based questions, eliminationis a helpful tool. You can eliminate answer choices that do not relateto the experiment's variables or what is being tested, or those choicesthat contradict your knowledge of the biological principles working inthe experiment or scenario.
[[i] 本帖最后由 端木·宇 于 2008-6-19 22:41 编辑 [/i]]
