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1. Woodpeckers perch on tree trunks while drilling holes to find food and make nests.
What would woodpecker feet look like to be able to perch on a vertical surface?

Source: https://www.threeriversparks.org/blog/search-red-headed-woodpecker

a. d.

b. e.

c.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org

2. Hospitals help induce and hasten labor in pregnant women by administration of

the synthetic version of which hormone?
a. Estrogen d. Oxytocin
b. Progesterone e. Epinephrine
c. Prolactin
3. Multiple sclerosis is a disease that affects the effective transmission of nerve
signals to and from the brain. Symptoms include vision impairment, loss of
coordination in movements, spasms, and even paralysis. Which part of the
neuron is affected by the disease?

c
a d

Source: https://logicalbiological.com/

4. The image below shows a Vorticella, a protozoan, which feeds by creating a

vortex and directing food through the opening or gullet. This movement is assisted
by which type of structure?

Source: http://blogs.berkshirecc.edu/bccoer/

a. Pseudopod d. Flagella
b. Trichome e. Cilia
c. Stalk

5. What is the amino acid sequence that would be translated from the hypothetical
mRNA sequence below? Please refer to the genetic code at the test.

5’- AUUUUCAGAAUGACUGACAUGGCCGAAGCUGUUCCAAAGUUUUAAGAG-3’

a. Ala-Glu-Ala-Val-Pro-Lys-Phe
b. Met-Ala-Glu-Ala-Val-Pro-Lys-Phe-Tyr-Glu
c. Met-Thr-Asp-Met-Ala-Glu-Ala-Val-Pro-Lys-Phe
d. Thr-Asp-Met-Ala-Glu-Ala-Val-Pro-Lys-Phe-Tyr-Glu
e. Ile-Phe-Arg-Met-Thr-Asp-Met-Ala-Glu-Ala-Val-Pro-Lys-Phe
6. The causative agent of the COVID-19 pandemic is a virus known as
“SARS-CoV-2”. Which correctly describes the genetic material of this virus?
a. It is single-stranded. d. It has a cap structure.
b. It contains deoxyribose sugar. e. It contains a poly-A tail.
c. One of the nucleobases is thymidine.

Source: https://www.genome.gov/sites/default/files/tg/en/illustration/genetic_code.jpg
7. In a study published in Science in May 2021, researchers from Germany and
Finland succeeded to make a new allotrope of carbon that contains 4-, 6-, and
8-membered rings. The structure, showing clearly the rings of different sizes, was
verified by advanced microscopy techniques.

A critical step in the process is the formation of very strong intermolecular

attractive forces between neighboring hydrogen (H) and fluorine (F) atoms
(depicted as ovals in cyan below). What is the name of these strong
interactions?

Image credits: Adapted from Q. Fan et al. Science, 2021, 852-856.

a. Dipole-dipole interactions
b. London dispersion forces
c. Zipping forces
d. van der Waals interactions
e. Hydrogen bonding

8. Computers have been becoming faster and smaller in the past decades due to
smaller and smaller Silicon-based (Si) transistors. But this increase in speed and
decrease in size cannot go further because Si-based transistors would encounter
problems related to quantum mechanics when they reach 5 nm. Therefore,
intensive research is on-going worldwide in order to find alternatives to Si. In a
study published in Science in 2016, researchers from the US found an alternative:
molybdenum disulfide or MoS2. They found that a few layers of this compound
could perform better than Si at lengths < 5 nm.
 Source: Desai, et al. Science, 2016, 354, 6308, 99-101.

However, MoS2 has several disadvantages related to its stability. If you would like
to embark on a research to find an alternative to MoS2, which of the following
candidate compounds would you start trying out?
I) MgS2 II) MoSe2 III) MnS2 IV) WS2
a. I only
b. I, II, and III
c. I, III, and IV
d. II and IV
e. II, III and IV

9. It is important to understand the rusting of iron as it is used in many building

materials: the produced rust is not as sturdy as the former. Iron rusts by reacting
with oxygen to produce iron oxides. How many volumes of oxygen gas (O 2) at
ambient room temperature (298 K) and pressure (1 atm) would have to pass
through in order to oxidize 14 g of iron filings to Fe 2O3? The reaction is given
below:
Fe (s) + O2 (g) → Fe2O3 (s)

a. 4.5 L d. 1.5 L
b. 6.0 L e. 7.5 L
c. 3.0 L

10. The Large Hadron Collider in CERN operates at very low pressures close to 10-13
atm (ultra-high vacuum). This is important so that no matter could interfere with
reactive beams inside the pipe where strong collisions happen. The beam pipe
is actually a 3-cm diameter tube of length 27 km, close to 150 m3 of volume
maintained at cryogenic temperatures close to the boiling point of He (5 K). It is
said that the inside of the pipe is 100 times even emptier than the surface of the
moon. Assuming that only hydrogen gas (H2) is present inside, how many
molecules of the gas is present in every cubic centimeter of the pipe?
a. 200 d. 200 000 000 000
b. 200 000 e. 200 000 000 000 000
c. 200 000 000
11. A brand of vinegar is suspected of diluting their product for profit. So, a
regulatory company asked a chemistry laboratory to measure the % acetic
acid (%CH3COOH) in a sample. A chemist titrated a 5.0 mL sample of vinegar
and found that 23.4 mL of an approximately 0.1 M NaOH reacted with it.
However, the concentration of NaOH is not very precise so a 35 mL solution of it
was titrated with a standard HCl solution (0.100 M) and found that only 45.0 mL
reacted. Calculate the % vinegar (m/v) in the sample.
a. 0.5 %
b. 1.5 %
c. 2.5 %
d. 3.5 %
e. 4.5 %

12. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are a type of solar energy converting cells
which are low-cost and easy to produce. They are so-called because of the
presence of a dye that is efficient in absorbing visible light from the sun. In a
study published in Nature Energy, researchers from Spain and France developed
a series of novel dyes for DSSCs. The structure of the dyes are shown below:

Source: Huaulmé, Q., et al. Nat Energy 5, 468–477 (2020).

Arrange the dyes in terms of increasing energy of light they absorb:

a. A < B < C
b. C < B < A
c. A < C < B
d. A < B < C
e. B < A < C
13. Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 for his elucidation of what?
a. The Theory of Special Relativity
b. The Theory of General Relativity
c. The Photoelectric Effect
d. Brownian Motion
e. Equivalence of energy and mass E = mc2

14. A mechanical engineer is simulating the transfer of gasses between hot

chambers in a car engine. For this, he filled one gas bulb with gas connected it
to another bulb through a valve (black rectangle) that can be opened or
closed. The setup also allowed one or both gas bulbs to be heated. Which setup
has the highest entropy?

a. Setup A
b. Setup B
c. Setup C
d. Setup D
e. None of the above

15. Which of the following phenomena is explained by the particle nature of light?
a. Diffraction
b. Interference
c. Refraction
d. Straight direction path
e. None of the above

16. The tropopause is a region of the atmosphere that affects the weather. The
temperatures here can reach as low as -30 °C. From the following data,
estimate the speed of sound at -30°C (assuming the same air pressure).

YTemperature Speed of sound

(oC) (m/s)
0 330
20 344
40 355
60 370
80 378

a. 310
b. 300
c. 290
d. 280
e. 270
17. An engineer is testing a new design for a flat iron. She is attempting to measure
the resistance through the resistive heating filament by finding out which
voltage would be necessary to produce currents from 0.5 to 2.5 A. She came up
with the following graph:

Determine the resistance.

a. 12 Ω
b. 24 Ω
c. 36 Ω
d. 48 Ω
e. 60 Ω

18. A pot containing some ice and water is heated for a couple of minutes. After
heating, some of the ice remained. Which of the following graphs best
represents the temperature of the system?

a.
b.

c.

d.

e.
19. This eon represents the earliest history of earth that is believed to be
characterized by molten surfaces.
a. Archean
b. Phanerozoic
c. Hadean
d. Cenozoic
e. Paleozoic

20. The 1977 World Ocean Floor Map became one of the most famous world maps
because it gave the scientists an idea on the geological features characterized
by the seafloor. Who were the two scientists who created this map?
a. Alfred Wegener and James Hutton
b. James Hutton and Bruce Heezen
c. Marie Tharp and Bruce Heezen
d. Alfred Wegener and Marie Tharp
e. Alfred Wegener and Bruce Heezen

21. Diamond appears to have a blue color because of the trapped traces of what
element?
a. Nitrogen
b. Titanium
c. Platinum
d. Silver
e. Boron

22. This process refers to the gradual increase in nutrients in aging aquatic
ecosystems, usually in lakes, which could lead to a dense growth of plant life and
death of some animals.
a. Eutrophication
b. Erosion
c. Pollination
d. Reproduction
e. Migration

23. What is the second deepest trench in the earth located in the floor of the South
Pacific Ocean?
a. Tonga Trench
b. Philippine Trench
c. Kuril-Kamchatka Trench
d. Kermadic Trench
e. Japan Trench

24. What do you call the natural phenomenon when dislodged rocks rapidly move
downward from a source above a slope?
a. Avalanche
b. Landslide
c. Hailstorm
d. Rockfall
e. Sandstorm
 25. How large is the universe?
a. 30 billion light-years d. 30 thousand light-years
b. 30 million light-years e. 30 light-years
c. 30 quadrillion light-years

26. In terms of mass, galaxies are mostly made of

a. Dark matter d. Clouds of gases
b. Stars e. Empty space
c. Black holes

27. A powerful and invisible force that is pushing our universe apart or that causes our
universe to expand at an increasing rate is called ____________.
a. Intergalactic energy
b. Dark energy
c. Electromagnetic energy
d. Atomic energy
e. Solar energy

28. Everything that we can see in the universe with our naked eyes and with all our
telescopes is only 15 percent of the total mass in the universe. 85 percent of the
mass is due to
a. Dark energy d. Blackholes
b. Dark galaxy e. Superclusters of galaxies
c. Dark matter

29. Sagittarius A* is a _______

a. Star d. Whitehole
b. Wormhole e. Constellation
c. Supermassive blackhole

30. These are ripples, oscillations or vibrations in the fabric of space-time that Einstein
speculated in 1916 as a possibility since space and time can warp and curve. It can
be generated for instance by the collision of two neutron stars rotating one another
or by the disturbance caused by two merging blackholes rotating around one
other.
a. transverse waves
b. sound waves
c. electromagnetic waves
d. dark waves
e. gravitational waves

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