Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Univerità e della Ricerca
ADMISSION TEST FOR THE DEGREE COURSE IN MEDICINE AND SURGERY
Academic Year 2011/2012
General Knowledge and Logical Reasoning
1 Which of the following states is NOT a permanent member of the UN Security Council?
A Japan
B France
C China
D United Kingdom
E USA
2 Which ancient Greek is referred to as the father of Western medicine?
A Hippocrates
B Aristotle
C Aristophanes
D Plato
E Socrates
3 Amnesty International (AI), a non-governmental organisation for the protection of human rights
enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, opposes the death penalty. Which one
of the following reasons for opposing the death penalty is inconsistent with the principles of AI.
A The death penalty is contrary to theological principles.
B The death penalty can be carried out on an innocent person.
C The death penalty is cruel, inhuman and degrading.
D The death penalty is not a deterrent against crime.
E The death penalty, once carried out, cannot be reversed.
IMAT 2011 © MIUR 2011 1
,4 Three red balls, three yellow balls and one green ball are placed in a bag and the bag is shaken.
I place my hand in the bag and pull out a red ball followed by a green ball. I do not replace
either ball.
Which one of the following statements is true?
A At least one of the next three balls must be yellow.
B The next ball will definitely be yellow.
C The next two balls cannot both be red.
D The next ball could be any one of red, yellow or green.
E At least one of the next three balls must be red.
5 My friend has three children, Alice, George and Hannah and I need to buy two presents for them
to share. I want to buy two different toys and I want to make sure that Alice, George and Hannah
will each like at least one of them. I don't want the toys to have small parts.
Small Liked by Liked by Liked by
Toy Price
Parts? Alice? George? Hannah?
Jigsaw Yes No Yes Yes €12
Building bricks Yes Yes Yes No €9
Car No No No Yes €12
Bear No Yes No Yes €7
Train No No Yes No €8
How much am I going to pay in total?
A €15
B €16
C €19
D €20
E €24
IMAT 2011 © UCLES 2011 2
,6 The number of visitors to the local swimming pool at different times on Wednesday last week is
recorded in this table:
Time Number of
visitors
8am - 10am 23
10am - 12 noon 41
12 noon - 2pm 35
2pm - 4pm 60
4pm - 6pm 40
6pm - 8pm 15
Which chart shows the data from the table?
A B
C D
E
IMAT 2011 © UCLES 2011 3
,7 The polis is the most important institutional expression of the classical Greek way of life. What
type of state is it?
A A city state
B A federal state
C A modern state
D A monarchical state
E A tyrannical state
8 Which set of statements about Dante Alighieri is correct?
A he was from Florence, wrote poetry, died before 1400
B he was from Milan, was born in the thirteenth century, died before 1400
C he was from Milan, was the son of Giulia Beccaria, wrote poetry
D he was from Tuscany, wrote poetry, was the son of Giulia Beccaria
E he was of noble family, was born in the fourteenth century, wrote tragedies
9 Which of the following is NOT true of the Enlightenment?
It was a cultural trend that spread across Europe, which emphasised the sovereignty
A
of the people, as a carrier of values.
It was a cultural trend that highlighted all the social and economic inequalities, and
B
paved the way for the French Revolution.
C It was a cultural trend that spread across Europe, mainly in France, in the early 1700s.
It was a cultural trend, according to which the only real art was rational,
D
understandable by all, and identified itself with Greek and Roman art.
It was a cultural trend that was based on the exaltation of reason that, eliminating any
E irrational element of knowledge, by itself, revealed the truth without the help of the
transcendental realm. In France this lead to materialism and atheism.
IMAT 2011 © MIUR 2011 4
,10 Two security guards, Dave and Geoff, are patrolling an airbase. Dave passes the front gate
every 8 minutes. Geoff passes the front gate every 15 minutes. They have just set off on their
individual routes at the start of their shift.
How long will it be before they meet up at the front gate again?
A 2h 00mins
B 1h 30mins
C 1h 00mins
D 2h 30mins
E 3h 00mins
11 Employees at a printing company are paid a basic rate of €11 per hour during the day Monday
to Friday. During weekday evenings and on Saturdays they are paid at one and a half times the
basic rate and on Sundays they are paid at double the basic rate.
The table below shows the hours worked by employees last week:
Mon-Fri evenings
Mon-Fri daytime and Saturdays Sundays
Alice 32 8 6
Ben 27 8 8
Chetan 36 8 2
Daniel 30 8 6
Ellen 35 8 4
Which employee earned most last week?
A Alice
B Ben
C Chetan
D Daniel
E Ellen
IMAT 2011 © UCLES 2011 5
,12 A teacher in a school for children from 11 to 16 years old sets a code number to unlock his
classroom door. He has a method for remembering his code. He uses:
• the 2 digits of his birth month reversed (for example, February would be 02 reversed to 20);
• then the age of the children in his class at the start of the year with the digits reversed;
• and finally, the date of his birthday in the month, also reversed.
Which one of the following could not be the code to unlock his door?
A 602124
B 903121
C 701131
D 215150
E 115191
13 It has long been thought that birds are much less intelligent than humans and apes. But now it
seems that some species of birds have the same kind of thinking skills as apes. Crows can
create and use tools and are socially sophisticated when finding and protecting food. So how
can a bird with a walnut-size brain be capable of such achievements? The answer is that both
crows and apes have much bigger brains than you would expect from the size of their bodies.
The same pattern is found in humans, parrots and chimps - all intelligent animals.
Which one of the following can be drawn as a conclusion from the above passage?
A Relative brain size is a better indicator of intelligence than absolute brain size.
B Crows are more intelligent than other species of birds.
C Animals that cannot create tools are not intelligent.
D Apes are not as similar to humans as had been thought.
E It could be argued that birds are as intelligent as apes.
IMAT 2011 © UCLES 2011 6
,14 There is a higher than average risk of death or injury to young drivers and their passengers. In
2007, 32 per cent of car driver deaths and 40 per cent of car passenger deaths were people
aged between 17 and 24. Young male drivers were much more likely to be killed or seriously
injured than young female drivers. So in order to reduce the number of road accidents and the
numbers of people killed or injured, young people should not be allowed to drive until they reach
the age of 24.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which this argument depends?
A Most of the accidents involving young people were the fault of the young drivers.
B Young people would not accept the raising of the legal driving age.
C The driving test does not effectively test the skill of drivers.
D The majority of drivers aged between 17 and 24 drive dangerously.
Amongst drivers aged between 17 and 24 there are more male drivers than female
E
drivers.
15 Some disabled people find it difficult to gain access to some of our older public buildings
because the entrances have steps. The problem is most often solved by installing ramps. All
public buildings must be accessible to everyone therefore they must all install ramps.
Which one of the following identifies the flaw in this argument?
A Some older public buildings without ramps may be accessible to disabled people.
B Installing ramps in all public buildings would be extremely expensive.
It is unreasonable to suggest that disabled people should be able to access all public
C
buildings.
Disabled people must have access to all buildings not just public ones so all buildings
D
should have ramps.
E Inaccessible public buildings should be replaced by buildings accessible to all.
16 A street of houses is numbered starting on one side with 1,2,3,4.... At the far end the numbers
continue down the other side in the opposite direction so the largest number is opposite
number 1. The houses are of identical widths so each house has another directly opposite it.
If number 17 is directly opposite number 56, how many houses are there in the street?
A 72
B 37
C 39
D 36
E 73
IMAT 2011 © UCLES 2011 7
,17 A courier starts the day in London and makes two round trips to Prague in the day. When she
arrives at either airport, she takes the next available flight back.
The daily timetable is shown below (all times are local):
London Prague Prague London
depart arrive depart arrive
06:30 09:30 10:10 11:20
09:45 12:45 13:25 14:35
12:30 15:30 16:40 17:50
15:45 18:45 19:55 21:05
How long is the courier’s day from first take-off to last landing?
A 11 hours 20 minutes
B 8 hours 5 minutes
C 8 hours 20 minutes
D 4 hours 50 minutes
E 14 hours 35 minutes
18 My three local supermarkets all currently have offers on my favourite breakfast cereal as
follows:
1 Buy one standard pack get a second half price.
2 Price of a standard pack reduced by 1/3.
3 Normal price of a standard pack, pack contains 25% extra.
Which of the offers are equivalent in terms of price per unit amount of cereal?
A none
B 1 and 3 only
C 2 and 3 only
D 1, 2 and 3
E 1 and 2 only
IMAT 2011 © UCLES 2011 8
,19 If the Carnival Committee does not follow the new European regulations then it may be
impossible to guarantee safety. The probable consequence of this would be a heavy fine, which
would severely reduce the carnival fund, and could be disastrous for the committee’s finances.
Either the committee must meet the safety requirements or the future of the carnival may be
under threat.
Which one of the following best expresses the conclusion of this argument?
A If the European regulations are not followed the carnival may not survive.
B Safety at the carnival has reached dangerously low levels.
C Failure to improve safety could result in a heavy fine.
D A heavy fine could mean financial disaster for the carnival.
E If the regulations are followed then the carnival will take place again next year.
20 87% of the world population are right-handed. The human world is organised to make success
in life easier for the majority. Left-handed people should therefore be considered as having a
disability and receive appropriate support.
Which one of the following, if true, weakens this argument?
Amongst top scientists, sportsmen, actors, musicians and politicians the percentage
A
of left-handed people is much higher than 13%.
Left-handed people have poorer spatial skills which makes them more likely to have
B
car crashes and other serious accidents.
Left-handed people are more likely to have health problems such as allergies,
C
depression, epilepsy and sleeping disorders.
D Hand tools, musical instruments and scissors are designed for use by the majority.
Many left-handed people were forced to write with their right hand when they were at
E
school.
IMAT 2011 © UCLES 2011 9
, 21 In North America in the 1800s, arguments were often settled by gunfights, in which two people
stood face to face a distance apart and tried to shoot one another. Recent experiments on
human response times have shown that people act more quickly when responding to an action
than when they are the first to move. This supports the view that our brain uses different routes
in our nervous system to send messages for intentional and reactive movements.
Which one of the following can be drawn as a conclusion from the above passage?
A Gunfighters are best advised to wait for their opponents to move to fire.
B Scientific experiments produce interesting findings.
C Gunfighters who wait for their opponent to move first would always win.
D Brains cannot control our reactive movements.
E Humans can be trained to react more quickly.
22 A taxi driver charges €1.00 per kilometre for the first 3 kilometres of a journey, and 70c per
kilometre for the rest of the journey. I travel home from the train station by taxi. I pay the taxi
driver €10.00 including a tip of 70c.
How far is my house from the station?
A 12 kilometres
B 10 kilometres
C 9 kilometres
D 13 kilometres
E 14 kilometres
IMAT 2011 © UCLES 2011 10
ADMISSION TEST FOR THE DEGREE COURSE IN MEDICINE AND SURGERY
Academic Year 2011/2012
General Knowledge and Logical Reasoning
1 Which of the following states is NOT a permanent member of the UN Security Council?
A Japan
B France
C China
D United Kingdom
E USA
2 Which ancient Greek is referred to as the father of Western medicine?
A Hippocrates
B Aristotle
C Aristophanes
D Plato
E Socrates
3 Amnesty International (AI), a non-governmental organisation for the protection of human rights
enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, opposes the death penalty. Which one
of the following reasons for opposing the death penalty is inconsistent with the principles of AI.
A The death penalty is contrary to theological principles.
B The death penalty can be carried out on an innocent person.
C The death penalty is cruel, inhuman and degrading.
D The death penalty is not a deterrent against crime.
E The death penalty, once carried out, cannot be reversed.
IMAT 2011 © MIUR 2011 1
,4 Three red balls, three yellow balls and one green ball are placed in a bag and the bag is shaken.
I place my hand in the bag and pull out a red ball followed by a green ball. I do not replace
either ball.
Which one of the following statements is true?
A At least one of the next three balls must be yellow.
B The next ball will definitely be yellow.
C The next two balls cannot both be red.
D The next ball could be any one of red, yellow or green.
E At least one of the next three balls must be red.
5 My friend has three children, Alice, George and Hannah and I need to buy two presents for them
to share. I want to buy two different toys and I want to make sure that Alice, George and Hannah
will each like at least one of them. I don't want the toys to have small parts.
Small Liked by Liked by Liked by
Toy Price
Parts? Alice? George? Hannah?
Jigsaw Yes No Yes Yes €12
Building bricks Yes Yes Yes No €9
Car No No No Yes €12
Bear No Yes No Yes €7
Train No No Yes No €8
How much am I going to pay in total?
A €15
B €16
C €19
D €20
E €24
IMAT 2011 © UCLES 2011 2
,6 The number of visitors to the local swimming pool at different times on Wednesday last week is
recorded in this table:
Time Number of
visitors
8am - 10am 23
10am - 12 noon 41
12 noon - 2pm 35
2pm - 4pm 60
4pm - 6pm 40
6pm - 8pm 15
Which chart shows the data from the table?
A B
C D
E
IMAT 2011 © UCLES 2011 3
,7 The polis is the most important institutional expression of the classical Greek way of life. What
type of state is it?
A A city state
B A federal state
C A modern state
D A monarchical state
E A tyrannical state
8 Which set of statements about Dante Alighieri is correct?
A he was from Florence, wrote poetry, died before 1400
B he was from Milan, was born in the thirteenth century, died before 1400
C he was from Milan, was the son of Giulia Beccaria, wrote poetry
D he was from Tuscany, wrote poetry, was the son of Giulia Beccaria
E he was of noble family, was born in the fourteenth century, wrote tragedies
9 Which of the following is NOT true of the Enlightenment?
It was a cultural trend that spread across Europe, which emphasised the sovereignty
A
of the people, as a carrier of values.
It was a cultural trend that highlighted all the social and economic inequalities, and
B
paved the way for the French Revolution.
C It was a cultural trend that spread across Europe, mainly in France, in the early 1700s.
It was a cultural trend, according to which the only real art was rational,
D
understandable by all, and identified itself with Greek and Roman art.
It was a cultural trend that was based on the exaltation of reason that, eliminating any
E irrational element of knowledge, by itself, revealed the truth without the help of the
transcendental realm. In France this lead to materialism and atheism.
IMAT 2011 © MIUR 2011 4
,10 Two security guards, Dave and Geoff, are patrolling an airbase. Dave passes the front gate
every 8 minutes. Geoff passes the front gate every 15 minutes. They have just set off on their
individual routes at the start of their shift.
How long will it be before they meet up at the front gate again?
A 2h 00mins
B 1h 30mins
C 1h 00mins
D 2h 30mins
E 3h 00mins
11 Employees at a printing company are paid a basic rate of €11 per hour during the day Monday
to Friday. During weekday evenings and on Saturdays they are paid at one and a half times the
basic rate and on Sundays they are paid at double the basic rate.
The table below shows the hours worked by employees last week:
Mon-Fri evenings
Mon-Fri daytime and Saturdays Sundays
Alice 32 8 6
Ben 27 8 8
Chetan 36 8 2
Daniel 30 8 6
Ellen 35 8 4
Which employee earned most last week?
A Alice
B Ben
C Chetan
D Daniel
E Ellen
IMAT 2011 © UCLES 2011 5
,12 A teacher in a school for children from 11 to 16 years old sets a code number to unlock his
classroom door. He has a method for remembering his code. He uses:
• the 2 digits of his birth month reversed (for example, February would be 02 reversed to 20);
• then the age of the children in his class at the start of the year with the digits reversed;
• and finally, the date of his birthday in the month, also reversed.
Which one of the following could not be the code to unlock his door?
A 602124
B 903121
C 701131
D 215150
E 115191
13 It has long been thought that birds are much less intelligent than humans and apes. But now it
seems that some species of birds have the same kind of thinking skills as apes. Crows can
create and use tools and are socially sophisticated when finding and protecting food. So how
can a bird with a walnut-size brain be capable of such achievements? The answer is that both
crows and apes have much bigger brains than you would expect from the size of their bodies.
The same pattern is found in humans, parrots and chimps - all intelligent animals.
Which one of the following can be drawn as a conclusion from the above passage?
A Relative brain size is a better indicator of intelligence than absolute brain size.
B Crows are more intelligent than other species of birds.
C Animals that cannot create tools are not intelligent.
D Apes are not as similar to humans as had been thought.
E It could be argued that birds are as intelligent as apes.
IMAT 2011 © UCLES 2011 6
,14 There is a higher than average risk of death or injury to young drivers and their passengers. In
2007, 32 per cent of car driver deaths and 40 per cent of car passenger deaths were people
aged between 17 and 24. Young male drivers were much more likely to be killed or seriously
injured than young female drivers. So in order to reduce the number of road accidents and the
numbers of people killed or injured, young people should not be allowed to drive until they reach
the age of 24.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which this argument depends?
A Most of the accidents involving young people were the fault of the young drivers.
B Young people would not accept the raising of the legal driving age.
C The driving test does not effectively test the skill of drivers.
D The majority of drivers aged between 17 and 24 drive dangerously.
Amongst drivers aged between 17 and 24 there are more male drivers than female
E
drivers.
15 Some disabled people find it difficult to gain access to some of our older public buildings
because the entrances have steps. The problem is most often solved by installing ramps. All
public buildings must be accessible to everyone therefore they must all install ramps.
Which one of the following identifies the flaw in this argument?
A Some older public buildings without ramps may be accessible to disabled people.
B Installing ramps in all public buildings would be extremely expensive.
It is unreasonable to suggest that disabled people should be able to access all public
C
buildings.
Disabled people must have access to all buildings not just public ones so all buildings
D
should have ramps.
E Inaccessible public buildings should be replaced by buildings accessible to all.
16 A street of houses is numbered starting on one side with 1,2,3,4.... At the far end the numbers
continue down the other side in the opposite direction so the largest number is opposite
number 1. The houses are of identical widths so each house has another directly opposite it.
If number 17 is directly opposite number 56, how many houses are there in the street?
A 72
B 37
C 39
D 36
E 73
IMAT 2011 © UCLES 2011 7
,17 A courier starts the day in London and makes two round trips to Prague in the day. When she
arrives at either airport, she takes the next available flight back.
The daily timetable is shown below (all times are local):
London Prague Prague London
depart arrive depart arrive
06:30 09:30 10:10 11:20
09:45 12:45 13:25 14:35
12:30 15:30 16:40 17:50
15:45 18:45 19:55 21:05
How long is the courier’s day from first take-off to last landing?
A 11 hours 20 minutes
B 8 hours 5 minutes
C 8 hours 20 minutes
D 4 hours 50 minutes
E 14 hours 35 minutes
18 My three local supermarkets all currently have offers on my favourite breakfast cereal as
follows:
1 Buy one standard pack get a second half price.
2 Price of a standard pack reduced by 1/3.
3 Normal price of a standard pack, pack contains 25% extra.
Which of the offers are equivalent in terms of price per unit amount of cereal?
A none
B 1 and 3 only
C 2 and 3 only
D 1, 2 and 3
E 1 and 2 only
IMAT 2011 © UCLES 2011 8
,19 If the Carnival Committee does not follow the new European regulations then it may be
impossible to guarantee safety. The probable consequence of this would be a heavy fine, which
would severely reduce the carnival fund, and could be disastrous for the committee’s finances.
Either the committee must meet the safety requirements or the future of the carnival may be
under threat.
Which one of the following best expresses the conclusion of this argument?
A If the European regulations are not followed the carnival may not survive.
B Safety at the carnival has reached dangerously low levels.
C Failure to improve safety could result in a heavy fine.
D A heavy fine could mean financial disaster for the carnival.
E If the regulations are followed then the carnival will take place again next year.
20 87% of the world population are right-handed. The human world is organised to make success
in life easier for the majority. Left-handed people should therefore be considered as having a
disability and receive appropriate support.
Which one of the following, if true, weakens this argument?
Amongst top scientists, sportsmen, actors, musicians and politicians the percentage
A
of left-handed people is much higher than 13%.
Left-handed people have poorer spatial skills which makes them more likely to have
B
car crashes and other serious accidents.
Left-handed people are more likely to have health problems such as allergies,
C
depression, epilepsy and sleeping disorders.
D Hand tools, musical instruments and scissors are designed for use by the majority.
Many left-handed people were forced to write with their right hand when they were at
E
school.
IMAT 2011 © UCLES 2011 9
, 21 In North America in the 1800s, arguments were often settled by gunfights, in which two people
stood face to face a distance apart and tried to shoot one another. Recent experiments on
human response times have shown that people act more quickly when responding to an action
than when they are the first to move. This supports the view that our brain uses different routes
in our nervous system to send messages for intentional and reactive movements.
Which one of the following can be drawn as a conclusion from the above passage?
A Gunfighters are best advised to wait for their opponents to move to fire.
B Scientific experiments produce interesting findings.
C Gunfighters who wait for their opponent to move first would always win.
D Brains cannot control our reactive movements.
E Humans can be trained to react more quickly.
22 A taxi driver charges €1.00 per kilometre for the first 3 kilometres of a journey, and 70c per
kilometre for the rest of the journey. I travel home from the train station by taxi. I pay the taxi
driver €10.00 including a tip of 70c.
How far is my house from the station?
A 12 kilometres
B 10 kilometres
C 9 kilometres
D 13 kilometres
E 14 kilometres
IMAT 2011 © UCLES 2011 10
