Sample Test Paper - Aga Khan University

PhD in Health Sciences
2010
The Aga Khan University
Medical College
Faculty of Health Sciences
ADMISSION TEST – INFORMATION FOR APPLICANTS
Admission Test Centre
Date and venue of the test centres have been indicated on the Admit Card. Applicants should
indicate one centre of their choice in the space provided in the Application Form.
In case the Admit Card does not reach you on time, you are advised to take the Test at a
convenient Centre bringing a photocopy of the application form and photo ID with you for
identification.
The University has not authorized any publications or any preparatory classes for this Test.
Structure of the Test
The total duration of the admission test would be 2 hours and 30 minutes
All questions carry equal marks, there is no negative marking.
The test paper is divided into various sections comprising multiple choice questions.
Distribution of the questions in various sections is as follows:
Section I
This section comprises two components which aim to test competency in the English language:
Component 1: 30 multiple choice questions to test structure, cohesion and vocabulary.
Component 2: a summative paragraph from notes which will be provided.
The time given to complete Section I will be 1 hour and 15 minutes. There will be no negative
marking for this section.
Section II
II A. This section will comprise 20 multiple choice questions in Biological Sciences
The time given to complete this section is 30 minutes.
II B. This section will also comprise 20 multiple choice questions in Mathematics.
Candidates will be given 30 minutes to complete this section.
II C. This section will also include 10 multiple choice questions to ascertain their Logical reasoning
skills.
The time given to complete this section is 15 minutes.

Answering MCQs
The candidates are expected to attempt all questions, selecting the correct answer by
darkening the corresponding box in the given answer sheet, e.g. if D is the correct answer for
a question, your answer should be marked as under:
A B C D
Please Note: - Use a dark pencil to make dark marks
- To change an answer, erase completely
Discipline
The University expects honesty from applicants. Dishonest behaviour during the Test or
violation of instructions given by the examiner will result in irrevocable disqualification of
the applicant from entering the selection process.
SECTION I
English
Component I: Structure, Cohesion and Vocabulary
Directions: Each passage below has ten numbered gaps, each gap indicating that something has been
omitted. Read the entire text carefully and then look at the possible answers A, B, C or D below to
complete the gap.
Choose the option for each gap that best fits the meaning of the sentence or passage as a whole.
Example
Imagine that you have arrived at a leading Asian university to take part in a study of learning and
memory. You go into a room …. 1….thirty year-old biology lecturer, the experimenter, whose
demeanour is rather stern. The other person in the room is also there to take part in the experiment.
He is a rotund forty-five year old accountant who is mild mannered and likeable. The experimenter
….2….the effects of punishment on learning. It is decided, apparently by drawing lots, that the
accountant will be the learner and you will be the teacher. You all go into an adjacent room where the
learner is strapped into an "electric chair" apparatus and an electrode…..3….wrist. You are told that
the electrode is connected to a nearby shock generator unit.
1. A. and you met a
B. and are met by a
C. where you stand next to
D. where stands
2. A. is less likeable but serious in terms of
B. has been discovered through
C. says that he is interested to study
D. tells you that he is interested in studying
3. A. is attached to his
B. attaches tightly on his
C. is attached by virtue of the
D. can be attached through the
Answers: 1. B 2. D 3. A

Component II: Writing
Directions: Using only the relevant
information from the facts supplied
below, write a one paragraph
argument for the following claim.
Claim: Observation of glaciers suggests a pattern of global warming during the last 150 years.
1. During the most recent Ice Age, about 18,000 years ago, glaciers buried nearly a third of the
world’s land area.
2. Glaciers form when more snow falls in the winter than melts during the following summer: when
glacier ice reaches a critical thickness of at least 60 feet, it becomes plastic and begins to move
downhill, propelled by its own weight and the forces of gravity.
3. Because of the way they form and evolve, glaciers are extremely sensitive to, and representative
of, world climate changes.
4. In 1850, Glacier National Park in the USA had 150 glaciers; in 2002 there were 26.
5. Between 1500 and 1850, temperatures dropped globally in a phenomenon known as the Little Ice
Age.
6. The Gangotri Glacier in the Himalayas, which forms a mass of ice 18 miles long, has been
retreating since measurements began in 1842. The rate of retreat was around 62 feet per year
between 1935 and 1971: it has now doubled.
7. Cold melt water from glaciers helps maintain stream flows in the Indus river system in late
summer, when rains are scarce and winter snows have melted.
8. The Gangotri ends in a “snout”, an ice cave which is the source of the Bhagirathi River where
millions of pilgrims yearly swim in the freezing waters to cleanse themselves of sin.
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POSSIBLE ANSWER:
Observation of glaciers suggests a pattern of global warming during the last 150 years.
Since glaciers are useful indicators of any changes that have been taking place in the
world’s climate, studying the increase or decrease in the number and size of the world’s
glaciers over the last 150 years should give us a clear idea about what has been happening
to temperatures in the world over this same period. Two facts related to glaciers provide
evidence that temperatures across the globe have become warmer.

Firstly, in 1850, there were 150 glaciers in Glacier National Park in the USA but by 2002
this number had decreased to only 26. Secondly, from the time that measurements began in
1842, the Gangotri Glacier in the Himalayas has been retreating. From 1935 to 1971, the
rate was 62 feet per year, but from 1971 to the present day, the rate of retreat has doubled.
These observations strongly indicate that the world has been undergoing a period of global
warming over the last 150 years.
SECTIONII
A. Biological Sciences
Example 1
Questions:
4.
Decrease in the rate of diffusion of a substance across
the plasma membrane will occur due to increase in
A. its concentration gradient
B. surface area of membrane
C. membrane thickness
D. temperature
Example 2
5.
A B C D
Repolarisation of a nerve action potential is due to
A. Na+/K+ ATPase pump
B. increased permeability to Na+
C. increased efflux of K+
D. opening of Ca++-channels
Example 3
6.
A B C D
The synthesis of a protein chain from an RNA
molecule occurs through the process of:
A. cell cycle
B. replication
C. translation
D. semi-conservative replication
Example 4
7.
A B C D
Based on the amount of genetic material that they
contain, sex cells are said to be:
A. diploid
B. autosomal
C. haploid
D. X-linked
B. Mathematics
Example 1
8.
A B C D
If x 2 + y 2 = 18 and xy = 4 then (x+y) 2 =
A. 28 B. 26 C. 24 D . 22
A B C D
Example 2
9. Seema is 15 years older than Kiran. In 10 years,
Seema will be twice an old as Kiran. How old is
Seema now?
A. 5 B. 20 C. 25 D. 30
Example 3
A B C D
10. If y is not 0 or 1, what is the reciprocal of 1/(y-1/y)
A. y/y 2 +1 B. y/y 2 -1 C. y 2 -1 D. y 2 -1/y
A B C D
C. Logical Reasoning
Example 1
Direction: Each passage in the section is followed by
question based on its content. After reading a passage,
choose the best answer to each question. Answer all
questions following a passage on the basis of what is
stated implied in that passage.
Student at the College of Natural Science must complete
a total of twelve courses selected from three different
general area – humanities, natural science, and social
science – in order to graduate. The student must meet
the following course distribution requirement:
I). Atleast six of the required twelve courses must be
from natural sciences
II). Atleast five of the required twelve courses must be
from humanities and social science, with at least
one, but no more than three, selected from
humanities.
Questions:
11. If students have completed six natural science
courses, all the following are possible groups of courses
that fulfill the course distribution requirement EXCEPT:
A. three humanities courses and three social science
courses
B. two humanities course and four social science
courses
C. one humanities course, one natural science course,
and four social science courses
D. one humanities course, two natural science
courses, and three social sciences courses
A B C D
12. The minimum number of social science courses
required in order to fulfill the courses distribution
requirement is:
A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4
A B C D