Reading and Thinking Skills MCQs for MDCAT Practice

English section, Reading and Thinking Skills chapter. Up to eight free sample questions, each with the correct answer and a worked explanation. The full chapter opens in the app.

1. Question 1
   "Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul." Which figure of speech dominates this line by Emily Dickinson?
   • AApostrophe
   • BPersonification
   • CMetaphor (correct answer)
   • DHyperbole
   Correct answer: C

   This question tests the identification of metaphors, distinguishing them from other figures of speech like apostrophe, personification, and hyperbole in literary contexts.
2. Question 2
   The Period between 1600 to 1785 is known as:
   • ARestoration Period
   • BNeoclassical Period (correct answer)
   • CDeveloping Period
   • DStone Age Period
   Correct answer: B

   Master British literary periods! This question tests your knowledge of the Neoclassical period, often called the Age of Reason or Enlightenment.
3. Question 3
   That freedom means freedom only from foreign domination, is an outworn idea. It is not merely governments that should be free but the people themselves who should be free; and no freedom has any real value for the common man or woman unless it means freedom from want, freedom from disease, freedom from ignorance., This is the main task which confronts us if we are to take our rightful place in the modern world. We cannot hold the clock back, and therefore it is we who must go forward at a double pace, bending all our resources and all our energies to this great purpose. "The great purpose" mentioned by the writer at the end of the passage refers to _________.
   • AFreedom from foreign domination
   • BPeople themselves should be free
   • CThe real value of freedom
   • DTaking our rightful place in the modern world (correct answer)
   Correct answer: D

   The "great purpose" is achieving a leading global role by prioritizing internal freedoms like health, education, and welfare over mere political independence.
4. Question 4
   Read the following passage to answer the given question:As adults, we may be able to convey our mood by a mere twist of the lips, but the infant throws much more into the battle. When smiling at full intensity, it also kicks and waves its arms about, stretches its hands out towards the stimulus and moves them about, produces babbling voices, tilts back its head, protrudes its chin, leans its trunk forward or rolls it to one side.Which statement is true?
   • ABabies rarely smile and often it is difficult to judge their smiles
   • BA baby's smile is more vigorous than an adult's (correct answer)
   • CIn comparison to adults, a baby smiles more quietly
   • DBabies make babbling noises before they smile
   Correct answer: B

   Babies express strong emotions, including smiles, with full body movements and vocalizations, unlike adults.
5. Question 5
   What do you know about the location of the Sahara?
   • AIt is located in the southern part of Africa. (correct answer)
   • BIt is located in the northern part of Africa.
   • CIt is located entirely within the continent of Asia.
   • DIt is located along the equator in central Africa.
   Correct answer: A

   This question tests your ability to identify and understand geographical information presented in a passage, emphasizing the precise location of major geographical features like the Sahara Desert.
6. Question 6
   Read the passage and answer the following question:In earlier times, when every substance was believed to have its own qualities, there was no difficulty in believing that some substances were endowed with life, others not. Wood was wood, and water was water, and though transformations did occur, as in the disappearance of wood in the fire, they were not surprising in a world where the most miraculous changes were taking place under everyone’s every day. There was nothing but ‘doth suffer a sea-change into something rich and strange’. A seed put into the ground became in a short time a plant with leaves and flowers: the white and yolk of an egg turned into the flesh and bones and feathers of a chicken, which, no sooner was the shell cracked, jumped out and started running about. Some substances are alive, and some are not.Which of the following statements best describes this belief?
   • AThe transformation in natural substances was unnoticed in ancient times (correct answer)
   • BThere was no transformation in natural substances ancient times
   • CThere was no concept of dead and alive things in the past
   • DThe burning of wood is not an example of transformation
   Correct answer: A

   Ancient beliefs held that natural transformations were common and unsurprising, not unnoticed.
7. Question 7
   Which number comes in the missing place? 1, 3, 7, 15, 31, _____
   • A61
   • B65
   • C67
   • D63 (correct answer)
   Correct answer: D

   This question tests pattern recognition in a numerical sequence, a common skill in logical reasoning and quantitative aptitude sections.
8. Question 8
   The period between 1700 to 1745 is known as:
   • AThe Restoration
   • BThe Augustan Age (correct answer)
   • CThe Age of Thrones
   • DThe Age of Sensibility
   Correct answer: B

   This question tests your knowledge of the chronological periods of English literature, specifically the era named after the Roman Emperor Augustus.

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