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Tuesday, April 12
I just wanted to share something I encountered during my mcrap studies. I was doing a practice test the other day, and there was a biology passage that made me laugh so hard, mainly because the mcat is the least funny thing around. The only things that are less humorous than the mcat would be maybe kittens and puppies dying, or slow torture performed by a sadisticpsychodentist, or the show "Joey." I want to write out the whole passage, but I'm paranoid about imprisonment over copyright issues. Here's a brief outline and some direct quotes instead:"Sarah, a scientist from New Orleans, takes two-week vacations to different location every year to experience new sports."
The first year she goes to the Caribbean to go "skin diving." She notes an elevated pulse and ventilation rate, but they are no longer elevated by the third time she goes diving. She tans.
Another year she goes skiing in Colorado, and she observes crazy things happening in terms of heart and breathing rates again, and her appetite and caloric intake go up, but she doesn't gain weight.
Here are the final 2 paragraphs:
"Sarah calculated the actual work that she performed skiing and diving. There was not enough difference in the work performed to account for the observed difference in appetite; although the physical work of diving and skiing was approximately equal and she ate more calories during the ski trip, she did not gain any weight.
On a third vacation, Sarah had a serious accident while playing sports."
That's it! That's how it ends! I thought it was so hilarious because they really painted a vivid picture of Sarah, the vacationing, extreme-sports playing, unnecessary calculations making, tan science lady from the south, and then bam in one sentence she has a serious accident, the end. She really seemed like someone who embraced life, and she made some good observations about her cardiac and ventilation rates, as well as her caloric intake, and in one fell swoop, she's gone. They don't even say what sports she was playing. Her bold vacationing days are over, and they don't care to elaborate further. They expect us to then calmly go on to answer questions about why those changes occurred, but all I want to do is find out what happened to Sarah! Did she die? Will she recover and go on to play more extreme sports, as well as be an excellent scientist, in defiance of Larry Summers? It is revealed later in one of the questions, though, that she suffered muscle and kidney damage. Kidney damage?? Ouch... But I'm relieved Sarah is alive. I wrote way too much on this, when I could probably be studying. I'm probably the only one who even finds this funny. I guess you had to be taking a practice mcat to find this funny. The rest of the test is very bleak and harsh. Okay, off to bed (!)