Test Prep OAT Exam Actual Questions
Optometry Admission (Page 4 )

Updated On: 17-Jun-2026

It is most likely that you have never had diphtheria. You probably don’t even know anyone who has suffered from this disease. In fact, you may not even know what diphtheria is. Similarly, diseases like whooping cough, measles, mumps, and rubella may all be unfamiliar to you. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these illnesses struck hundreds of thousands of people in the United States each year, mostly children, and tens of thousands of people died. The names of these diseases were frightening household words. Today, they are all but forgotten. That change happened largely because of vaccines.
You probably have been vaccinated against diphtheria. You may even have been exposed to the bacterium that causes it, but the vaccine prepared your body to fight off the disease so quickly that you were unaware of the infection. Vaccines take advantage of your body’s natural ability to learn how to combat many disease-causing germs, or microbes. What’s more, your body remembers how to protect itself from the microbes it has encountered before. Collectively, the parts of your body that remember and repel microbes are called the immune system. Without the proper functioning of the immune system, the simplest illness – even the common cold – could quickly turn deadly.
On average, your immune system needs more than a week to learn how to fight off an unfamiliar microbe. Sometimes, that isn’t enough time. Strong microbes can spread through your body faster than the immune system can fend them off. Your body often gains the upper hand after a few weeks, but in the meantime you are sick. Certain microbes are so virulent that they can overwhelm or escape your natural defenses. In those situations, vaccines can make all the difference.
Traditional vaccines contain either parts of microbes or whole microbes that have been altered so that they don’t cause disease. When your immune system confronts these harmless versions of the germs, it quickly clears them from your body. In other words, vaccines trick your immune system in order to teach your body important lessons about how to defeat its opponents.
Which statement is not a detail from the passage?

  1. Vaccines contain microbe parts or altered microbes.
  2. The immune system typically needs a week to learn how to fight a new disease.
  3. The symptoms of disease do not emerge until the body has learned how to fight the microbe.
  4. A hundred years ago, children were at the greatest risk of dying from now-treatable diseases.

Answer(s): C

Explanation:

This passage does not state that the symptoms of disease will not emerge until the body has learned to fight the disease. On the contrary, the passage implies that a person may become quite sick and even die before the body learns to effectively fight the disease.



It is most likely that you have never had diphtheria. You probably don’t even know anyone who has suffered from this disease. In fact, you may not even know what diphtheria is. Similarly, diseases like whooping cough, measles, mumps, and rubella may all be unfamiliar to you. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these illnesses struck hundreds of thousands of people in the United States each year, mostly children, and tens of thousands of people died. The names of these diseases were frightening household words. Today, they are all but forgotten. That change happened largely because of vaccines.
You probably have been vaccinated against diphtheria. You may even have been exposed to the bacterium that causes it, but the vaccine prepared your body to fight off the disease so quickly that you were unaware of the infection. Vaccines take advantage of your body’s natural ability to learn how to combat many disease-causing germs, or microbes. What’s more, your body remembers how to protect itself from the microbes it has encountered before. Collectively, the parts of your body that remember and repel microbes are called the immune system. Without the proper functioning of the immune system, the simplest illness – even the common cold – could quickly turn deadly.
On average, your immune system needs more than a week to learn how to fight off an unfamiliar microbe. Sometimes, that isn’t enough time. Strong microbes can spread through your body faster than the immune system can fend them off. Your body often gains the upper hand after a few weeks, but in the meantime you are sick. Certain microbes are so virulent that they can overwhelm or escape your natural defenses. In those situations, vaccines can make all the difference.
Traditional vaccines contain either parts of microbes or whole microbes that have been altered so that they don’t cause disease. When your immune system confronts these harmless versions of the germs, it quickly clears them from your body. In other words, vaccines trick your immune system in order to teach your body important lessons about how to defeat its opponents.
What is the meaning of the word virulent as it is used in the third paragraph?

  1. tiny
  2. malicious
  3. contagious
  4. annoying

Answer(s): B

Explanation:

In the third paragraph, the word virulent means “malicious.” The word virulent could in some circumstances mean contagious or annoying. However, since the passage is not talking about transfer of the disease and is referring to a serious illness, malicious is the more appropriate answer.



A charged particle is traveling to the right with its magnetic field coming into the page (or screen). Which direction does its force face?

  1. Out of the page
  2. Into the page
  3. Left
  4. Right
  5. Up

Answer(s): E

Explanation:

Using the right-hand rule, thumb is velocity (pointing right, as particle travels to the right), fingers are magnetic field (point away from you) and thus the force (palm) points up.



Rank the following in the correct order of increasing wavelength:

  1. X-rays, Gamma rays, Visible light, Radio waves, UV
  2. Gamma rays, X-rays, Infrared, UV, Radio waves
  3. Radio waves, Infrared, UV, X-rays, Gamma rays
  4. X-rays, Gamma rays, UV, Infrared, Radio waves
  5. Gamma rays, X-rays, UV, Infrared, Radio waves

Answer(s): E



Two guys are sitting on a playground Merry-Go-Round. Which of the following statements is correct?

  1. Guy 1 will make a full circle before Guy 2.
  2. Guy 1 will travel at a higher velocity.
  3. Guy 1 and Guy 2 will travel at equal velocity.
  4. Guy 2 will travel at higher velocity.
  5. Guy 2 will make a full circle before Guy 1.

Answer(s): D

Explanation:

This is a conceptual problem on rotational kinematics. Both guys will take the same time to make the full circle. Guy 2 however will travel at a greater velocity than Guy 1, as he is more outward from the center.



A car's velocity history is displayed in the graph below. What is the displacement of the car from 0 s to 10 s?

  1. 0
  2. 16
  3. 28.5
  4. 33.5
  5. 42

Answer(s): C

Explanation:

When giving an acceleration graph (velocity over time), displacement is simply the area under the graph (or above the graph if the line extends into the negative y-axis, which in this case, it does not). The best way to approach this problem is to break the line graph apart into squares and right triangles to determine the area of each component and add them up for the total area (displacement).

You can break this into 7 different sections that you can use to calculate the area easily:
#1 = 1/2bh = (1/2) ×1 × 2 = 1 #2 = lw = 2 × 4 = 8 #3 = lw = 2 × 2 = 4 #4 = 1/2bh = (1/2) × 2 × 3 = 3 #5 = lw = 5 × 2 = 10 #6 = 1/2bh = (1/2) × 1 × 5 = 2.5
Adding the areas up: 1 + 8 + 4 + 3 + 10 + 2.5 = 28.5



A spring is sitting in an equilibrium position. What would happen to the force of the spring if you pulled the spring to a length double of that of its equilibrium?

  1. Force would half
  2. Force would stay the same
  3. Force would double
  4. Force would quadruple
  5. Not enough information is provided

Answer(s): C

Explanation:

F = −kx; where x = displacement from the equilibrium position Doubling the displacement (x) would double the force (F).



In the following circuit, identify the current going through I3.

  1. 1.25 A
  2. 2 A
  3. 2.5 A
  4. 5 A
  5. 10 A

Answer(s): C

Explanation:

Begin by finding the total resistance of this circuit. Because this is a parallel circuit, total resistance is measured with the formula: 1/R = 1/R1 + 1/R2 etc.
1/R = 1/8 + 1/8 + 1/4 = 1/2
Thus, R = 2Ω
To find the current of I3, use the formula: I = V / R
I = 10 / 4Ω = 2.5 A
If one wanted to confirm their answer, they could find the currents of the other resistors and add up them. They should add up to the total current (I = V / R = 10 / 2Ω = 5 A).



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