UPCAT 2018 Reviewer – Comprehensive Study Notes

Terms and Conditions

  • Reviewer is property of University of the Philippines (UP); content must remain confidential.
  • Prohibited actions:
    • Sharing with third parties.
    • Selling or using for commercial gain.
  • Performance in reviewer does not guarantee actual UPCAT results.
  • Violations may lead to disqualification from UP admission.

Test Structure and Time Allotment

  • Mini-UPCAT has 4 sub-tests; each is separately timed.
    • Language Proficiency – 24 items | 12 min12\text{ min}
    • Science – 12 items | 12 min12\text{ min}
    • Mathematics – 12 items | 15 min15\text{ min}
    • Reading Comprehension – 24 items | 18 min18\text{ min}
  • You may review answers within a sub-test if you finish early; unused time cannot be transferred to other parts.

Scoring & Guessing Strategy

  • Wrong-answer penalty: Score=R−14W\text{Score}=R-\tfrac14W (where RR = right answers, WW = wrong answers).
  • No deduction for blanks.
  • Strategic approach:
    • Answer easy items first; return to hard ones.
    • Eliminate obviously wrong options; guess only if at least two choices are ruled out.
    • Never shade multiple answers; they count as one wrong response plus the penalty.

General Test-Taking Tips

  • Work rapidly without sacrificing accuracy.
  • Manage time per part; monitor a watch.
  • Bring sharp #2 pencils for shading; avoid stray marks.

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

1. English Cloze & Vocabulary

  • Expect missing-word items stressing verb agreement, tense, and context clues (e.g. Freud called parapraxes, he claimed they proved …).
  • Common verbs that pair with infinitive complements: try to, manage to, tend to.
  • Idiomatic phrases: “goes against the grain” = is irritating / contrary to one’s nature.

2. Grammar & Usage Error Recognition

  • Typical errors tested:
    • Mis-formed past tense of hang (people are hanged, objects hung).
    • Redundant requested for → should be requested.
    • Faulty word order in indirect questions: He wanted to know whether/if you won.
    • Sequence of tenses: assured … that she would defeat (future in the past).

3. Sentence / Phrase Arrangement

  • Skill: reorder jumbled segments into coherent sentences.
  • Hints: locate subject, verb, object, modifiers; check agreement (student’s apartment is painted blue → order 3-1-4-5-2).

4. Filipino Grammar Highlights

  • Common conjunctions: bagamat, dahil sa, upang.
  • Preposition choice: ukol sa / tungkol sa (about), para sa (intended for), ayon sa (according to).
  • Word-form errors: intrumento → correct instrumento.
  • Logical sentence building (paet example): start with subject (ang paet), then verb (ang ginagamit), object/complement.

5. Filipino Vocabulary & Idiom

  • Masasawata → mapipigilan.
  • Matayog ang lipad ng imahinasyon → malikhaing mag-isip.

SCIENCE

1. Earth & Environmental Science

  • Tides arise from balance of Earth–Moon system’s centrifugal force plus Moon’s gravitational pull on oceans.
  • Volcanic explosivity ↑ with high viscosity+high dissolved gas\text{high viscosity}+\text{high dissolved gas} (traps gases, builds pressure).
  • Hydrograph interpretation: lag time between peak rainfall and water-level rise is the horizontal distance on graph (≈ 2 h in sample).
  • Transpiration fastest in hot, dry conditions (steep vapor-pressure gradient).

2. Biology

  • Evolutionary trees: shared derived characters (synapomorphies) group closer species; structure b common to 1-2-3 indicates closer relation.
  • Genetic engineering of bacteria: insert gene into a plasmid → bacteria express protein (e.g., insulin).
  • Transpiration vs. weather and plant physiology.

3. Chemistry

  • Homogeneous solution example: KOH (aq)\text{KOH (aq)} (uniform aqueous mixture).
  • π-bond presence: any molecule with double/triple bond; e.g., C<em>2H</em>4\text{C}<em>2\text{H}</em>4 (double bond shown in option).
  • Avogadro’s Law: equal nn of gas at same T,PT,P occupy equal VV → all three balloons have equal volume: H<em>2=He=O</em>2H<em>2=He=O</em>2.

4. Physics

  • Kinematics on an incline: constant-velocity ascent, zero velocity at edge, then free fall → y(t)y(t) graph shows linear rise, cusp, then parabolic drop (option C in test).
  • Thin convex lens: object inside focal length gives virtual, erect, magnified image.
  • Magnetic field superposition: arranging bar magnets so unlike poles meet at center maximizes field (all N poles outward, S inward or vice-versa).

MATHEMATICS

1. Scientific Notation & Arithmetic

  • Sample computation: (4×10−3−4)+(18×1045)\Big(\frac{4\times10^{-3}}{-4}\Big)+\Big(\frac{18\times10^4}{5}\Big) requires careful exponent handling.

2. Work / Rate Problems

  • Combined rate: 1t=130+110=430⇒t=304=7.5 min\frac{1}{t}=\frac{1}{30}+\frac{1}{10}=\frac{4}{30}\Rightarrow t=\frac{30}{4}=7.5\,\text{min}.

3. Algebraic Manipulation

  • Simplify rational complex fractions by finding LCD.
  • Roots of polynomial f(x)=x4+2x2−6x−3f(x)=x^4+2x^2-6x-3: given one real root x=1x=1, use synthetic division; discriminant of quadratic factor negative → other two roots non-real.

4. Coordinate & Plane Geometry

  • Circle theorem: angle between chord & radius =90∘−inscribed angle=90^\circ−\text{inscribed angle}.
  • Parallel-line angle chase uses corresponding & alternate angles.
  • Similar-triangle ratio problem with square area: if EFGE=23,  CF=9\frac{EF}{GE}=\frac23,\;CF=9 compute side of square (=  ? =\,\boxed{\,?\,}) via proportionality.

5. Data Interpretation & Probability

  • Profit graph comparison: read heights for April–May, sum, compare; note scales (thousands pesos).
  • Conditional probability: P(smoker∣male)=2525+75=14P(\text{smoker}\mid \text{male})=\frac{25}{25+75}=\tfrac14.

6. Combinatorics & Logic

  • Number of 3-product displays from 5 items: (53)=10{5\choose3}=10 sets; with 8 days cannot show all → Statement I true.
  • Syllogism consistency: Test options against premises (all clowns funny, some mascots not funny). Inconsistent ⇒ No mascot is a clown (violates “some mascots aren’t funny” but allows possibility that some are funny).

READING COMPREHENSION

1. Essay – “Bamboo” Metaphor

  • Symbolism:
    • Bamboo = unity of youth & age; flexibility, endurance.
  • Message:
    • Older generation invites dialogue; youth’s vision + elders’ experience → national progress.
    • Philippines in flux toward development; partnership framed as challenge to youth.

2. Poem – “A Man’s a Man To-day”

  • Theme: equality via suffrage; Election Day levels social classes.
  • Key lines emphasize priceless power of ballot vs. wealth.
  • Addressed to voters (“Up! Clouted knee and ragged coat”).

3. Comfort Women Commentary

  • Context: Filipino women abused by Japanese forces WWII.
  • Core points:
    • Whether systematic or opportunistic, abuse = war crime.
    • Confronting past atrocities is path to vigilance; ensure they “never happen again”.
    • “The beast” = latent human capacity for cruelty when drunk with power.

4. Filipino Graph Interpretation (Science scores)

  • Bar graph compares mean % scores (English vs. Filipino) across 6 science branches.
  • Observations:
    • Large Eng–Fil gap in Earth Science.
    • General trend: English scores higher.
  • Policy relevance: language-of-instruction debates in science education.

5. Informational Text – Philippine Eagle (Banog)

  • Largest eagle species; endemic to rainforest islands.
  • Population decline roots: habitat loss (logging, kaingin) → passed RA 6147 for protection.
  • Conservation breeding successes: “Pag-asa”, “Pagkakaisa”, “Pangarap”.
  • Tone ends hopeful; aims to raise awareness & spur action.

6. Personal Narrative – Growing Up With Books

  • Author’s childhood: surrounded by arts yet late reader; first books Cinderella, Mother Goose.
  • Implications:
    • Parental environment shapes learning interests.
    • Reading eventually becomes self-chosen awakening.

Reading Skills

  • Identify tone (challenge, hope, protest).
  • Infer themes from imagery (“sun’s lengthening shadow”).
  • Link rhetorical devices (metaphor, repetition) to author intent.

ETHICAL, PHILOSOPHICAL & PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

  • Exam Integrity: confidentiality clause reflects academic ethics.
  • Environmental stewardship: Philippine Eagle case demonstrates biodiversity responsibilities.
  • Historical justice: comfort-women issue underscores need for memory, reparation, prevention of abuse.
  • Civic duty: poem stresses each citizen’s equal stake through voting.

KEY FORMULAS & NUMERICAL FACTS

  • Wrong-answer penalty: −14-\tfrac14 per error.
  • Combined work: 1t=1t<em>1+1t</em>2+…\tfrac1t=\tfrac1{t<em>1}+\tfrac1{t</em>2}+\dots
  • Ideal Gas Law: PV=nRTPV=nRT → equal n,T,Pn,T,P ⇒ equal VV.
  • Similar triangles: ratio of corresponding sides ⇒ ratio of areas =(side ratio)2=\text{(side ratio)}^2.

Connections & Real-World Relevance

  • Tides & volcanic hazards: disaster preparedness for archipelagic PH.
  • Genetic engineering: insulin production → medical biotechnology.
  • Comfort-women narrative: ongoing international legal advocacy.
  • Philippine Eagle conservation parallels other endemic species threats (tarsier, tamaraw) & forestry policy.
  • Language policy in science instruction influences comprehension and learner performance.