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- Thread starter fa21212
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Hi @fa21212 -
Thanks for the excellent question! There are a couple considerations that might help make sense of this. First, the Q points you specifically towards thinking about the oxidative phosphorylation of acetyl-CoA itself, not to what happens from byproducts of acetyl-CoA in the citric acid cycle. More importantly, though, the wording "According to the data in Table 1" is an indicator that this Q should not be answered based on outside knowledge. Instead, the Q is asking us to make an estimate based on Table 1, which shows us how much ATP production is reduced by treatment w/ oligomycin, an ATP synthase inhibitor that knocks out oxidative phosphorylation. We don't have to have an explanation for where that residual ATP production comes from, we just have to recognize that the gap between pre- and post-oligomycin treatment is due to inhibition to oxidative phosphorylation. That said, I've flagged this for review by our full-length team and we will assess whether we can make any edits to help make this Q clearer.
Hope this is helpful & keep up the careful review!
Thanks for the excellent question! There are a couple considerations that might help make sense of this. First, the Q points you specifically towards thinking about the oxidative phosphorylation of acetyl-CoA itself, not to what happens from byproducts of acetyl-CoA in the citric acid cycle. More importantly, though, the wording "According to the data in Table 1" is an indicator that this Q should not be answered based on outside knowledge. Instead, the Q is asking us to make an estimate based on Table 1, which shows us how much ATP production is reduced by treatment w/ oligomycin, an ATP synthase inhibitor that knocks out oxidative phosphorylation. We don't have to have an explanation for where that residual ATP production comes from, we just have to recognize that the gap between pre- and post-oligomycin treatment is due to inhibition to oxidative phosphorylation. That said, I've flagged this for review by our full-length team and we will assess whether we can make any edits to help make this Q clearer.
Hope this is helpful & keep up the careful review!
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Hi @fa21212 -
I'm sorry this question has been a source of frustration! You're correct that the B/B and C/P sections are not CARS, but it is the case that there are questions that primarily expect you to interpret/apply experimental findings. Skill 1 ("Knowledge of Scientific Concepts and Principles") questions, which primarily test content, only account for ~35% of the science sections of the test. The remaining questions are distributed among Skill 2 ("Scientific Reasoning and Problem Solving," 45%), Skill 3 ("Reasoning about the Design and Execution of Research," 10%), and Skill 4 ("Data-Based and Statistical Reasoning," 10%), and it is very much the case that those questions can ask you to analyze novel information, especially Skill 4 questions like this one. Of course, the experimental findings in question should not ultimately contradict our scientific knowledge of the world, but they can contain findings that initially seem puzzling or confusing, because that's a reality of research. From a test-taking strategy point of view, it can absolutely be a mistake to try to derive an answer to a question from outside knowledge when it is really expecting you to leverage experimental findings.
Just to clarify the logic, though, we know that beta-oxidation produces acetyl-CoA, NADH, and FADH2. When the question asks about the "oxidative phosphorylation of acetyl-CoA," it is directing us to focus on one set of products, not denying that NADH and FADH2 are formed too or that those molecules participate in the ETC. Again, though, our full-length team will take a careful look at this Q and make any needed changes.
I'm sorry this question has been a source of frustration! You're correct that the B/B and C/P sections are not CARS, but it is the case that there are questions that primarily expect you to interpret/apply experimental findings. Skill 1 ("Knowledge of Scientific Concepts and Principles") questions, which primarily test content, only account for ~35% of the science sections of the test. The remaining questions are distributed among Skill 2 ("Scientific Reasoning and Problem Solving," 45%), Skill 3 ("Reasoning about the Design and Execution of Research," 10%), and Skill 4 ("Data-Based and Statistical Reasoning," 10%), and it is very much the case that those questions can ask you to analyze novel information, especially Skill 4 questions like this one. Of course, the experimental findings in question should not ultimately contradict our scientific knowledge of the world, but they can contain findings that initially seem puzzling or confusing, because that's a reality of research. From a test-taking strategy point of view, it can absolutely be a mistake to try to derive an answer to a question from outside knowledge when it is really expecting you to leverage experimental findings.
Just to clarify the logic, though, we know that beta-oxidation produces acetyl-CoA, NADH, and FADH2. When the question asks about the "oxidative phosphorylation of acetyl-CoA," it is directing us to focus on one set of products, not denying that NADH and FADH2 are formed too or that those molecules participate in the ETC. Again, though, our full-length team will take a careful look at this Q and make any needed changes.
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Yes, agreed. Again, we will take a very close look at this question.
