Format of the SAT II Biology （1）
Whether you take the SAT II Biology E or Biology M, the test will last an hour and consist of 80 questions. These questions will be organized in two main groups. The 60 core questions will come first, followed by a 20 question specialty section.
The core section of the test (and occasionally the specialty sections) contains two different types of questions. Classification questions make up the first 10–12 questions of the core, while the last 48–50 questions of the core are multiple choice.
Classification Questions
A classification question presents you with five possible answer choices and then a string of three to five questions to which those answer choices apply. The answer choices are usually either graphs or the names of five related laws or concepts. Because they allow for several questions on the same topic, classification questions will ask you to exhibit a fuller understanding of the topic at hand.
The level of difficulty within any set of questions is generally pretty random: you can't expect the first question in a set to be easier than the last. However, each set of classification questions is generally a bit harder than the one that came before. In the core questions, for example, you should expect questions 10–12 to be harder than questions 1–3.
Classification Question Example
Directions: Each set of lettered choices below refers to the numbered questions or statements immediately following it. Select the one lettered choice that best answers each question or best fits each statement, and then fill in the corresponding oval on the answer sheet. A choice may be used once, more than once, or not at all in each set.
Questions 1–3 refer to the following organelles.
(A)Chloroplast(B)Mitochondria(C)Nucleus (D)Cytoplasm(E)Cell membrane
1. Location of cellular respiration in prokaryotes
2. Maintains proper concentrations of substances within the cell
3. Found in plant cells, but not in animal cells
You can usually answer classification questions a bit more quickly than the standard five-choice completion questions, since you only need to review one set of answer choices to answer a series of questions. Don't worry if you didn't know the answers to these questions. The material in this question (and more) will be covered in the chapter on Cell Structure.
This example is meant mainly to show you how a classification question is formatted. If you're burning with curiosity, though, the answers to the questions are C, E, and A, respectively.
Five-Choice Completion Questions
These are the multiple-choice questions we all know and love, and the lifeblood of any multiple-choice exam. You know the drill: they ask a question and give you five possible answer choices, then you pick the best one.
Directions: Each of the questions or incomplete statements below is followed by five suggested answers or completions. Some questions pertain to a set that refers to a laboratory or experimental situation. For each question, select the one choice that is the best answer to the question and then fill in the corresponding oval on the answer sheet.
As the directions imply, some five-choice completion questions are individual questions in which the five answer choices refer to only one question. But more than half of the five-choice completion questions are group questions, in which a set of questions all refer to the same biological scenario, figure, or experiment.