IMAT 2026 past paper with answers

Worked solutions

1. 1Reading skills · Question 1

   Fake news is not a new problem in communication. Deceptive communication has always existed: after the first sin recounted in the Bible, Adam and Eve clumsily try to hide their transgression from God; soon afterwards, Cain once again tries to deceive God about the murder of his brother Abel. The insightful scholar Gregory Bateson (1972; Italian trans. 1976, pp. 160–161) observed that animals communicate with a naturalness and innocence that human beings have lost, since human behaviour "is corrupted by deceit — even self-deceit — by purpose, and by self-consciousness." The capacity to lie is therefore bound up with the superior cognitive abilities of human beings and presupposes a high degree of awareness and reflexivity. This makes human communication immensely richer and more multifaceted than animal communication, but at the same time more demanding, opaque, duplicitous, and exposed to the risk of domination and deception. Tracing back through the history of fake news, the historian Robert Darnton (2017) assembled a selection of cases ranging from the early Middle Ages to eighteenth-century France, among which the malicious rumours that shaped the reputation and fate of Queen Marie Antoinette are particularly striking. Again with reference to France, the historian of the Revolution Georges Lefebvre devoted a famous book to the phenomenon of the "Great Fear", which spread with lightning speed through certain rural regions in the summer of 1789 on the basis of unchecked rumours about an aristocratic conspiracy, an imminent foreign invasion, and bands of brigands who were killing people and destroying crops; these rumours led the peasants to arm themselves and rise up against the aristocracy (1932). But all ages have had their share of fake news, including important cases, such as the forged Donation of Constantine, a medieval apocryphal document used to legitimise the temporal power of the Church and only debunked many centuries later, in 1517, by the humanist Lorenzo Valla on the basis of its historical and linguistic inconsistencies. Translated from G. Gili e G. Maddalena, Post-verità e fake news: radici, significati attuali, inattesi protagonisti e probabili vittime, in Media Education. Studi, ricerche e buone pratiche, 9 (2018), pp. 1-16 According to the text, the phenomenon of fake news:
   1. AIs the result of a historical process that began in the Middle Ages
   2. BHas deep historical roots, but technically began in 1789
   3. CAcquired a different role in the modern age, because only in the modern age have people come to understand that human beings and animals are distinct
   4. DIs due to the human capacity to always distinguish the truth
   5. EHas always existed, albeit in different forms
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2. 2Problem solving · Question 5

   In the sequence 1, 2, 5, x, 29, 70, 169, …, what is the value of x?
   1. A8
   2. B24
   3. C11
   4. D16
   5. E12
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3. 3Haemoglobin and gas transport · Question 10

   What is the main function of red blood cells in the blood?
   1. ATo transport CO₂ to the liver
   2. BTo clot the blood
   3. CTo regulate body temperature
   4. DTo fight infections
   5. ETo transport oxygen to the tissues
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4. 4Anatomy and physiology of humans · Question 11

   Which structure of the respiratory system is the primary site of gas exchange?
   1. ALeft atrium of the heart
   2. BDiaphragm
   3. CTrachea
   4. DAlveoli
   5. EAorta
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5. 5Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells · Question 12

   What is the primary function of flagella in prokaryotic cells?
   1. ATo aid in cell division
   2. BTo help the cell adhere to other cells
   3. CTo facilitate the exchange of genetic material between cells
   4. DTo transport materials within the cell
   5. ETo allow the cell to move
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6. 6Digestion and digestive enzymes · Question 13

   What is the primary digestive function of the stomach?
   1. ATo break down food using enzymes and acids
   2. BTo transport food to the large intestine
   3. CTo absorb nutrients
   4. DTo filter toxins
   5. ETo produce bile
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7. 7Atomic structure · Question 33

   Which of the following statements about the Mg²⁺ ion is correct?
   1. AThe Mg²⁺ ion has a larger radius than the Mg atom
   2. BThe two chemical species (the ion and the neutral atom) have the same number of protons, electrons, and neutrons
   3. CThe ion has 8 electrons in its outermost electron shell
   4. DThe ion has two more electrons than the neutral atom
   5. ENone of the other statements is correct
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8. 8Balancing chemical equations · Question 34

   Balance the following reaction equation: Cu + HNO₃ → Cu(NO₃)₂ + NO + H₂O
   1. A3, 8, 3, 2, 4
   2. B2, 6, 3, 2, 4
   3. C3, 8, 3, 1, 4
   4. D3, 8, 3, 2, 6
   5. ENone of the other options is correct
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9. 9Kinematics and uniform motion · Question 48

   Which physical quantity measures how quickly a point particle changes its position over time?
   1. ACentripetal acceleration
   2. BVelocity
   3. CNatural angular frequency
   4. DAcceleration
   5. EFrequency
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10. 10Algebraic inequalities · Question 55

    Which is the solution to the inequality x² − 6x + 5 ≤ 0?
    1. Ax ≤ −5 ; x ≥ −1
    2. B1 ≤ x ≤ 5
    3. Cx ≤ 1 ; x ≥ 5
    4. D−5 ≤ x ≤ −1
    5. ENone of the other options are correct
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