Ascertainment of the students’ ability to correctly use the Italian language and to reason
logically, consistently with the initial statement, expressed either symbolically or verbally, by
means of multiple choice questions, also formulated by means of short clauses. Candidates
must be able to answer them by discarding wrong, arbitrary or less probable conclusions.
The multiple choice questions will focus on scientific and fiction essays of classic or
contemporary authors, or on topical news published on newspapers or on generalist or
specialist magazines; they will also focus on problem-solving of any cases or problems, even
abstract, whose solution requires different kinds of logical reasoning.
Multiple choice questions will also focus on general knowledge, including topics dealt with
during school years, and on present-day events.
As to the historical field, questions may deal, among the other things, with the main aspects
of the twentieth-century history and of the current world.
As to the social and institutional field, consistently with the Ministerial regulation about
national high school educational planning and in connection with the activities performed for
"Cittadinanza e Costituzione", multiple choice questions may deal, among the other things,
with the Constitution, communication and mass-media, the organisation of economy and
politics, the various forms of State and government
Biology
Chemistry in living systems
The biological importance of weak interactions.
The organic molecules in organisms and respective functions. The role of enzymes.
Cell as basis of life.
Cell theory. Cell size. Animal and plant prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Viruses.
Cell membrane: structure and functions – transport across membrane.
Cell structures and their specific functions.
Cell cycle and cell reproduction: mitosis and meiosis – chromosome complement and
chromosome maps.
Bioenergetics.
Energy currency of cells: ATP.
Oxidation-reduction reactions in living organisms.
Energy processes: photosynthesis, glycolysis, aerobic respiration and fermentation.
Mendelian genetics: Mendel’s laws and their applications.
Classical genetics: chromosome theory of heredity – models of heredity.
Molecular genetics: DNA structure and duplication, genetic code, protein synthesis.
DNA in prokaryotes. The structure of eukaryotic chromosomes. Genes and regulation of
gene expression.
Human genetics: transmission of mono and polyfactorial characters; autosomal hereditary
and X-chromosome linked diseases.
Biotechnologies: recombinant DNA technology and its applications.
Heredity and environment.
Mutations. Natural and artificial selection. Evolutionary theories. The genetic bases of
evolution.
Anatomy and physiology of animals and humans.
Animal tissues.
Anatomy and physiology of human systems and apparatuses and relating interactions.
Homeostasis.
Chemistry
The composition of matter: states of aggregation of matter; homogeneous and
heterogeneous systems; compounds and elements.
Ideal gas laws.
The structure of atom: elementary particles; atomic number and mass number, isotopes,
electronic structure of the atoms of various elements.
Periodic table of elements: groups and periods; transition elements. Periodic properties of
elements: atomic radius, ionization potential, electronic affinity, metallic character.
Relationships among electronic structure, position in the periodic table and properties of
elements.
Chemical bonds: ionic bond, covalent and metallic bond. Binding energy. Polarity of bonds.
Electronegativity. Intermolecular bonds.
Fundamentals of inorganic chemistry: nomenclature and main properties of inorganic
compounds: oxides, hydroxides, acids, salts.
Chemical reactions and stoichiometry: atomic mass and molecular mass, Avogadro’s
number, mole concept and its application, elementary stoichiometric calculations, balancing
of simple reactions, different types of chemical reactions.
Solutions: solvent properties of water, solubility, the main ways of expressing the
concentration of solutions.
Equilibria in aqueous solution.
Elements of chemical kinetics and catalysis.
Oxidation and reduction: oxidation number, concept of oxidant and reductant. Balancing of
simple reactions.
Acids and bases: the concept of acid and base. Acidity, neutrality and basicity of aqueous
solutions. PH. Hydrolysis. Buffer solutions.
Fundamentals of organic chemistry: bonds between carbon atoms, chemical formulas and
structure formulas, the concept of isomerism. Aliphatic, alicyclic and aromatic hydrocarbons.
Functional groups: alcohols, ethers, amines, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids, esters,
amides. Nomenclature of chemistry.
Physics
Measures: direct and indirect measures, fundamental and derived quantities, physical
dimensions of quantities, knowledge of metric system and of CGS, Technical (or Practical)
(ST) and International (SI) measurement systems, of the units of measurement (names and
relationships between fundamental and derived units), multiples and sub-multiples (names
and values).
Kinematics: kinematic quantities, various types of motion with special regard to uniform
rectilinear motion and uniformly accelerated motion; uniform circular motion; harmonic
motion (for all motions: definition and relationships among the relating kinematics quantities).
Dynamics: vectors and operations on vectors. Forces, moments of forces about a point.
Moment of a couple of forces. Vector composition of forces. Definition of mass and weight.
Gravitational acceleration. Density and specific weight. The law of universal gravitation, 1st,
2nd and 3rd law of motion. Labour, kinetic energy, potential energies. Principle of
conservation of energy. Impulse and quantity of motion. Principle of conservation of the
quantity of motion.
Fluid mechanics: pressure and its unit of measure (not only in the SI system).
Mechanics of fluids: pressure and its units of measurement (not only in the SI system).
Archimedes’ Principle. Pascal’s Principle. Stevin’s law.
Thermology, thermodynamics: thermometry and calorimetry. Specific heat, thermal capacity.
Mechanisms of heat propagation. Changes in state and latent heats. Ideal gas laws. First
and second principle of thermodynamics.
Electrostatics and electrodynamics: Coulomb’s law. Electric field and electric potential.
Dielectric constant. Capacitors. Series and parallel capacitors. Direct current. Ohm’s law.
Kirchhoff’s principles. Electrical resistance and resistivity, series and parallel electrical
resistances. Labour, power, Joule effect. Generators. Electromagnetic induction and
alternating currents. Thermal, chemical and magnetic effects of electrical currents.
Mathematics
Numerical sets and algebra: natural numbers, integers, rational numbers, real numbers.
Sorting and comparison; orders of magnitude and scientific notation. Operations and their
properties. Proportions and percentages. Powers with integer and rational exponents and
their properties. Radicals and their properties. Base 10 and base e logarithms and their
properties. Elements of combinatorics. Algebraic expressions and polynomials. Remarkable
identities, nth power of a binomial, factorisation of polynomials. Algebraic fractions. First-
order and second-order algebraic equations and inequalities. Systems of equations.
Functions: fundamentals of functions and their graphical representation (domain, codomain,
sign, continuity, maxima and minima, increasing and decreasing, etc.). Elementary functions:
entire and fractional algebraic functions, exponential, logarithmic and goniometric functions.
Composite and inverse functions. Trigonometric equations and inequalities.
Geometry: polygons and their properties. Circle and circumference. Measurements of
lengths, surfaces and volumes. Isometries, similarities and equivalences in the plane.
Geometric loci. Measurement of angles in degrees and radians. Sine, cosine, tangent of an
angle and their remarkable values. Trigonometric formulas. Solution of triangles. Cartesian
reference system in a plane. Distance between two points and midpoint of a segment.
Equation of a line. Conditions for parallel and perpendicular lines. Distance of a point from a
line. Equation of circumference, parabola, hyperbola, ellipse and their representation in the
Cartesian plane. Pythagoras theorem. Euclid’s theorems (first and second).
Probability and statistics: frequency distributions and their main graphical representations.