Free Practice Questions for PHUMA

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Exam Review

Key Facts: PHUMA Exam

120

Total Questions

UNAH DSA Guía Pre-U

170 min

Exam Duration

UNAH DSA Guía Pre-U

700 pts

Minimum Admission Index

UNAH Oferta Académica (índice requerido)

L. 500.00

Exam Fee

UNAH Sistema de Admisión

The PHUMA is Honduras's official national university entrance examination for UNAH, containing 120 multiple-choice questions across five core competencies over 170 minutes. Administered in Spanish, passing requires a minimum scaled score of 700 points. This bank offers an English-language MCQ study adaptation covering all five tested areas.

Sample PHUMA Practice Questions

Try these sample questions to review concepts for the PHUMA exam. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.

1Read the following sentence: 'A pesar de que las lluvias torrenciales inundaron las principales vías de acceso, los brigadistas de rescate lograron evacuar a todas las familias vulnerables a tiempo.' What is the primary semantic relationship established by the connector 'A pesar de que'?

A.Concession, indicating an obstacle that does not prevent the main action

B.Cause, explaining the reason why the evacuation was conducted

C.Condition, setting a prerequisite for the rescue operation to begin

D.Consecution, describing the direct result of the torrential rains

Explanation: The subordinating connector 'a pesar de que' is an adversative concessive conjunction in Spanish grammar. Concessive clauses introduce an impediment, obstacle, or difficulty that nevertheless fails to prevent the realization of the main clause. Therefore, the rains posed a severe obstacle, but the rescue still took place.

2Which of the following sentences uses the graphical accent (tilde) correctly according to Spanish diacritical accentuation rules (tilde diacrítica)?

A.Sé muy bien que él preparó el té para su abuelo esta mañana.

B.Se muy bien que el preparó el te para su abuelo esta mañana.

C.Sé muy bien que el preparó él té para su abuelo esta mañana.

D.Se muy bien que él preparó él te para su abuelo esta mañana.

Explanation: In Spanish diacritical accentuation, 'sé' carries a tilde when it corresponds to the verb 'saber' (or 'ser') to distinguish it from the reflexive pronoun 'se'; 'él' takes a tilde as a personal pronoun to contrast with the definite article 'el'; and 'té' takes a tilde as the noun referring to tea to differentiate it from the object pronoun 'te'. Therefore, the first sentence applies all three diacritical accents correctly.

3Select the option that correctly identifies the figure of speech (recurso retórico) in the line: 'El río avanzaba como una serpiente plateada entre las colinas dormidas.'

A.Simile (Símil) and Personification (Prosopopeya)

B.Hyperbole (Hipérbole) and Metonymy (Metonimia)

C.Oxymoron (Oxímoron) and Antithesis (Antítesis)

D.Irony (Ironía) and Alliteration (Aliteración)

Explanation: The phrase contains two distinct rhetorical devices: a simile (símil) through the explicit comparative link 'como una serpiente plateada' comparing the river to a silver snake, and personification (prosopopeya or personificación) by attributing the human state of sleeping ('dormidas') to inanimate hills. Both devices work together to create evocative imagery.

4Read the following short excerpt: 'La deforestación en las cuencas hidrográficas de la biosfera del Río Plátano ha alcanzado niveles críticos en el último quinquenio. Si no se implementan mecanismos punitivos estrictos contra la tala ilegal y la ganadería extensiva, la pérdida de biodiversidad endémica y el colapso de las fuentes de agua dulce serán irreversibles antes de 2035.' What is the author's primary communicative intention?

A.To persuade authorities and the public of the urgent necessity of enacting strict conservation enforcement

B.To narrate the historical settlement of cattle ranchers along the Patuca and Plátano river basins

C.To describe the physiological traits of endangered flora species in eastern Honduras

D.To present an entertaining fictional story regarding tropical rainforest degradation

Explanation: The text employs an argumentative discourse structure featuring an alarming factual premise followed by a conditional warning ('Si no se implementan...') projecting an irreversible outcome. Its communicative purpose is pragmatic and persuasive (conative function), intended to urge decision-makers and readers to take preventive regulatory action.

5Complete the verbal analogy: EFÍMERO is to PERDURABLE as BELICOSO is to:

A.Pacífico

B.Agresivo

C.Hostil

D.Valiente

Explanation: The relationship between 'efímero' (ephemeral/fleeting) and 'perdurable' (lasting/durable) is one of antonymy (opposites). Therefore, the analogy requires finding the antonym of 'belicoso' (warlike/aggressive/combative). The direct antonym is 'pacífico' (peaceful).

6Which of the following words is classified as an 'esdrújula' and therefore must always carry an orthographic accent in Spanish?

A.Científico

B.Canción

C.Carácter

D.Reloj

Explanation: Words in Spanish are accented based on the position of the stressed syllable. An 'esdrújula' word has the tonic stress on the antepenultimate syllable (cien - TÍ - fi - co). According to the rules of the Real Academia Española (RAE), all esdrújula words invariably carry an orthographic accent mark (tilde).

7Identify the option that contains an error of grammatical concord (discordancia gramatical):

A.Hubieron muchos aspirantes en la sede de la prueba de admisión.

B.La mayoría de los estudiantes aprobó el módulo introductorio de matemáticas.

C.El grupo de manifestantes exigió pacíficamente la rendición de cuentas.

D.Se vendieron rápidamente los boletos para el concierto benéfico del coro universitario.

Explanation: In its existential sense, 'haber' is an impersonal verb: the plural phrase that follows it ('muchos aspirantes') is a direct object, not a subject, so the verb cannot agree with it and must stay in the third-person singular — 'Hubo muchos aspirantes'. The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas expressly marks forms such as 'hubieron muchos' as incorrect, which makes this the only true concord error among the four sentences.

8In the sentence: 'El ministro entregó ayer los reconocimientos académicos a los investigadores más destacados de la universidad', what syntactic function does the phrase 'a los investigadores más destacados de la universidad' perform?

A.Indirect Object (Objeto Indirecto)

B.Direct Object (Objeto Directo)

C.Prepositional Complement (Complemento de Régimen)

D.Agent Complement (Complemento Agente)

Explanation: In this transitive clause, 'los reconocimientos académicos' is the entity transferred or delivered (Direct Object, replaceable by 'los': 'El ministro se los entregó'), while 'a los investigadores más destacados...' represents the recipients of the action (Indirect Object, replaceable by the dative clitic 'les').

9Determine which of the following words is formed by parasynthesis (parasíntesis):

A.Envejecer

B.Submarino

C.Lavaplatos

D.Desleal

Explanation: Parasynthesis is a word-formation process involving the simultaneous addition of a prefix and a suffix to a lexeme, such that neither the prefixed base without the suffix nor the suffixed base without the prefix exists as an independent word (*envejo*, *vejecer* do not exist; from root 'viejo' -> en- + viej- + -ecer).

10What is the meaning of the word 'INOCUO' in the following scientific passage: 'Tras extensos ensayos clínicos en roedores, los biólogos determinaron que el compuesto alcaloide resultó completamente inocuo en dosis estándar'?

A.Harmless, incapable of causing damage or physical injury

B.Ineffective, having zero medicinal or therapeutic action

C.Poisonous, generating immediate tissue inflammation

D.Volatile, evaporating rapidly at ambient room temperature

Explanation: The term 'inocuo' (from Latin 'innocuus') means harmless or innocuous—having no adverse, toxic, or damaging effects on an organism. It is often confused with 'inicuo' (iniquitous/unjust), but in pharmacology and toxicology, an innocuous compound produces no harm.

About the PHUMA Exam

The Prueba Hondureña Universitaria de Medición Académica (PHUMA) is the official national university entrance examination of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH), assessing communicative, mathematical, natural science, social science, and soft skills competencies.

Exam sponsor: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH) — Dirección del Sistema de Admisión (DSA). The requirements and fees below concern the certification or admission exam, separate from our free practice resources.

Assessment

120 multiple-choice questions across 5 sections (Comunicativas 30, Matemáticas 30, Entorno Natural 20, Entorno Social 20, Habilidades Blandas 20) in a single 170-minute session

Time Limit

170 minutes (2 hours 50 minutes)

Passing Score

700 points is the minimum admission index for UNAH; competitive programmes publish higher required indices — 900 for engineering and architecture, 950 for Microbiología, 1,000 for Medicina y Cirugía and Odontología

Exam / Certification Fees

L. 500.00 (Honduran Lempiras)

Exam sponsor website

Reported exam pass rate: 85% of 2025 applicants reached the admission index (25,757 of 30,083). Figure reported by UNAH's Dirección del Sistema de Admisión for the 2025 PHUMA cycles, against roughly 65% under the previous PAA system. Reaching the index is not the same as being admitted: programmes with capped places (such as Medicina y Cirugía, Odontología, Microbiología and the engineering disciplines) fill their cupos by ranking applicants, so a qualifying score outside the ranked cut-off does not secure a place. This describes exam candidates, not OpenExamPrep users or results from using our resources. Exam sponsor website

Fees, eligibility, and exam policies can change. Confirm them with the exam sponsor before applying or paying.

Official sources

Our practice resources: topics covered

We aim to reflect publicly available exam outlines and topic information in our study resources. Coverage, format, and difficulty may differ from the actual exam, and we cannot guarantee that every detail is accurate or current. Confirm exam requirements, fees, and policies with the official exam sponsor.

25%

Competencias Comunicativas (Español)

Reading comprehension, linguistic reasoning, grammatical structures, syntax, morphology, orthography, and discursive analysis.

25%

Competencias Matemáticas

Arithmetic (real numbers, proportionality and percentage, GCD and LCM), algebra (quadratic equations, linear inequalities, algebraic patterns), geometry (angles, triangles, Pythagorean theorem, solids), and statistics (dispersion, tables and graphs).

16.7%

Entorno Natural (Ciencias Naturales)

Biology (the cell, biomolecules, photosynthesis, genetics, human anatomy and physiology), chemistry (inorganic compound classes, household chemicals, agrochemicals, soil and water pollution), and physics (measurement, kinematics, mechanical work and energy, energy sources).

16.7%

Entorno Social (Ciencias Sociales)

Honduran and world history, geography, civic organization of the Honduran State and human rights, sociology, philosophy, and anthropology.

16.7%

Habilidades Blandas (Soft Skills)

Problem solving, effective communication, cognitive flexibility, critical thinking, and resilience — the five competencies UNAH's CEI-TEST selected for this component.

Preparing for the PHUMA Exam

What You Need to Know

Passing score: 700 points is the minimum admission index for UNAH; competitive programmes publish higher required indices — 900 for engineering and architecture, 950 for Microbiología, 1,000 for Medicina y Cirugía and Odontología
Assessment: 120 multiple-choice questions across 5 sections (Comunicativas 30, Matemáticas 30, Entorno Natural 20, Entorno Social 20, Habilidades Blandas 20) in a single 170-minute session
Time limit: 170 minutes (2 hours 50 minutes)
Exam / certification fees: L. 500.00 (Honduran Lempiras) Official sources

Using Our Practice Resources

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PHUMA: Suggested Study Strategy

1Pace yourself to spend approximately 1 minute and 25 seconds per question across the 170-minute testing session.

2Ensure you complete the mandatory online vocational guidance test (Prueba Vocacional) at least 48 hours before registering for PHUMA.

3Review the official Guía Pre-U published by UNAH DSA to familiarize yourself with the question formats in all five competency areas.

4Balance your study time across all five sections: while math and verbal account for 50% combined, natural sciences, social sciences, and soft skills comprise the remaining 50%.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the PHUMA exam in Honduras?

The PHUMA (Prueba Hondureña Universitaria de Medición Académica) is the official undergraduate admissions examination of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH), replacing the former College Board PAA. It evaluates five key academic and behavioral competencies.

What is the structure and duration of PHUMA?

The official PHUMA comprises 120 multiple-choice questions divided across five sections: Spanish Communication (30), Mathematics (30), Natural Sciences (20), Social Sciences (20), and Soft Skills (20). The testing time is 170 minutes (2 hours and 50 minutes).

What score is needed to pass PHUMA and enter UNAH?

The minimum admission index is 700 points, and most UNAH degree programmes admit at that level. Competitive programmes publish a higher required index on the UNAH Oferta Académica page: 900 points for the engineering disciplines and Arquitectura, 950 for Microbiología, and 1,000 for Medicina y Cirugía and Odontología. Where places are capped, reaching the index still does not guarantee entry, because applicants compete for the available cupos by ranking.

How much does the PHUMA exam cost?

The official exam registration fee is L. 500.00 (Honduran Lempiras), payable with your admission application number at authorized Honduran banking institutions.

Is the official PHUMA administered in English?

No. The official PHUMA is administered exclusively in Spanish. This free practice bank provides an English-language MCQ study adaptation of the tested skills, preserving official terminology and Spanish literary/civic concepts where appropriate for effective practice.