HESI A2 Grammar Practice Exam - Nurselytic

Correct Answer: B

Rationale: The sentence starts with 'Before I had finished supper,' indicating that the action of James texting you on your cell phone had occurred before the completion of another past action (finishing supper). The past perfect tense 'had texted' is used to express an action that happened before another action in the past, making the sentence grammatically correct.
Choice A is incorrect because it uses the present continuous tense, which is not suitable for indicating an action that occurred before finishing supper.
Choice C is incorrect as it uses the simple present tense, which does not convey the sequence of events correctly.
Choice D is incorrect as it presents the present continuous tense, which is not appropriate for the context of the sentence.

Correct Answer: A

Rationale: The correct word to use in this sentence is 'volunteered' as it indicates an action that Cathy did in the past. The sentence suggests that Cathy was engaging in volunteering at the hospital for the first time, so the past tense form 'volunteered' is the most appropriate choice.
Choice B ('volunteering') is incorrect because it is the present participle form and does not fit the past tense context of the sentence.
Choice C ('was volunteered') is passive voice and implies that someone else made Cathy volunteer, which is not the intended meaning.
Choice D ('volunteer') is incorrect as it is the base form of the verb and does not match the past tense requirement of the sentence.

Correct Answer: B

Rationale: The sentence needs a comma before the conjunction 'but' to correctly join the two independent clauses 'The days seem long' and 'the nights seem even longer.' This comma helps to create a clear separation between the contrasting ideas in the sentence.
Choice A (Period) is incorrect because a period would create two separate sentences rather than connecting them.
Choice C (Colon) is incorrect as colons are used to introduce lists, explanations, or quotations.
Choice D (Apostrophe) is incorrect as it is not needed in this sentence.

Correct Answer: C

Rationale: The word 'our' is the best substitute for the underlined words 'the doctor's and my' in the sentence. Using 'our' indicates joint possession, making the sentence more concise and natural.

Choice A, 'his', is singular possessive and does not reflect the joint ownership implied by the sentence.
Choice B, 'their', is plural possessive and does not align with the singular subjects 'the doctor and I'.
Choice D, 'mine', is possessive for the first person singular pronoun and does not convey the shared ownership of the notes by both individuals.

Correct Answer: C

Rationale: The phrase 'had rarely' is not used correctly in the sentence. The correct form should be 'rarely eaten' instead of 'had rarely' to convey the past tense of the children's eating habits before their hospitalization. 'Had rarely' is incorrect because it does not match the structure needed to describe the children's eating habits in the past.

Choices A, B, and D are grammatically sound and fit appropriately in the sentence.