HiSET Language Arts Writing Practice Test 2
Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised.
The correct answer is A (B, C, and E all have pronoun case errors: when the pronoun is the object of a preposition like “between,” you need to use the objective case. D is awkward, especially in its misused idiom: “argument on.”)
Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised.
Choice E is correct. The sentence is incorrect because it does not follow parallelism. A list that begins by naming devices (i.e. phone, music player) must continue and finish in that way. Although it is informative to include the details about a planner's features, it should be accompanied by the features of a phone and a music player if that is the way the sentence is being written. Therefore, choices A, B, C and D are incorrect. Choice B and C even add “and” again making the sentence read “...music player and and...” which is clearly wrong! Be careful; the test wants to catch you off guard. Only choice E is direct and maintains parallelism.
Pick the solution that best rephrases the paragraph.
The wood was previously utilized by the locals for heating and cooking, but more recently, they started selling it to make a living.
The past tense of the verb "begin" is "began." The verb's past particle form is "begun." When combined with the auxiliary verb "had," it denotes that something has occurred and will continue to occur for an indeterminate period of time in the past.
Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised.
The underlined portion of this sentence is wrong because the sentence refers to people in general. Because a plural third person form of a pronoun is needed (because of the reference to “people”), “one” ,“it”, and “you” are all inappropriate responses. Choice A, D and E are all incorrect. Choice B is better than choice C because of the implied logic. People can reach a defined age; it is odd to say that multiple people are simultaneously reaching multiple ages—what is certain then? It’s almost an oxymoron to say certain ages in this context, although it is perfectly fine in other situations (i.e. This board game is only for people of certain ages). Yet the more defining difference is the singular verb form of choice C (i.e. reaches) mistakenly in place of the plural verb form of choice B (i.e. reach). Choice B is the best answer.
Choose the answer which best rewords the underlined portion.
People should only eat with their right hands, especially if they are eating with their fingers.
“They’re” is a contraction of “they are.” “Their” is a non-specific possessive pronoun. It appropriately shows possession of “right hands.”
Choose the answer which best rewords the underlined portion.
In Belize tourism has become one of the fastest growing sources of employment and income.
A comma is needed to separate the introductory phrase “In Belize” from the main part of the sentence. Commas are unnecessary after “tourism” and “become.”
Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised.
Only choice C corrects the redundancy error in this sentence of writing “...summer camps...” after already stating that this event occurs “During the summer...” Choice A, B and D suffer such redundancy. Choice D also breaks the list’s parallelism (values such as camaraderie and perseverance that should be followed simply by “integrity”). Choice C and E remain, but choice E makes the same mistake of choice B by capitalizing a season. Although it may look better, seasons are NOT supposed to be capitalized unless they appear in a title or a proper noun.
Pick the solution that best rephrases the paragraph.
The annual population growth rate is 2.05 percent.
The word "increase" does not fit the subject "population" in this sentence. The word "verb" in the past tense signifies that population expansion has come to an end. The phrase "has grown" in the present perfect tense denotes that an event has already occurred but is still ongoing. The population has increased in the past and is now increasing.
Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised.
The problem with this sentence is in parallel structure. The test is very particular about being consistent about the forms of words used. So specifically since the sentence refers to a capitalist market, then the sentence must refer to a communist market—not communism, which is an ideology rather than a market system in this context. Only choices B, D and E remain. Choice E commits terrible capitalization (neither “capitalist” nor “communist”) mistakes and structure errors (where does the “nor” fit in?! It does not!) Only choice B and choice D remain now, but B mistakenly capitalizes communism and does not change “adjust” to match the parallel verb (i.e. recognizing). Choice D uses the right adjective forms of capitalism and communism, does not make capitalization errors and maintains parallel sentence structure.
Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised.
The correct answer is B (A is tempting, but the pronoun “they” is vague. E has the same vague pronoun problem. C is just weird all over. D is a fragment.)
Choose the answer which best rewords the underlined portion.
With over 200 ethnic groups represented the people of the Congo have a wide variety of customs, traditions, and values.
Pick the solution that best rephrases the paragraph.
Although sugar was once Belize's main crash crop, citrus fruits have recently overtaken it as the most lucrative crop.
The word "cash crop" refers to a single object in particular—sugar—so the phrase should start with the decisive article "the." The indefinite articles "a" and "an" are used.
Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised.
The first clause (everything before the semi colon) definitely does not cause what is explained in the second clause (everything after the semi colon), so “therefore” is an inappropriate transition. This sentence is presenting contrasting professions (firefighter/police officer and doctor/lawyer) since two are viewed as blue-collar (working class) and the others are white-collar (professional); therefore, a contrasting conjunction is needed. Choice A (“therefore”), choice D (“as a result”) and choice E (“and”) do not present contrasting conjunctions. In this sentence “but” is not your best option for a conjunction. A semi-colon is used, so the three simple conjunctions (and/but/yet/etc.) are not as appropriate as the complex conjunctions (therefore/however/nevertheless/etc.). If just a comma was used, then “but” would have been appropriate (i.e. “...into the way of danger physically, but professionals such as doctors...”). So now it’s down to “nevertheless.” Choice C is your best answer.
Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised.
The correct answer is B (A is a run-on: “however” is NOT a conjunction. C and D are missing contrast. E is not at all concise.)
Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised.
This sentence tests your knowledge of capitalization and awareness of parallelism. The original sentence is incorrect because choice A destroys the parallelism (i.e. thru advertising instead of simply “advertising”) and uses the informal spelling of through (i.e. “thru”). Only choices D and E correct the parallelism error; however, the list should strictly contain gerunds in order to be parallel, so “advertising for it” is not the best choice. By ending with “for it” the author is also implying that one may “play for it” and “watch for it,” and although one may play for the World Cup through a grammar stretch, one cannot possibly “watch for it” and do the same thing as one who simply “watches it.” Choice D uses the appropriate capitalization (because the World Cup is a major sports event it is a proper noun that must be capitalized) and maintains strict parallelism in the concluding list of ways to be involved.
Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised.
The correct answer is D (A, B, C, and E are all dangling modifiers. A has a verb agreement problem, too.)
