PARCC - Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers Advanced Grammar Practice Questions 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence correctly uses the conditional perfect tense?
- If she would have studied harder, she would pass the exam.
- If she had studied harder, she would have passed the exam. (Correct answer)
- If she studied harder, she would had passed the exam.
- If she has studied harder, she will have passed the exam.
Correct answer: If she had studied harder, she would have passed the exam.
The conditional perfect requires 'had + past participle' in the if-clause and 'would have + past participle' in the result clause. 'If she had studied harder, she would have passed' follows this pattern correctly.
Question 2: Which sentence contains a misplaced modifier?
- The chef, exhausted from the long shift, burned the roast.
- Nearly all of the students passed the final exam.
- She almost drove her children to school every day. (Correct answer)
- The dog, barking loudly, woke the entire neighborhood.
Correct answer: She almost drove her children to school every day.
'Almost' is misplaced — it modifies 'drove' rather than 'every day,' implying she nearly drove but didn't. The intended meaning is that she drove them on almost every day, so 'almost' should precede 'every day.'
Question 3: Which sentence correctly uses a semicolon?
- She loves hiking; and swimming in the lake.
- The project was delayed; because the materials arrived late.
- He finished his report; then he submitted it to his manager. (Correct answer)
- They ordered pizza; but forgot to pick it up.
Correct answer: He finished his report; then he submitted it to his manager.
A semicolon correctly joins two independent clauses without a coordinating conjunction. 'He finished his report' and 'then he submitted it to his manager' are both independent clauses, making the semicolon appropriate here.
Question 4: Which sentence contains faulty parallelism?
- The candidate promised to lower taxes, create jobs, and improve infrastructure.
- She enjoys reading novels, writing poetry, and painting landscapes.
- The coach told the players to arrive early, to warm up thoroughly, and to stay focused.
- He likes to swim, running, and to cycle on weekends. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: He likes to swim, running, and to cycle on weekends.
The series mixes infinitives ('to swim,' 'to cycle') with a gerund ('running'), breaking parallel structure. All items in a series must use the same grammatical form.
Question 5: Which sentence correctly punctuates a non-restrictive clause?
- My brother who lives in Boston is a doctor.
- The book that won the award was published last year.
- Mount Everest, which is the world's tallest peak, attracts thousands of climbers. (Correct answer)
- The student who scored highest received a scholarship.
Correct answer: Mount Everest, which is the world's tallest peak, attracts thousands of climbers.
A non-restrictive clause adds extra information that is not essential to identifying the noun. 'Which is the world's tallest peak' is non-essential information about Mount Everest and must be set off by commas. Restrictive clauses (using 'that' or 'who') do not take commas.
Question 6: Which sentence uses pronoun case correctly?
- Between you and I, the decision was unfair.
- The award was given to she and her partner.
- Us students must prepare thoroughly for the examination.
- The manager praised both him and her for their work. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: The manager praised both him and her for their work.
'Him' and 'her' are objective-case pronouns, which is correct after the verb 'praised.' The other options use subjective-case pronouns ('I,' 'she,' 'us') where objective-case pronouns are required.
PARCC - Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers Advanced Grammar Practice Questions 1
Which sentence correctly uses the conditional perfect tense?