Nursing Elites

1. The shear number of people in the audience overwhelmed the actress as she peeked through the curtain before scene one. Which of the following correctly describes an error in the sentence above?

• A. The homograph 'peeked' should be 'peaked.'
• B. The homograph 'through' should be 'threw.'
• C. The homophone 'shear' should be 'sheer.'
• D. The homophone 'scene' should be 'seen.'

Correct answer: C

Rationale: The word 'shear' means to cut, while 'sheer' in this context means 'complete' or 'unqualified.' The correct spelling in the sentence should be 'sheer.' Choice A, 'peeked' is the correct past tense of 'peek,' meaning to glance quickly or briefly. Choice B, 'through' is the correct preposition to indicate moving in one side and out the other. Choice D, 'scene,' is the correct term for a part of a play or movie, not 'seen,' which is the past participle of 'see.'

2. What is the best way to punctuate the dialogue, 'Are you coming?' she asked. 'Maybe,' I replied.

• A. 'Are you coming?' she asked? 'Maybe,' I replied.
• B. 'Are you coming?' she asked. 'Maybe,' I replied.
• C. 'Are you coming?' she asked, 'Maybe,' I replied.
• D. 'Are you coming?' she asked, 'Maybe,' I replied.

Correct answer: B

Rationale: The correct way to punctuate dialogue is to enclose each speaker's words in quotation marks. Additionally, the question mark should be placed inside the closing quotation mark of the question. In this case, the correct answer is B as it adheres to the punctuation rules for dialogue. Each character's dialogue is correctly enclosed in quotation marks, and the question mark is appropriately positioned inside the closing quotation mark of the question. Choice A is incorrect as the question mark is placed outside the closing quotation mark of the question. Choice C is incorrect as it uses a comma instead of a period after 'she asked.' Choice D is incorrect as it uses a comma instead of a period after 'she asked' and incorrectly places the comma inside the closing quotation mark of the question.

3. Which sentence uses the past perfect tense correctly?

• A. By the time I arrived, the party had already begun.
• B. I wish I had studied harder for the exam.
• C. We will have finished the project by Monday.
• D. She had been waiting for hours before he finally showed up.

Correct answer: A

Rationale: Option A correctly uses the past perfect tense to show an action that was completed before another past action. In this sentence, 'the party had already begun' indicates that the party started before 'I arrived.' This structure is typical of the past perfect tense. Choice B uses the past perfect tense but does not demonstrate the sequence of actions in the past. Choice C uses the future perfect tense, indicating completion of an action by a future time. Choice D uses the past perfect continuous tense, not the simple past perfect tense required by the question.

4. In the sentence 'The flustered man watched the train as it pulled out of the station,' which of the following is the simple subject?

• A. man
• B. the flustered man
• C. watched
• D. train

Correct answer: A

Rationale: The simple subject is the noun or pronoun that the sentence is about. In this sentence, the subject is 'man' because it is the entity performing the action of watching. 'The flustered man' is a noun phrase but not the simple subject as it includes an article and an adjective. 'Watched' is a verb and 'train' is the object of the action, not the subject. Therefore, 'man' is the correct simple subject in this sentence.

5. Identify the appositive in the following sentence: 'My favorite author, Agatha Christie, wrote many detective novels.'

• A. favorite
• B. Agatha Christie
• C. many
• D. novels

Correct answer: B

Rationale: In the sentence, 'Agatha Christie' is the appositive. An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that renames or clarifies another noun or pronoun in a sentence. In this case, 'Agatha Christie' renames the noun 'author.' The appositive provides additional information about the noun it follows, enhancing the reader's understanding. Choices A, C, and D are not appositives. 'Favorite' is an adjective describing 'author,' 'many' is an adjective describing 'novels,' and 'novels' is the direct object of the verb 'wrote,' not an appositive.

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