PARCC Advanced Grammar Practice Questions
1. David was known for belching; and telling inappropriate jokes in public.
1. B: The semicolon is incorrect punctuation here. With the coordinating conjunction "and," no punctuation is needed between the two gerunds. A comma is permissible to indicate David did not necessarily do both things simultaneously; however, semicolons are for separating two independent clauses, or separating dependent clauses/phrases containing internal commas.
2. Graduation from High School is considered a momentous occasion by many.
2. A: "High School" is incorrect capitalization. These words are not names/proper nouns and should not be capitalized.
3. Nurses plays a vital role in the healthcare profession.
3. D: The singular form of the verb ("plays") disagrees with the plural noun subject ("Nurses"), representing incorrect grammar.
4. After having his tonsels removed, the child was listless for a few days.
4. C: "Tonsels" is an incorrect spelling of the word "tonsils."
5. The park was serine at twilight.
5. C: "Serine" is an incorrect spelling of the adjective "serene," meaning peaceful (indicated by sentence context), confusing it with the noun serine, meaning the amino acid.
6. Was the patient's mind lucid during the evaluation.
6. B: Ending this question with a period is incorrect punctuation. It should end with a question mark.
7. The bachalor never married. Most people thought it was because of misogyny.
7. C: "Bachalor" is an incorrect spelling of "bachelor."
8. The intricacy of the mathematical equation, drove the student trying to solve it crazy.
8. B: The comma is incorrect punctuation. No punctuation mark is needed here.
9. The hybrid tomatoes is immune to most common diseases.
9. D: A singular predicate with a plural subject is incorrect subject-verb agreement, i.e. grammar.
10. The professor was humiliated when his students reported him to the Dean for verbal abuse.
10. A: The noun "dean" is not a name/proper noun, so the capitalization is incorrect.
11. The con artist hoodwinked the old lady when he sold her fradulent insurance.
11. C: "Fradulent" is incorrect spelling of the adjective "fraudulent."
12. The movie star was accused of a misdemeanor, when she stole $15 worth of merchandise from the store.
12. B: The comma before the adverbial clause ("when...") is incorrect punctuation; it should not be there.
13. The congregation sang a comtemporary hymn.
13. C: "Comtemporary" is an incorrect spelling of "contemporary."
14. The wound were necrotic when examined.
14. D: The plural verb "were" with the singular noun subject "wound" lacks subject-verb agreement, constituting incorrect grammar.
15. The defendint exhibited a peevish appearance.
15. C: "Defendint" is an incorrect spelling of the word "defendant."
16. The band director was scheduled to play the piccolo on tuesday.
16. A: The lower-case initial "t" in "Tuesday" is incorrect capitalization: names/proper nouns are capitalized.
17. The renter was remiss; about the rent.
17. B: The semicolon here is incorrect punctuation. The only punctuation mark this sentence needs is its final period.
18. The old man was know for his sapient knowledge.
18. D: The correct past-perfect form here is "was known." "Was know" is incorrect grammar.
19. The inventor create several specious ideas to solve the problem.
19. D: "Create" is incorrect grammar here. The singular subject noun "inventor" requires either the singular verb form "creates" or the past-tense "created" for correct construction.
20. The teacher identified the troublemakers, in her classroom.
20. B: It is incorrect punctuation to place a comma between the noun and its modifying prepositional phrase. No punctuation mark should be used, except for the final period.