Nursing Elites

1. Which of the following is a correctly punctuated simple sentence?

• A. Leah and Jerry spent the last few hours in the garden smelling the roses and tulips.
• B. Leah stopped to smell the roses in the garden, but her allergies made her eyes water.
• C. Because it was now spring, Leah could stop to smell the roses.
• D. As Leah jogged in the park, she noticed the smell of roses.

Correct answer: A

Rationale: The sentence in option A is a correctly punctuated simple sentence with a compound predicate ('spent... smelling'). It consists of a subject 'Leah and Jerry' and a compound predicate 'spent... smelling,' making it a complete sentence. Option B contains a comma splice, joining two independent clauses incorrectly with just a comma. Option C is a complex sentence with a dependent clause ('Because it was now spring') and an independent clause, not a simple sentence. Option D is a complex sentence with a dependent clause ('As Leah jogged in the park') and an independent clause, not a simple sentence. Therefore, option A is the only choice that represents a correctly punctuated simple sentence.

2. Which of the following is a complex sentence?

• A. When skywriting, a pilot flies a small aircraft in specific, particular formations, creating large letters visible from the ground.
• B. The public defense attorney was able to maintain her optimism despite her dearth of courtroom wins, her lack of free time, and her growing list of clients.
• C. Because the distance between stars in the galaxy is far greater than the distance between planets, interstellar travel is expected to be an even bigger challenge than interplanetary exploration.
• D. Invented in France in the early nineteenth century, the stethoscope underwent a number of reiterations before the emergence of the modern form of the instrument in the 1850s.

Correct answer: C

Rationale: A complex sentence has one independent clause and at least one dependent clause connected by a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun. In choice C, the sentence 'Because the distance between stars in the galaxy is far greater than the distance between planets' is a dependent clause introduced by the subordinating conjunction 'Because,' while the rest of the sentence 'interstellar travel is expected to be an even bigger challenge than interplanetary exploration' forms the independent clause. This combination of an independent clause and a dependent clause makes choice C a complex sentence. Choices A, B, and D do not contain both an independent and dependent clause connected in the way that choice C does, thus they do not qualify as complex sentences.

3. What is the most effective way to rewrite the following sentence: She is saying that some of the students are wearing to school is being distracting and inappropriate?

• A. Some of the outfits students wear to school, she is saying, are distracting and not appropriate.
• B. The outfits are distracting and inappropriate, she says, that students wear to school.
• C. She says that some of the outfits that students wear to school are distracting and inappropriate.
• D. She says that it is distracting and inappropriate that students wear outfits to school.

Correct answer: C

Rationale: The most effective way to rewrite the sentence is, 'She says that some of the outfits that students wear to school are distracting and inappropriate.' This choice corrects the sentence structure by placing the subject ('Some of the outfits') before the verb ('are'), making it clearer and more grammatically correct. Choice A is incorrect as it places the subject after the verb, which disrupts the sentence structure. Choice B is incorrect as it changes the meaning of the sentence by placing the verb before the subject. Choice D is incorrect as it creates a confusing sentence structure by using 'that' redundantly.

4. She is a fierce competitor, and nothing is going to keep her from running that marathon despite a hamstring injury. Which of the following describes the grammar problem in the sentence above?

• A. Poor diction
• B. Ambiguous word choice
• C. Tense disagreement
• D. Inappropriate transition word choice

Correct answer: C

Rationale: The correct answer is C, tense disagreement. The sentence contains a tense disagreement between 'was' and 'is.' 'She is a fierce competitor' and 'nothing is going to keep her' are in the present tense, while 'was going to keep her' should also be in the present tense to maintain consistency. Choices A, B, and D are incorrect because the issue in the sentence is related to verb tense, not diction, word choice, or transition words.

5. Which of the following sentences has correct pronoun-antecedent agreement?

• A. Because the students in the chemistry class did poorly on the exam, they had to take a make-up exam.
• B. Since the doctor has a lot of experience with this illness, she should know how to treat it.
• C. If the choir has a problem with my music, they can sing something else.
• D. The party of five was late for its reservation.

Correct answer: B

Rationale: Sentence B has correct pronoun-antecedent agreement with 'she' correctly referring to 'the doctor.' In sentence A, 'it' is unclear and doesn't have a clear antecedent. In sentence C, 'they' does not agree with 'choir,' which is a singular noun. In sentence D, 'their' should be 'its' to agree with the singular noun 'party.'

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