English TEAS Practice Test

Correct Answer: C

Rationale: The correct answer is C: "," because it is used to separate two independent clauses in a sentence. In this case, it separates the main clause "James was exhausted" from the dependent clause "when he heard the news." The comma is necessary to clarify the relationship between the two clauses. Incorrect choices: A: "." is a period which indicates the end of a sentence. B: ";" is a semicolon which is used to join two closely related independent clauses. D: "-" is a hyphen used for compound words, to connect words, or to show a range.

Correct Answer: C

Rationale: The correct answer is C because it introduces unnecessary information ("over the years since 1958") that is not relevant to the context of the sentence. The sentence is focused on the recent changes in the pension payment to reflect the salary of a high-level government executive. Choice A, B, and D all effectively revise and combine the underlined portion by maintaining clarity and conciseness. Choice A and D use a relative pronoun ("which") to refer back to the "annual pension payment," and choice B uses a semicolon to separate the two clauses effectively. Therefore, C is the incorrect choice as it introduces irrelevant information and disrupts the flow of the sentence.

Correct Answer: B

Rationale: The correct answer is B: dollars. In this sentence, "dollars" is the only word that is considered slang as it is a colloquial term for currency. "Cost" is a standard verb, "steep" is an adjective, and "tag" is a noun. Using slang terms in formal writing should be avoided, so "dollars" is the inappropriate choice in this context.

Correct Answer: A

Rationale: The prefix "pre-" means before. In this context, "preoperative" means before the operation. Therefore, the evaluation will take place before the operation. The other choices are incorrect because they do not align with the meaning of the prefix "pre-": B: After the operation - This contradicts the prefix "pre-." C: During the operation - This contradicts the prefix "pre-." D: Outside of the operation - This is not related to the prefix "pre-."

Correct Answer: B

Rationale: The correct answer is B because it follows the rules of capitalization for titles and proper nouns. "Robert Jones" is capitalized as it is a specific person's name, and "Senator" is capitalized as it is a title when referring to a specific person. The other choices have incorrect capitalization. A should have "president" lowercase unless directly preceding the name, C should have "aunt" and "uncle" lowercase unless directly preceding the names, and D should have "New Year's Eve" capitalized as it is a proper noun.