hiset practice essay questions

HiSET Writing Practice Test

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1 . Question

Questions 1–8 are based on the following letter..

Dear 1 Mr. Karlsberg

My name is Taylor Dalton and I am writing to you on behalf of Silver Hill High School’s Jazz Ensemble. Our band director, Mr. Langford, showed us some of your jazz piano 2 recordings, and we were all very impressed. Several students in the Jazz Ensemble got together and decided to ask if you would be willing to perform and give a workshop for our school’s annual Spring Concert. 3

This is the first year our school has had a Jazz Ensemble. All the players in the Ensemble come from our school’s Marching Band and Concert Band. We are very interested in learning more about jazz music, and about how to be better improvisers. 4 It’s so cool and pretty weird to learn how improvising is more than “just making up music” — it takes a lot of practice and skill.

When this group first began, few of us had listened to very much jazz. Since the 5 begining of the school year, Mr. Langford has 5 introduced us to 5 famous jazz musicians like Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holliday. We think jazz music is fun, interesting, and inspiring, and we were excited to learn that there are even some great jazz musicians living in this city today. 6 As a jazz musician , we would be honored to learn from you about your thoughts and experiences.

With this letter, we have also included a copy of the sheet music for a piece we’ll be playing at the 7 Spring Concert: a band arrangement of Duke Ellington’s “Fleurette Africaine.” There is a very interesting piano part for the song, and we were hoping you’d be willing to play it with us.

Lastly, 8 we have all been working diligently to compile a list of questions and inquiries about how to get better at improvising when we play jazz. Perhaps you would be willing to give a short talk about how you learned to improvise music, or to give us some tips for how to practice improvising.

Thank you very much for your time. We hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely, Taylor Dalton and the Silver Hill High School Jazz Ensemble

1 Which choice is best?

(No change)
Mr Karlsberg,
Mr. Karlsberg,
Mr. Karlsberg;

2 . Question

2 which choice is best.

recordings: and we
recordings, so we
recordings, but we

3 . Question

Should the author add this at this point in the letter.

Yes, because it is important for the letter’s recipient to understand the process behind the letter.
Yes, because it implies that Mr. Karlsberg is a very skilled musician.
No, because Mr. Karlsberg is less likely to come to the school if he knows students are nervous.
No, because it does not contribute to the letter’s overall message or purpose.

4 . Question

4 which of the following options is most appropriate, considering the letter’s tone and audience.

It’s been fascinating to learn
It’s totally awesome to know
It’s kind of amazing to see

5 . Question

5 which of the following words is misspelled, if any, 6 . question, 6 which choice is best.

Being a jazz musician,
Owing to the fact that we are jazz musicians,
As jazz musicians,

7 . Question

7 which choice is best.

Spring Concert; a band
Spring Concert. A band
Spring Concert! A band

8 . Question

8 which choice is best.

we have several questions
we have several questions due to our curiosity
we have several questions to which we do not know the answer

9 . Question

Questions 9–17 are based on the following passage..

The Father of the American Revolution

Despite his tremendous influence on the history of the United States, 9 nobody knows who this person Thomas Paine actually was. Paine was born on 10 February 9 1737, in the town of Thetford England. As a young man, Paine worked as a tailor, sailor, 11 and he also was working as a minister, but he found his true calling when he moved to the British colonies in America.

Paine first gained notoriety as the editor of Pennsylvania Magazine , and he became more prominent as political turmoil engulfed the colonies. 12 Pennsylvania later became the second state to ratify the US constitution, after Delaware. In 1776, Paine anonymously published a book called Common Sense , in which he made a persuasive and impassioned case for American independence from Britain. The book’s popularity spread like 13 wildfire; soon there were 200,000 copies in circulation. Once the American Revolution began, Paine published a series of pamphlets called The Crisis . Paine’s work became a source of morale for troops engaged in the bloody war.

14 Unfortunatly , Paine’s ideas were not popular with all readers. In 1793, he was imprisoned in France for 14 opposing the 14 execution of Louis XVI, who had been overthrown in the French Revolution. He died nearly penniless in New York City in 1809. Nevertheless, Thomas Paine lives on in the present day through his timeless writing. 15

9 Which choice is best?

Thomas Paine remains an unknown figure to many Americans.
he remains an unfamiliar figure to many Americans.
Thomas Paine continues to remain an unknown and unfamiliar figure to many Americans.

10 . Question

10 which choice is best.

February 9, 1737, in the small town of Thetford England.
February 9 1737, in the small town of Thetford, England.
February 9, 1737, in the small town of Thetford, England.

11 . Question

11 which choice is best.

and minister
and minister,
and a minister too,

12 . Question

12 the author is considering deleting the underlined selection. should the author delete this sentence.

No, because it describes the historical origin of Pennsylvania Magazine.
No, because it demonstrates a major impact of Paine’s writings.
Yes, because it assumes that the reader is ignorant.
Yes, because this information distracts a reader’s attention from the passage’s focus on Thomas Paine and his writing.

13 . Question

13 which choice is best.

wildfire, soon
wildfire, which soon
wildfire soon

14 . Question

14 which of the following words is misspelled, if any.

unfortunatly

15 . Question

15 which is the best placement for paragraph 3.

Before paragraph 1
Between paragraphs 1 and 2
After paragraph 4

16 . Question

16 which choice is best, 17 . question, 17 which of the following would be the best way to combine these two sentences.

In an essay called Agrarian Justice, Paine envisioned a system of social insurance for both the young and the elderly and paved the way for what would become modern-day Social Security.
In an essay called Agrarian Justice, a system of social insurance was envisioned by Paine, inspired to create what we would call Social Security.
Paine, envisioning a system of social insurance for the young and the elderly, in his essay Agrarian Justice, paved the way for what would become modern-day Social Security.
Paine’s envisioning of Agrarian Justice became the written inspiration for modern-day Social Security, in that it envisioned a social insurance system for both the young and the elderly.

18 . Question

Questions 18–24 are based on the following letter..

Dear Mr. Nielsen:

18 Me and my wife  have been customers of the Swirl Corporation for the past 30 years. We have purchased various household appliances such as dishwashers, ovens, washers, and dryers from the local Swirl outlet store since moving here in the early nineties. We recently purchased a Swirl Eco Energy Star refrigerator from your store to replace our old non-Energy Star refrigerator. The new refrigerator worked well for two months before the top freezer stopped cooling completely. 19 Are energy bills also seem too have increased by about $25 per month since we bought this new Energy Star model.

Upon researching the problem, I found that there have been recalls of several products with 20 serial numbers comparable to us. I spoke to  21 your salesman, Lucas Garcia,  at the outlet store, but all he did was tell me to call your toll free number. I called the toll free number and returning the refrigerator was something I was advised to do to your outlet store in order for it to be forwarded on to your distribution facility.

It has been over three weeks since we returned the refrigerator to your  23 store, but, we still hadn’t received  a status update. Our energy bills have dropped back to their original level since we switched back to our old refrigerator. Our goal was to reduce our energy bill, so we are still dissatisfied. If you would like to retain us as customers, then please address these issues immediately.

Sincerely, Horace Whittaker III

18 Which choice is best?

My wife and I
My wife and me
Myself and my wife

19 . Question

19 which choice is best.

Our energy bills also seem too have increased buy
Are energy bills also seem two have increased by
Our energy bills also seem to have increased by

20 . Question

20 which choice is best.

serial numbers in the same range as us
serial numbers, that are similar to ours
serial numbers in the same range as ours

21 . Question

21 which choice is best.

your salesman Lucas Garcia
your salesman, Lucas Garcia
your salesman Lucas Garcia,

22 . Question

22 read this sentence from paragraph 2:, which revision would improve the effectiveness of this sentence.

Mr. Garcia called the toll free number, and was told he needed to forward the refrigerator to the distribution facility, and that we should return it to the outlet store.
Upon calling the toll free number, I was told to return the refrigerator to the outlet store for forwarding to your distribution facility.
So I called the toll free number, and the outlet store was given as the place I was told to return the refrigerator, as it needed forwarding to your distribution facility.
The toll free number informed me that the distribution facility could forward the refrigerator to your outlet store, and I was told to return it.

23 . Question

23 which choice is best.

store. We still haven’t received
store, but we still have not received
store but we are not receiving

24 . Question

24 read these sentences from paragraph 3:, the most effective combination of these sentences would include which group of words.

refrigerator, and yet, however,
refrigerator, so
refrigerator, and additionally
refrigerator, but
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