HESI A2 Module (2022/2023) SECTION I - READING COMPREHENSION

SET 1 Directions: The following questions are based on a number of reading passages. Each passage is followedby a series of questions. Read each passage carefully, and then answer the questions based on it. You mayreread the passage as often as you wish. When you have finished answering the questions based on one passage, go right on to the next passage. Choose the best answer based on the information given and implied.Questions 1 – 4 refer to the following passage. Passage 1 Infectious Disease An infectious disease is a clinically evident illness resulting from the presence of pathogenic agents, such asviruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, multi-cellular parasites, and unusual proteins known as prions. Infectious pathologies are also called communicable diseases or transmissible diseases, due to their potential of transmission from one person or species to another by a replicating agent (as opposed to a toxin). Transmission of an infectious disease can occur in many different ways. Physical contact, liquids, food,body fluids, contaminated objects, and airborne inhalation can all transmit infecting Agents. Transmissible diseases that occur through contact with an ill person, or objects touched bythem, areespecially infective, and are sometimes referred to as contagious diseases. Communicable diseases that require a more specialized route of infection, such as through blood or needletransmission, or sexual transmission, are usually not regarded as contagious. The term infectivity describes the ability of an organism to enter, survive and multiply in the host, while the infectiousness of a disease indicates the comparative ease with which the disease is transmitted. An infection however, is not synonymous with an infectious disease, asan infection may not cause important clinical symptoms. 1. What can we infer from the first paragraph in this passage? a. Sickness from a toxin can be easily transmitted from one person to another. b. Sickness from an infectious disease can be easily transmitted from one person to another. c. Few sicknesses are transmitted from one person to another. d. Infectious diseases are easily treated. B We can infer from this passage that sickness from an infectious disease can be easilytransmitted from one person to another. From the passage, “Infectious pathologies are also called communicable diseases or transmissiblediseases, due to their potential of transmission from one person or species toanother by a replicatingagent (as opposed to a toxin).” 2. What are two other names for infections’ pathologies? a. Communicable diseases or transmissible diseases b. Communicable diseases or terminal diseases c. Transmissible diseases or preventable diseases d. Communicative diseases or unstable diseases A Two other names for infectious pathologies are communicable diseases and transmissiblediseases. From the passage, “Infectious pathologies are also called communicable diseases or transmissiblediseases, due to their potential of transmission from one person or species toanother by a replicatingagent (as opposed to a toxin).” 3. What does infectivity describe? a. The inability of an organism to multiply in the host b. The inability of an organism to reproduce c. The ability of an organism to enter, survive and multiply in the host d. The ability of an organism to reproduce in the host C Infectivity describes the ability of an organism to enter, survive and multiply in the host. This istaken directly from the passage, and is a definition type question. Definition type questions can be answered quickly and easily by scanning the passage for thewordyou are asked to define. “Infectivity” is an unusual word, so it is quick and easy to scan the passage looking for thisword. 4. How do we know an infection is not synonymous with an infectious disease? a. Because an infectious disease destroys infections with enough time. b. Because an infection may not cause important clinical symptoms or impair host function. c. We do not. The two are synonymous. d. Because an infection is too fatal to be an infectious disease. B We know an infection is not synonymous with an infectious disease because an infection maynotcause important clinical symptoms or impair host function. Questions 5 – 8 refer to the following passage. Passage 2 -Viruses A virus (from the Latin virus meaning toxin or poison) is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of other organisms. Most viruses are too small to be seendirectly witha microscope. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and single-celled organisms. Unlike prions and viroids, viruses consist of two or three parts: all viruses have genes made from either DNA or RNA, all have a protein coat that protects these genes, and some have an envelope offat that surrounds them when they are outside a cell. (Viroids do not have a proteincoat and prions contain no RNA or DNA.) Viruses vary from simple to very complex structures. Most viruses are about one hundredtimes smaller than an average bacterium. The origins of viruses in the evolutionary history of life are unclear:some may have evolved from plasmids— pieces of DNA that can move between cells—while others may have evolved from bacteria. Viruses spread in many ways; plant viruses are often transmitted from plant to plant by insects that feedon sap, such as aphids, while animal viruses can be carried by blood-sucking insects.These disease-bearingorganisms are known as vectors. Influenza viruses are spread by coughing and sneezing. HIV is one of several viruses transmitted through sexual contact and byexposure to infected blood. Viruses can infect only a limited range of host cells called the “host range”. This can be broad as when a virus is capable of infecting many species or narrow. 2 5. What can we infer from the first paragraph in this selection? a. A virus is the same as bacterium b. A person with excellent vision can see a virus with the naked eye c. A virus cannot be seen with the naked eye d. Not all viruses are dangerous C We can infer from the passage that, a virus is too small to be seen with the naked eye. Clearly,if they are too small to be seen with a microscope, then they are too small to be seen with the naked eye. 6. What types of organisms do viruses infect? a. Only plants and humans b. Only animals and humans c. Only disease-prone humans d. All types of organisms D Viruses infect all types of organisms. This is taken directly from the passage, “Viruses infect alltypes of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and single-celled organisms.” 7. How many parts do prions and viroids consist of? a. Two b. Three c. Either less than two or more than three d. Less than two C The passage does not say exactly how many parts prions and viroids consist of. It does say, “Unlike prions and viroids, viruses consist of two or three parts ...” so we can infer they consist of eitherless than two or more than three parts. 8. What is one common virus spread by coughing and sneezing? a. AIDS b. Influenza c. Herpes d. Tuberculosis B A common virus spread by coughing and sneezing is Influenza. Questions 9 – 11 refer to the following passage.Passage 3 –Clouds The first stage of a thunderstorm is the cumulus stage, or developing stage. In this stage, masses of moisture are lifted upwards into the atmosphere. The trigger for this lift can be insulation heating the ground producing thermals, areas where two winds converge, forcing air upwards, or where winds blow over terrain of increasing elevation. Moisture in the air rapidlycools into liquid drops of water, which appears as cumulus clouds. As the water vapor condenses into liquid, latent heat is released which warms the air, causing itto become less dense than the surrounding dry air. The warm air rises in an updraft through theprocess of convection (hence the term convective precipitation). This creates a low-pressure zone beneath the forming thunderstorm. In a typical thunderstorm, approximately 5×108 kg of water vapor is lifted, and the amount of energy released when this condenses is about equal to the energy used by a city of 100,000 in a month.3 9. The cumulus stage of a thunderstorm is the a. The last stage of the storm b. The middle stage of the storm formation c. The beginning of the thunderstorm d. The period after the thunderstorm has ended C The cumulus stage of a thunderstorm is the beginning of the thunderstorm. This is taken directly from the passage, “The first stage of a thunderstorm is the cumulus, or developing stage.” 10. One of the ways the air is warmed is a. Air moving downwards, which will creates a high-pressure zone b. Air cooling and becoming less dense, causing it to rise c. Moisture moving downward toward the earth d. Heat created by water vapor condensing into liquid D The passage lists four ways that air is heated. One of the ways is, heat created by watervaporcondensing into liquid. 11. Identify the correct sequence of events a. Warm air rises, water droplets condense, creating more heat, and the air rises further. b. Warm air rises and cools, water droplets condense, causing low pressure. c. Warm air rises and collects water vapor, the water vapor condenses as the air rises, whichcreates heat,and causes the air to rise further. d. None of the above. A The sequence of events can be taken from these sentences: As the moisture carried by the [1] air currents rises, it rapidly cools into liquid drops of water, which appear as cumulus clouds. As the water vapor condenses into liquid, it [2] releases heat, whichwarms the air. This in turn causes the air to become less dense than the surrounding dry air and [3] rise further. Questions 12 – 14 refer to the following passage.Passage 4 –US Weather Service The United States National Weather Service classifies thunderstorms as severe when they reach a predetermined level. Usually, this means the storm is strong enough to inflict wind or hail damage.In most of the United States, a storm is considered severe if winds reach over 50knots (58 mph or 93 km/h), hail is ¾ inch (2 cm) diameter or larger, or if meteorologists report funnel clouds or tornadoes. In the Central Region of the United States National Weather Service, the hail threshold for a severe thunderstorm is 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter. Though a funnel cloud or tornado indicates the presence ofa severe thunderstorm, the various meteorological agencies would issue a tornado warning rather than a severe thunderstorm warning in this case. Meteorologists in Canada define a severe thunderstorm as either having tornadoes, wind gustsof 90 km/h or greater, hail 2 centimeters in diameter or greater, rainfall more than 50 millimeters in 1 hour, or 75millimeters in 3 hours. Severe thunderstorms can develop from any type of thunderstorm. 3 12. What is the purpose of this passage? a. Explaining when a thunderstorm turns into a tornado b. Explaining who issues storm warnings, and when these warnings should be issued c. Explaining when meteorologists consider a thunderstorm severe d. None of the above C The purpose of this text is to explain when meteorologists consider a thunderstorm severe. The main idea is the first sentence, “The United States National Weather Service classifies thunderstorms as severe when they reach a predetermined level.” After the first sentence, the passage explains and elaborates on this idea. Everything is this passage is related to this idea,and there are no other major ideas in this passage that are central to the whole passage. .................................................................................................CONTINUE.