English Practice: 8 MCQs with Answers and Explanations

Reading practice begins with close attention to the text.
Image: Tony Webster · CC BY 2.0. Displayed without cropping in this article.

Connect the concepts

Continue your entrance-test practice with chemistry questions, physics questions and biology questions. Each set includes explanations to help you review mistakes.

Independent practice • Grammar, vocabulary and reading

Practise sentence structure, word choice and careful reading. Each answer explains the rule or textual clue used to choose it.

This page contains eight practice questions. They are learning exercises, not official exam questions or a complete syllabus guide.

How to use this set

1. Answer all eight questions before opening the solutions.
2. For calculations, write the equation, substitute values and include units.
3. Check the explanation even when your answer is correct. Record the concept behind each mistake.

Practice questions

Question 1

Choose the verb: Each of the students ___ a notebook.

1. have
2. has
3. are having
4. were have

Show answer and explanation

Answer: B. The subject is “Each”, which is singular; “has” agrees with it. “Students” belongs to the intervening phrase.

Question 2

Choose the correct sentence.

1. She has lived here since three years.
2. She lives here since three years.
3. She has lived here for three years.
4. She living here for three years.

Show answer and explanation

Answer: C. Use “for” with a duration such as three years. Use “since” with a starting point such as 2023.

Question 3

In “The evidence was insufficient to support the claim”, insufficient means:

1. not enough
2. unnecessary
3. accurate
4. unrelated

Show answer and explanation

Answer: A. “Insufficient” describes an amount or strength that is inadequate for the stated purpose.

Question 4

Choose the correctly punctuated sentence.

1. Before the experiment began, the students checked the equipment.
2. Before, the experiment began the students checked the equipment.
3. Before the experiment, began the students checked the equipment.
4. Before the experiment began the students, checked the equipment.

Show answer and explanation

Answer: A. A comma separates the introductory dependent clause from the main clause; it does not split the subject from its verb.

Question 5

Which sentence is in the passive voice?

1. The researcher measured the temperature.
2. The students collected samples.
3. The temperature was measured by the researcher.
4. The researcher is measuring the temperature.

Show answer and explanation

Answer: C. The subject receives the action. The construction “was measured” uses a form of “be” and a past participle.

Question 6

Choose the word: A lack of sleep may ___ your concentration.

1. effect
2. affect
3. effects
4. affected

Show answer and explanation

Answer: B. After “may”, use the base form of a verb. “Affect” means influence here; “Effect” can also be a verb meaning bring about, but it does not fit this sentence.

Question 7

Read: “Plants in both groups received equal water. One group received more light. The brighter group grew taller.” What changed between the groups?

1. Water quantity
2. Light exposure
3. Plant species, certainly
4. Temperature, certainly

Show answer and explanation

Answer: B. The passage explicitly identifies light as different and water as equal. It gives no evidence of a species or temperature difference.

Question 8

Using the same passage, which conclusion goes beyond the evidence?

1. Both groups received equal water.
2. One group received more light.
3. The brighter group grew taller.
4. More light always makes every plant grow taller.

Show answer and explanation

Answer: D. A result from these groups does not establish an unlimited rule for all species and conditions.

Review your work

Score one point for each correct answer. Use the score to identify what to revise, rather than to predict an examination result. Rework any missed question without looking at the solution, then explain your reasoning aloud.

For exam preparation, compare your topic list with the current syllabus issued by your examination authority. This short set makes no claim of full syllabus coverage.

Browse the MDCAT practice directory · Explore all biology courses