HESI A2 cheat sheet

• The main idea is the one point the whole passage makes about its topic; details are the facts, numbers, examples, and quotes that support it.
• A topic sentence states a paragraph's main point; it is often the first sentence, but it can also appear in the middle or at the end.

A true sentence from the passage can still be wrong: one detail is a detail, not a summary.

• Context clues are nearby words, in the same sentence or the next one, that hint at what an unfamiliar word means.
• Definition clues are signaled by phrases such as is defined as, means and refers to, or by punctuation such as parentheses.

A contrast clue gives the opposite of the word's meaning, not a synonym; unlike signals a contrast.

• Definition clues are signaled by means, refers to, is defined as or parentheses; synonym clues by or, in other words, that is to say, commas or dashes.
• Contrast clues (but, however, unlike, even though) show the word means the opposite of something nearby; example clues (such as, for example, for instance) show what the word covers.

Pick the meaning the sentence needs, not the meaning you know best; affect is usually a verb meaning to influence, but as a noun it means an emotional response.

• Nouns name people, places, things or ideas, and pronouns stand in for nouns.
• Verbs show an action (run, write) or a state of being (is, seems).

Decide by the word's job, not by how it looks: near is an adjective in the near end of the hall but a preposition in near the sink.

• To add or subtract fractions, rewrite them with a common denominator (ideally the least common denominator), then add or subtract only the numerators.
• To multiply fractions, multiply the tops and multiply the bottoms, then simplify. To divide, multiply by the reciprocal (flipped version) of the second fraction.

Add fractions with a common denominator, not by adding tops and bottoms (1/2 + 1/3 is 5/6, not 2/5).

• OpenStax lists eight properties of life: order, response to stimuli, reproduction, adaptation, growth and development, regulation (homeostasis), energy processing, and evolution.
• The cell is the smallest unit of structure and function in living things; viruses are not considered living because they are not made of cells.

A population is one species in an area; a community is all the populations in that area, so populations sit inside communities, not the other way around.

• SI base units include the meter (length), kilogram (mass), second (time), kelvin (temperature) and mole (amount of substance).
• Prefixes: kilo = 1,000; centi = 1/100; milli = 1/1,000; micro (µ) = 1/1,000,000 of the base unit.

Read the bottom of the meniscus, not the top edge where the liquid climbs the glass.

• In anatomical position the body stands upright, feet parallel, toes forward, upper limbs held out to each side with the palms facing forward; terms are always used as if the body were in this position.
• Proximal and distal describe positions on a limb: proximal is closer to where the limb attaches to the trunk, distal is farther from it.

Right and left mean the subject's own right and left, not yours as you face them.