• 40 questions

NES Health Practice Test

Unofficial NES Health practice questions on the ten competencies of test 505, with a note on how test 509 differs.

In what form does the human body mainly store glucose as an energy reserve?

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Exam mode: 40 questions, 48 minutes.

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with Pearson, which owns the National Evaluation Series. Bank checked October 15, 2026.

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All 40 questions

Health throughout the life span 12

  • A student holds a wall sit without moving. In which kind of exercise does a muscle contract statically, with no visible movement in the angle of the joint? Wikipedia, "Isometric exercise". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0003
  • After weeks of immobility, a limb has lost skeletal muscle mass. Which term names this loss, which disuse brings on rapidly? Wikipedia, "Muscle atrophy". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0003
  • The body keeps its temperature, blood glucose and fluid balance relatively stable while conditions around it change. What is this process called? Wikipedia, "Homeostasis". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0001
  • How many amino acids can humans not synthesize, so that they must come from the diet? Wikipedia, "Essential amino acid". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0002
  • In what form does the human body mainly store glucose as an energy reserve? Wikipedia, "Glycogen". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0002
  • The NES Health (505) framework still lists MyPyramid among its examples of government health information. Which U.S. Department of Agriculture guide replaced MyPyramid on June 2, 2011? Wikipedia, "MyPlate". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0002
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Health throughout the life span, continued

  • Two students have the same height and weight but different proportions of fat, bone, water and muscle. Which component of health-related fitness describes that difference? Wikipedia, "Body composition". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0003
  • Where in a child's long bone does new bone growth take place? Wikipedia, "Epiphyseal plate". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0001
  • Which eating disorder is the compulsive craving or consumption of things that are not normally intended to be consumed? Wikipedia, "Pica (disorder)". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0002
  • Which gland at the base of the brain, together with the hypothalamus, controls much of the body's endocrine system? Wikipedia, "Pituitary gland". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0001
  • Which part of the human brain plays an important role in motor control, its most solidly established function? Wikipedia, "Cerebellum". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0001
  • Why does a workout end with a few minutes of slow jogging or walking? Wikipedia, "Cooling down". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0003

Health promotion and risk reduction 16

  • A club adviser believes that sixth graders are too young to be responsible, and she refuses to let any sixth grader join. The belief is a stereotype. What is the refusal? Wikipedia, "Discrimination". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0006
  • A doorknob carries cold viruses from one student's hand to the next. What is an inanimate object that can transfer disease to a new host called? Wikipedia, "Fomite". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0004
  • A parent keeps making excuses to an adult son's employer after he misses work, which encourages the son's dysfunctional behavior. What is the parent's behavior called? Wikipedia, "Enabling". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0006
  • A student is exposed to a virus on Monday and first shows symptoms on Thursday. What is the time between exposure and the first signs called? Wikipedia, "Incubation period". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0004
  • A student's heart pounds when a dog lunges at her. Which physiological reaction to a perceived threat is this? Wikipedia, "Fight-or-flight response". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0005
  • After repeated use, a person reacts less to the same dose of a drug. What is this reduced reaction called? Wikipedia, "Drug tolerance". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0005
  • An infection is constantly present, at a baseline level, in the population of one region. Which term describes it? Wikipedia, "Endemic (epidemiology)". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0004
  • At an ocean beach, which hazard is a strong, narrow current that moves directly away from the shore through the breaking waves? Wikipedia, "Rip current". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0007
  • The Controlled Substances Act sorts regulated substances into classifications called schedules. How many schedules did the law create? Wikipedia, "Controlled Substances Act". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0005
  • FAST is a mnemonic for recognizing the signs of a stroke. What does the T stand for? Wikipedia, "FAST (stroke)". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0007
  • In a school screening, students read rows of letters from a Snellen chart. What does the chart measure? Wikipedia, "Snellen chart". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0004
  • In first aid, for which casualties is the recovery position often used? Wikipedia, "Recovery position". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0007
  • Many students watch a classmate being pushed around, and none of them helps. Which theory states that people are less likely to help a victim when other people are present? Wikipedia, "Bystander effect". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0006
  • What does the term family planning mean? Wikipedia, "Family planning". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0006
  • Which anxiety disorder is defined by an irrational, persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation? Wikipedia, "Phobia". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0005
  • Which laws offer legal protection to people who give reasonable assistance to someone they believe to be injured, ill or in peril? Wikipedia, "Good Samaritan law". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0007

Health advocacy and literacy 12

  • A rural student meets a counselor by secure video link. Which term covers the use of telecommunication technologies to support long-distance health care and health education? Wikipedia, "Telehealth". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0010
  • A student believes that her own choices, and not chance or fate, decide how healthy she will be. What does she have? Wikipedia, "Locus of control". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0008
  • A teenager is sure that a crash could never happen to him. Which bias leads people to underestimate the likelihood of negative events? Wikipedia, "Optimism bias". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0008
  • An advertisement shows an ordinary customer praising a vitamin drink. Which advertising device is a person's statement extolling the virtue of a product? Wikipedia, "Testimonial". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0010
  • In a trial of a new medicine, one group receives inert sugar pills that look like the real tablets. What is such a treatment called? Wikipedia, "Placebo". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0009
  • Vacant buildings and neglected lots spread through a part of a city that once functioned well. Which term names this process, also called urban blight? Wikipedia, "Urban decay". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0010
  • When may a generic version of a proprietary drug be sold? Wikipedia, "Generic drug". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0009
  • Which ability lets health professionals work effectively with patients of diverse values, beliefs and feelings, taking account of their social and cultural needs? Wikipedia, "Cultural competence in healthcare". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0008
  • Which federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, is the national public health agency of the United States? Wikipedia, "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0009
  • Which health care provider gives both the first contact for an undiagnosed health concern and continuing care of varied conditions? Wikipedia, "Primary care physician". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0009
  • Which law is the primary federal air quality law of the United States, intended to reduce and control air pollution nationwide? Wikipedia, "Clean Air Act (United States)". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0010
  • Which screening tool of health promotion is a questionnaire about a person's medical history, demographic characteristics and lifestyle? Wikipedia, "Health risk assessment". Outline: NES Health (505) framework, competency 0008

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the test framework for NES Health, test 505, read 2026-10-15 on the National Evaluation Series site (https://www.nestest.com/static/docs/NES_Framework_505.pdf; test page https://www.nestest.com/test/505): Health Throughout the Life Span (competencies 0001 to 0003, 30%), Health Promotion and Risk Reduction (0004 to 0007, 40%) and Health Advocacy and Literacy (0008 to 0010, 30%). The bank holds 4 questions for each of the 10 competencies. Every fact was read on 2026-10-15 in the opening section of the Wikipedia article the question names. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.

How it works

Forty questions of our own make up this free NES Health practice test, four for every competency of test 505. It is a study aid and unofficial, with no tie to Pearson or its National Evaluation Series.

Read the full guide

NES Health study guide: test 505

Three domains, by the framework read October 15, 2026: Health Throughout the Life Span, 30%; Health Promotion and Risk Reduction, 40%; Health Advocacy and Literacy, 30%. The set holds twelve, sixteen and twelve questions on them.

If your state asks for 509

Test 509 has seven competencies in three domains weighted 28%, 44% and 28%. Its seventh competency, on curriculum, instruction and assessment in the health education program, is not covered here.

What the questions ask

Each asks what a term means, how a part of the body works or what a law or agency does. The explanation names the Wikipedia article the answer was read in.

  • Health Promotion and Risk Reduction is the largest domain of 505: disease, risk and stress, relationships, and safety and first aid.
  • The 505 framework, copyright 2011, still names MyPyramid, replaced twice since: by MyPlate in June 2011 and by a new food pyramid in January 2026.

Questions and answers

Is this NES Health 505 practice test the real exam?

No. Every question was written here on the public 505 framework and one named public source. No item of the real test, the official study guide or a paid practice test was opened, and no score on the real test is implied.

Can I use it as an NES Health 509 practice test?

In part. 509 is a redeveloped test, first given October 31, 2022: 100 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours. Its content overlaps 505, but it adds the teaching and assessment of health education, which this set does not ask about.

How many questions are on NES Health 505?

There are 150, all multiple choice, answered in 3 hours of testing time that follow a 15-minute tutorial and nondisclosure agreement. The test page offers 505 at test centers and by online proctoring and lists no reference materials.

What is the passing score for NES Health?

Both test pages print a National Benchmark score of 220. The 505 page links Arizona's passing score; the 509 page links New Hampshire, Oregon and Tennessee. Arizona's educator test list names Health as NT505.

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