HSPT Language Skills : Adding Relevant Sentences
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for HSPT Language Skills
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Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Adding Relevant Sentences
Ancient Egyptian pharaohs weren’t always men: Hatshepsut, for example, is a famous ancient Egyptian female pharaoh. She accomplished a great deal while on the throne. She created trade routes and tried to import foreign trees to Egypt to grow there. [1] She died after reigning as pharaoh for twenty-two years. Afterward, someone tried to erase all mention of her in hieroglyphics and destroy any monuments dedicated to her. Luckily, some mentions of her still survived, which is why we still know about her rule today.
Assuming that all of the following statements are true, which would make the most sense if added to the paragraph at Location [1]?
Some sphinxes portraying Hatshepsut are adorned with false beards to show she held the title of pharaoh.
Hatshepsut is recorded as having worn eyeliner.
One female pharaoh that we know about who preceded Hatshepsut is Sobekneferu.
She also commissioned many temples, monuments, and other buildings throughout Egypt.
She also commissioned many temples, monuments, and other buildings throughout Egypt.
The best answer is "She also commissioned many temples, monuments, and other buildings throughout Egypt." This sentence provides another example supporting the claim that Hatshepsut "accomplished a great deal during her reign." The use of "also" helps the reader recognize that like the sentence preceding Location [1] it is providing an example.
"Hatshepsut is recorded as having worn eyeliner." - This answer choice's detail is off-topic in the context of Location [1], which occurs when the paragraph is talking about Hatshepsut's major accomplishments.
"One female pharaoh that we know about who preceded Hatshepsut is Sobekneferu." - While female pharaohs are discussed at the beginning of this paragraph, Location [1] occurs in the middle of a discussion about Hatshepsut's accomplishments. Introducing another female pharaoh, Sobekneferu, wouldn't make much sense at this point in the paragraph.
"Some sphinxes portraying Hatshepsut are adorned with false beards to show she held the title of pharaoh." - While this sentence discusses both Hapshetsut and female pharaohs, it would be out of place at Location [1].
Example Question #1 : Clarity, Relevance, And Scope
[1] Before the printing press and moveable type were in use, copyists had to spend a great deal of time hand-printing books. [2] This made books time-consuming to produce, relatively rare, and very expensive. [3] Books printed using a printing press relied not on human writers to spell out their messages, but on arrangements of metal or wooden blocks with letters on them. [4] Printing a book was much faster than hand-copying it.
The following sentence would make the most sense if added to the paragraph at which of the following locations?
"These blocks are known as 'type.'”
Location [2]
Location [1]
Location [4]
Location [3]
Location [4]
The sentence "These blocks are known as 'type'" would make the most sense if added to the paragraph at Location [4]. Consider how the sentence to be placed starts with the word "these." This word references back to something that was just mentioned; if it can't do this, it is ambiguous and confusing. So, this sentence needs to be placed in the paragraph at a location that immediately follows something that "these" can refer back to—specifically, "these blocks." At what point does the paragraph discuss the blocks that form type? The sentence preceding Location [4] ends with the phrase, "arrangements of metal or wooden blocks with letters on them." Even if you don't know what "type" refers to in this context, you can tell that the sentence to be placed makes the most sense at Location [4], where "these blocks" can refer to the phrase "arrangements of metal or wooden blocks with letters on them." Location [4] is the correct answer.
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