SAT Writing : Separating, Combining, or Moving Sentences

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT Writing

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Example Questions

Example Question #61 : Analyzing, Combining, And Moving Content

1 Visitors to Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, or other United States are often astounded when they encounter an Amish person. 2 To someone who is not familiar with this religious community, the lifestyle seems to harp back to a bygone era. 3 In particular the Amish are known for their plain garments, their eschewal of modern technology, their use of horses and buggies, and their exquisite handicrafts, including: wooden furniture, intricate quilts, and fruit pies. 4 Contact with the outside world is limited, and communities are often as insolent now as when they emigrated from Switzerland in the 1700s.

5 The people are governed strictly in their auspicious behavior, dress, and lifestyle by a set of rules known as Ordnung, and most speak both Pennsylvania Dutch and English. 6 Their religious beliefs are most closely related to Mennonites, and they observe many common Christian practices: baptism, marriage, and Sunday church services, for example. 7 Whereas, the Amish also practice rumspringa, a period of adolescent exploration, as well as excommunication and shunning to exclude those who do not conform to the community’s beliefs and practices. 8 What does life look like inside an Amish community? 9 Wherewithal, there seem to be both positive and negative aspects to this emphasis on family ties, manual labor, and religious belief.

Where should Sentence 8 be moved in the passage?

Possible Answers:

Before Sentence 3

Before Sentence 2

Before Sentence 4

Before Sentence 5

Before Sentence 6

Correct answer:

Before Sentence 5

Explanation:

Sentence 8 asks a question that Sentence 6 and subsequent sentences begin to answer, so it makes sense for the answer to be immediately preceded by the question.

Example Question #61 : Separating, Combining, Or Moving Sentences

1 Dehydration is a potentially serious medical condition that arrives when a patients’ metabolic processes are disrupted by a lack of water in the body. 2 What can cause dehydration? 3 Dehydration can be caused by overexertion, sickness (vomiting or diarrhea), or sun exposure; among other factors. 4 Treatments for dehydration include: drinking small quantities of clear fluid and intravenous hydration. 5 Symptoms of dehydration vary by the severance of water loss, but the most common signs are increased thirst, a swollen tongue, dizziness, weakness, and fainting. 6 If treatment is not sanctioned quickly dehydration can result in delirium, seizures, and even death. 7 Dehydration is most often a problem in the developing world, where insect- and water-borne disease and a lack of accessible medical care causing many preventable infant fatalities.

Where should Sentence 4 be moved in the passage?

Possible Answers:

After Sentence 7

After Sentence 3

After Sentence 6

After Sentence 5

After Sentence 1

Correct answer:

After Sentence 5

Explanation:

Sentence 4 introduces two treatments of dehydration, and Sentence 6 discusses the ramifications of not applying these treatments, so the passage would flow better if Sentence 4 immediately preceded Sentence 6. 

Example Question #61 : Analyzing, Combining, And Moving Content

1 Many painters have strong sediments about whether oil or acrylic paints produce the best results. 2 On the one hand, oil paints take longer to dry and are therefore more conductive to slow painstaking work and careful blending. 3 While, they also require the use of more toxic chemicals such as turpentine and mineral spirits. 4 Professional artists are often meritorious about the materials they use. 5 Acrylic paints are now favored by more and more artists, not only because they are odorless and nontoxic and also because their colors are not effervescent, they don’t fade when exposed to light. 6 However, many of the worlds’ great masterpieces were created with oil paints. 7 With some artists understandably feel nasturtium when they see oils being replaced by cheaper, more popular acrylics.

Where should Sentence 4 be moved in the passage?

Possible Answers:

Before Sentence 7

Before Sentence 2

Before Sentence 6

Before Sentence 3

Before Sentence 1

Correct answer:

Before Sentence 1

Explanation:

Sentence 4 has the broadest scope out of all the other sentences, so it belongs at either the beginning or the end of the passage. It doesn’t flow naturally from Sentence 7, so using it as an introduction is the best option.

Example Question #64 : Analyzing, Combining, And Moving Content

1 The Moluccas is a chain, or archetype, of islands belonging to Indonesia. 2 Historically, these islands were known as the Spice Islands for their abundance of nutmeg, cloves, mace, and pepper, this profundity of spices eventually drew colonial attention. 3 Spices such as cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, anise, and pepper were particularly popular during the medieval times. 4 In the 1600s, the Spice Wars arose as a result of competing Portuguese and Dutch interest’s in the Spice Islands. 5 The bloody conflict ended in the deaths of many native Moluccans as well as European traders, wherefore both Portugal and the Netherlands gained and lost territories ranging from Africa and South America. 6 For this day, strife occasionally breaks out on the islands although it is now motivated by religious and not colonial disagreements.7 It is located just west of New Guinea in the Pacific Ocean, and its more than 1,000 islands are home to more than 2 million people today.

Where should Sentence 7 be moved in the passage?

Possible Answers:

After Sentence 2

After Sentence 1

After Sentence 5

After Sentence 3

After Sentence 4

Correct answer:

After Sentence 1

Explanation:

Sentence 7 presents basic introductory information, so it belongs closer to the beginning of the passage; however, since it begins with a pronoun (“It”) lacking a referent, it would make more sense to place the sentence immediately after a sentence in which the pronoun’s referent is introduced.

Example Question #65 : Analyzing, Combining, And Moving Content

1 One such example of regional cooking could be found in the American South. 2 Wherefore foods such as gumbo, barbecue, fried chicken, and watermelons can now be found all across the country, it was once specific to states south of the Mason-Dixon line. 3 And while Southern cuisine has been influenced by Native American tribes, Scottish immigrants, and Cajun settlers, one of the most significant culinary inspirations came from the South’s black population. 4 Dishes such as cornbread, succotash, collard or turnip greens, pimento cheese, crawfish, and sweet tea all hale from the South, as well. 5 For example, okra, black-eyed peas, and sorghum are all foods brought to America and cultivated by African slaves. 6 Soon, soul food (a sometimes contentious term among black chefs) began to be served in black-owned restaurants in the South. 7 Borne out of competing cultural influences and not-infrequent strife, it should be no surprise that Southern food remains a complex delicious cuisine to this day.

Where should Sentence 4 be moved in the passage?

Possible Answers:

Before Sentence 6

Before Sentence 5

Before Sentence 7

Before Sentence 1

Before Sentence 3

Correct answer:

Before Sentence 3

Explanation:

Because both Sentences 2 and 4 discuss specific dishes common in Southern cuisine, they should appear next to each other.

Example Question #66 : Analyzing, Combining, And Moving Content

1 The purpose of this agricultural practice is to produce large amounts of meat, milk, eggs, and textiles, such as wool and leather, at low costs. 2 It has many negative consequences; however, and many activists have raised concerns about sustainability, environmental risks, and ethics. 3 Factory farming, sometimes known euphonically as intensive animal farming, or industrial farming, is the practice of raising livestock at very high densities in order to decrease the costs of production. 4 On most factory farms, animals are reduced to commodities: bred unnaturally, confined in uncomfortably small cages, and dosed with high strength antibiotics to reduce concomitant infections. 5 Although, the livestock suffers considerately, drug-resistant bacteria become more common, and significant environmental hazards arise from the high quantities of animal waste. 6 Does the phrase manure lagoons sound familiar? 7 As a light of this issue, many people choose to become vegetarian or join anti-factory farming campaigns. 8 What will you do?

Where should Sentence 3 be moved in the passage?

Possible Answers:

The sentence should not be moved.

Before Sentence 6

Before Sentence 1

Before Sentence 2

Before Sentence 5

Correct answer:

Before Sentence 1

Explanation:

Sentence 3 provides a definition for a term that the rest of the passage discusses, so the only logical place to move it is the beginning of the passage. (Moreover, Sentence 1 contains an unclear referent – “this agricultural practice” – that would be clarified if another sentence preceded it.)

Example Question #67 : Analyzing, Combining, And Moving Content

1 It may be hard to believe. 2 But light was once a rare and inviolate commodity. 3 Our ancestors invented willful ways to harness natural light; burning lumps of tallow or animal fat, capturing fireflies in glass jars, and even threading wicks down the throats of a bird called the storm petrel.4 Most of these methods were messy, inconvenient, and costly. 5 So it was fortunate when kerosene became popular. 6 Whale oil was another way to get light, but whaling was a dangerous and deadly occupation. 7 The innovation of the electric light bulb represented another huge leap in convenience and cost-effectiveness. 8 While light is not scarce today; in fact, we often have the opposite problem. 9 Light pollution, or excessive artificial light, which can keep city denizens from ever seeing the stars or appreciating true darkness.

How should Sentence 4 and 5 be combined?

Possible Answers:

Most of these methods were messy, inconvenient, and costly; so it was fortunate when kerosene became popular.

Most of these methods were messy, inconvenient, and costly so it was fortunate when kerosene became popular.

Most of these methods were messy, inconvenient, and costly. So it was fortunate when kerosene became popular. (no change)

Most of these methods were messy, inconvenient, and costly, so it was fortunate when kerosene became popular.

Most of these methods were messy, inconvenient, and costly, so; it was fortunate when kerosene became popular.

Correct answer:

Most of these methods were messy, inconvenient, and costly, so it was fortunate when kerosene became popular.

Explanation:

Sentence 4 is an independent clause, and Sentence 5 is an independent clause preceded by a coordinating conjunction, so the simplest combination would be simply to add a comma before the conjunction.

Example Question #62 : Analyzing, Combining, And Moving Content

1 It may be hard to believe. 2 But light was once a rare and inviolate commodity. 3 Our ancestors invented willful ways to harness natural light; burning lumps of tallow or animal fat, capturing fireflies in glass jars, and even threading wicks down the throats of a bird called the storm petrel.4 Most of these methods were messy, inconvenient, and costly. 5 So it was fortunate when kerosene became popular. 6 Whale oil was another way to get light, but whaling was a dangerous and deadly occupation. 7 The innovation of the electric light bulb represented another huge leap in convenience and cost-effectiveness. 8 While light is not scarce today; in fact, we often have the opposite problem. 9 Light pollution, or excessive artificial light, which can keep city denizens from ever seeing the stars or appreciating true darkness.

Where should Sentence 6 be moved?

Possible Answers:

Before Sentence 2

Before Sentence 4

It should not be moved.

Before Sentence 3

Before Sentence 1

Correct answer:

Before Sentence 4

Explanation:

Sentence 6 discusses another means by which people used to get light, so it belongs immediately after the sentence in which the other methods of achieving light were discussed.

Example Question #64 : Separating, Combining, Or Moving Sentences

1 The word wig itself comes from the English word periwig and can demote a variety of styles, materials, and colors. 2 Have you ever wondered what goes into making a wig? 3 Historically wigs have served a variety of functions and took a number of forms. 4 Wigs have been used as fashion accessories, costume components, and to disguise baldness. 5 These days, wigs are most commonly made from synthetic materials, real human hair, or hair from animals, such as goats and yaks.

Where should Sentence 1 be moved in the passage?

Possible Answers:

After Sentence 2

It should not be moved.

After Sentence 5

After Sentence 4

After Sentence 3

Correct answer:

After Sentence 3

Explanation:

Sentence 1 does not serve as a good introduction, since it’s more specific than the sentences that immediately follow it. Because it concerns the history of the word “wig,” Sentence 1 should be moved after Sentence 3, which discusses the history of wigs in general.

Example Question #65 : Separating, Combining, Or Moving Sentences

1 “Waltzing Matilda” is the title of an Australian song. 2 This song is often called Australia’s unofficial national anthem. 3 Although unscrupulous to a foreigner, the song’s seemingly nonsensical lyrics are actually slang that describes a migrant worker’s travels. 4 The song even has it’s own museum in Queensland. 5 Can you believe that? 6 It was written in 1895 by the Australian author Banjo Paterson and has more recordings than any other Australian song, including the national anthem; “Advance Australia Fair.”

Where should Sentence 5 be moved in the passage?

Possible Answers:

Before Sentence 4

Before Sentence 3

Before Sentence 2

This sentence should not be moved.

Before Sentence 1

Correct answer:

Before Sentence 4

Explanation:

Sentence 5 discusses particulars about the song, which is also the topic of Sentence 3. Therefore, it makes sense for these two sentences to appear next to each other in the passage.

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