SAT Writing : Deleting Content

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT Writing

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Example Questions

Example Question #131 : Inserting Or Deleting Content

1 Have you ever went hang gliding? 2 Sailing smoothly across the sky, hang gliders are a sight to behold and capture humans’ longstanding fascination with self propelled flight. 3 Whereas, it is also a dangerous pastime. 4 Personally, I know many people who are aware of the sport’s relative danger but still enjoy it on a regular basis. 5 With proper technical training and certification, it is possible to avoid some of the most common hang gliding catamounts, stalling near the ground, aerobatic stunts gone wrong, and failure to use helmets or parachutes.

7 In the United States, hang gliding is a relatively new sport and most hang gliders are wealthy and educated devotees. 8 Hang gliding actually originated in the 500s in China, with man-sized kites allowing people to sustain flight for short distances. 9 Continual advances in material technologies’ result in constantly improving hang glider equipment – specialized nylon parachutes and lightweight aluminum alloy frames, for example. 10 Popular hang gliding destinations in the United States include Salt Lake City, Utah, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. 11 The most ardent affiliates say there’s absolutely nothing like the joy of soaring miles above the ground for hours.

Which of the following sentences should be deleted from the passage?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 4

Sentence 5

Sentence 1

Sentence 3

Sentence 2

Correct answer:

Sentence 4

Explanation:

Sentence 4 provides a personal digression by the author, which is not recommended in formal academic writing. The other sentences all provide essential information and should not be deleted.

Example Question #12 : Deleting Content

1 Have you ever went hang gliding? 2 Sailing smoothly across the sky, hang gliders are a sight to behold and capture humans’ longstanding fascination with self propelled flight. 3 Whereas, it is also a dangerous pastime. 4 Personally, I know many people who are aware of the sport’s relative danger but still enjoy it on a regular basis. 5 With proper technical training and certification, it is possible to avoid some of the most common hang gliding catamounts, stalling near the ground, aerobatic stunts gone wrong, and failure to use helmets or parachutes.

7 In the United States, hang gliding is a relatively new sport and most hang gliders are wealthy and educated devotees. 8 Hang gliding actually originated in the 500s in China, with man-sized kites allowing people to sustain flight for short distances. 9 Continual advances in material technologies’ result in constantly improving hang glider equipment – specialized nylon parachutes and lightweight aluminum alloy frames, for example. 10 Popular hang gliding destinations in the United States include Salt Lake City, Utah, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. 11 The most ardent affiliates say there’s absolutely nothing like the joy of soaring miles above the ground for hours.

Which of the following sentences should be deleted from the passage?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 7

Sentence 8

Sentence 9

Sentence 10

Sentence 11

Correct answer:

Sentence 8

Explanation:

While it does provide interesting information, Sentence 8 is not actually relevant to the main topic of the passage, which is contemporary hang gliding.

Example Question #11 : Deleting Content

1 Deaccession or deaccessioning is defined as the intentional disposing or selling of books from library’s collections. 2 And is often undertaken to make room for newer volumes, to shift the focus of the library’s collection, or to reflect changing trends in literature. 3 Many people disagree vehicularly about which books should be deaccessioned, when and how books should be disposed of, and even whether books should be deaccessioned at all. 4 Book deaccession: It sounds boring, but is in fact one of the more controversial and problematic aspects of running a library. 5 Though others argue that it allows libraries to remain current and relevant to the public’s reading needs. 6 No doubt it is a topic that will continue to provoke debate for years to come.

Which sentence needs a comma deleted from it?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 4

Sentence 3

Sentence 6

Sentence 5

Sentence 2

Correct answer:

Sentence 4

Explanation:

A comma should be placed in front of a conjunction only if that conjunction is separating two independent clauses. In Sentence 4, the part in front of the conjunction is an independent clause, but the part after it is a dependent clause (it lacks a subject), so no comma should appear before “but.”

Example Question #12 : Deleting Content

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.

Which sentence should have an apostrophe deleted from it?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 2

Sentence 1

Sentence 4

Sentence 3

Sentence 5

Correct answer:

Sentence 1

Explanation:

In Sentence 1, we’re discussing a singular patient. The standard possessive form for singular nouns is to put an apostrophe before the s, not after it.

Example Question #15 : Deleting Content

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.

Which sentence should be deleted from the passage?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 5

Sentence 2

Sentence 1

Sentence 3

Sentence 4

Correct answer:

Sentence 2

Explanation:

Sentence 2 asks an unnecessary and redundant question. Cutting it would make the passage more concise without losing any essential information. In academic writing, the use of rhetorical questions (questions asked merely to make a point, or be answered later by the author, rather than elicit a response) is considered a weak argumentative move.

Example Question #13 : Deleting 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.

Which sentence should be deleted from the passage?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 3

Sentence 4

Sentence 2

Sentence 5

Sentence 1

Correct answer:

Sentence 3

Explanation:

While it does discuss spices, Sentence 3 is the only sentence that does not discuss the Moluccas, the central topic of this passage. 

Example Question #17 : Deleting 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?

Which sentence should have a single comma deleted from it?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 5

Sentence 2

Sentence 4

Sentence 1

Sentence 3

Correct answer:

Sentence 3

Explanation:

In the dependent clause in Sentence 3 (“sometimes known euphonically as intensive animal farming, or industrial farming”), we have a conjunction that is not separating two independent clauses. Therefore, no comma should be used in front of the conjunction. (Commas are, however, needed, after “Factory farming” and “industrial farming.”)

Example Question #14 : Deleting 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?

Which sentence should be deleted from the passage?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 4

Sentence 6

None of the sentences should be deleted.

Sentence 8

Sentence 2

Correct answer:

Sentence 6

Explanation:

While manure lagoons are certainly one result of factory farming, the informal tone of Sentence 6 does not match the rest of the passage, and the direct address to the reader is unnecessary.

Example Question #14 : Deleting Content

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.”

In Sentence 5, what punctuation mark should be changed?

Possible Answers:

The comma

The semicolon

The period

No change should be made.

The quotation marks

Correct answer:

The semicolon

Explanation:

The semicolon must be replaced by a comma or a colon, since semicolons are typically only used to separate two independent clauses. 

Example Question #15 : Deleting Content

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.”

Which of these sentences should be deleted from the passage?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 4

Sentence 5

Sentence 3

Sentence 2

Sentence 1

Correct answer:

Sentence 5

Explanation:

While rhetorical questions can often add to a passage by posing a thought-provoking idea, this particular one does not contribute to the content at all.

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