All SAT Writing Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Avoiding Ambiguity And Redundancy In A Full Sentence
1 Leprosy: used to be a dreaded illness both in biblical times as well as more recently. 2 People endured its disfiguring effects until the invention of antibiotics in the 1950s. 3 Also known as Hansen’s disease, antibiotics will fictitiously cure leprosy today. 4 In the old days there exacted leprosy colonies to quarantine infected people, as the disease was then considered highly contagious. 5 Symptoms include skin lesions, nerve damage, numbness, tissue damage, and, in severe cases, deformation of fingers and toes. 6 Thanks to modern medicine, leprosy no longer needs to be a source of social skirmish. 7 In reality, it is transmitted through fluids, usually in the form of airborne particles.
How should Sentence 3 be rewritten?
Also known as Hansen’s disease, leprosy will today be cured fictitiously, and antibiotics will do so.
Also known as Hansen’s disease, leprosy can be fictitiously cured by antibiotics today.
Also known as Hansen’s disease: antibiotics will fictitiously cure leprosy today.
Also known as Hansen’s disease, antibiotics will fictitiously cure leprosy today. (no change)
Also known as Hansen’s disease, the fictitious cure of leprosy today is accomplished by antibiotics.
Also known as Hansen’s disease, leprosy can be fictitiously cured by antibiotics today.
The original sentence contains a misplaced modifier. It’s not the antibiotics that are also known as Hansen’s disease; it’s the leprosy itself. Change the order of the words in the second clause in order to avoid this error.
Example Question #1 : Avoiding Ambiguity And Redundancy In A Full Sentence
Are you trying to stick to a budget? Using coupons for purchases, also known as “couponing” is a great way to save money on groceries. Coupons are a little piece of paper that can give you a discount on what you buy. You will be amazed at the great bargains and amazing savings you can get!
It’s easy to get started. When you open up your daily newspaper, one might find a glossy insert full of coupons. Some of the coupons will be for things you don’t buy, some will be for things you buy all the time. Go through the coupons and chop out the ones you can use.
The key to successful couponing is getting multiple copies of coupon circulars. Ask your friends, your neighbors, and family if they have any extras. Some coupon users even go through the recycling at their office to find more coupons! Have you ever heard of such a thing in your life! Completely devoted, these circulars help coupon users to get even more savings.
Couponing might sound like hard work, but for many people, it’s also a hobby. Not only does it help them save hundreds of dollars per year, but also it gives them a fun challenge every time they do their shopping.
How should the underlined section be corrected?
These circulars, completely devoted, help coupon users get even more savings.
These circulars help coupon users get even more savings, completely devoted.
These circulars help completely devoted coupon users get even more savings.
NO CHANGE
Completely devoted, these circulars help get even more savings for coupon users.
These circulars help completely devoted coupon users get even more savings.
This question asks you to correct a misplaced modifier error. The modifying phrase, "completely devoted," should be placed as close as possible to the phrase it modifies, "coupon users." Otherwise, the misplaced modifier confuses the sentence's meaning, making it sound as though the circulars themselves are devoted.
Example Question #2 : Avoiding Ambiguity And Redundancy In A Full Sentence
Are you trying to stick to a budget? Using coupons for purchases, also known as “couponing” is a great way to save money on groceries. Coupons are a little piece of paper that can give you a discount on what you buy. You will be amazed at the great bargains and amazing savings you can get!
It’s easy to get started. When you open up your daily newspaper, one might find a glossy insert full of coupons. Some of the coupons will be for things you don’t buy, some will be for things you buy all the time. Go through the coupons and chop out the ones you can use.
The key to successful couponing is getting multiple copies of coupon circulars. Ask your friends, your neighbors, and family if they have any extras. Some coupon users even go through the recycling at their office to find more coupons! Have you ever heard of such a thing in your life! Completely devoted, these circulars help coupon users to get even more savings.
Couponing might sound like hard work, but for many people, it’s also a hobby. Not only does it help them save hundreds of dollars per year, but also it gives them a fun challenge every time they do their shopping.
How should the underlined section be corrected?
When you open up your daily newspaper, you might find a glossy insert full of coupons.
When they open up your daily newspaper, they find a glossy insert full of coupons.
When you open up your daily newspaper, one finds a glossy insert full of coupons.
Upon opening up your daily newspaper, one might find a glossy insert full of coupons
NO CHANGE
When you open up your daily newspaper, you might find a glossy insert full of coupons.
This question asks you to correct ambiguity caused by a subject shift. The first part of the sentence uses the second-person subject, “you,” but the second part of the sentence switches to the third-person neutral subject, “one.” This reduces the clarity and consistency of the text. To correct this error, replace “one” with “you.”
Example Question #1 : Avoiding Ambiguity And Redundancy In A Full Sentence
There once was a shepherd boy whom sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. He was hot and exhausted fanning himself, rapidly in a feeble attempt to cool himself down. On top of that, he had never been so bored before. To amuse himself, he decided to play a joke. He put his hands around his mouth and yelled in a loud voice, "Wolf! Wolf! A wolf is chasing the sheep!”
They came running. They asked the boy, “What’s going on? Did you yell ‘A wolf is chasing the sheep?’”
The boy laughed. “It was just a joke, everyone.”
The people fumed, but they all returned to their homes.
The next day, the boy bored again decided to amuse himself again. He bellowed, “Wolf! Wolf!” Again, the townspeople came running. Once they arrived and witnessed the laughing boy, they realized they’d been tricked a second time. Nonetheless, they returned home and irritated resolved to never fall for the trick again for third time.
The next day, the boy was watching his sheep. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a wolf appeared from behind the bushes. With its teeth bared, the boy cowered as the wolf approached the sheep. Terrified, he called, “Help! A wolf! A wolf is here!” The people ignored his cries. “That mischievous boy,” they all said to one another. “He must think he can fool us again.” But not one of them came running.
No one was there to witness as the wolf ate every last sheep on the hillside, as the boy helplessly cowered behind a bush. As the boy hid, he shook his head. “I shall never fib again,” he resolved to himself.
How should the underlined section be corrected?
He or she came running.
They came, running.
The townspeople came running.
NO CHANGE
They all came running.
The townspeople came running.
The phrase "they" is ambiguous. The replacement of "they" with "the townspeople" clarifies who the pronoun refers to. "They all" does not fix the problem of ambiguity, "he or she" is illogical in this sentence, and the addition of a comma is unnecessary. "The townspeople came running" is the best answer.
Example Question #121 : Improving And Correcting Sentences
1 Ethnography: sounds erogenous but is simply a study of a culture or group of people.2 Originating in the field of anthropology, later becoming popular in sociology and other disciplines. 3 Ethnographies typically include: descriptions of geography, religion, economy, social behaviors, rituals and histories. 4 Most early ethnographies were written by ex-patriot European explorers traveling outside their home continent; though by some standards the Greek historian Herodotus was producing protoplasmic ethnographies hundreds of years before the Age of Exploration. 5 Ethnographies can take forms ranging from the confessional, the feminist, the critical, and the realist but most are qualitative and descriptive rather than quantitative and statistical. 6 Some attempt to provide fairly objective observations of a group or society, others have the anterior motive of empowering marginalized or repressed cultures.7 This group or culture may include anything from a fraternity to a particular Uruguayan village. 8 Today ethnographers often immerse themselves fully in the lives of their subjects, be they powerful politicians and impoverished blue-collar workers.
How should Sentence 2 be rewritten?
Its originating in the field of anthropology, later becoming popular in sociology and other disciplines.
Originating in the field of anthropology; later becoming popular in sociology and other disciplines.
Originating in the field of anthropology, it later became popular in sociology and other disciplines.
Originating in the field of anthropology, later becoming popular in sociology and other disciplines. (no change)
Originating in the field of anthropology, with it later becoming popular in sociology and other disciplines.
Originating in the field of anthropology, it later became popular in sociology and other disciplines.
Since the only verbs in the original sentence are gerunds, we need to change one to an active tense and add a subject to avoid a run-on.
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