SAT Writing : Rewriting a Single Word

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT Writing

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Example Questions

Example Question #3231 : Sat Writing

1 Most of you probably know essays to be boring, tendentious assignments required for English class. 2 However the essay has a fascinating history.3 Did you know that the first known example of an essay came in the 16th-century? 4 Its author was Michel de Montaigne the French philosopher. 5 Today the genre includes such disparate types as the dialectic, the narrative, the critical, the historical, the descriptive, and the lyric essay. 6 The genre progressed with essays such as Robert Burton’s The Anatomy of Melancholy, Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s On Poesy or Art, and Virginia Woolf’s A Room of Her Own.” 7 It remains to be, see how the essay will evolve in the future.

In Sentence 5, what word should replace “disparate”?

Possible Answers:

dispersed

diaspora

disparate (no change)

discreet

diffident

Correct answer:

disparate (no change)

Explanation:

Because Sentence 5 introduces a wide variety of essay types, it makes sense that we’re looking for a word meaning discrete or different. “Disparate” is the only choice among the five that carries this meaning.

Example Question #56 : Increasing The Contextual Relevance Of A Single Word

1 That’s why codes of discipline have arisen for raising factual or difficult children. 2 Some experts avow for strict authoritative castigation at all times while others argue for gentle or praise centric approaches. 3 Many parents find themselves confounded with the problem of unruly children. 4 Most adults however can agree that consistency and consequences are two key components of disciplining any child from the most pugilist to the most mild-mannered. 5 Being too permissive or too authoritarian can ultimately result with many instances of bad behavior.

In Sentence 2, what word should replace “avow”?

Possible Answers:

aver

advocate

avenge

avail

avow

Correct answer:

advocate

Explanation:

One can’t "avow" for a certain method of discipline, but one can “advocate” (or argue for/support) it. This inference is supported by the fact that in the second, parallel part of the sentence, the verb used is “argue for.”

Example Question #57 : Increasing The Contextual Relevance Of A Single Word

1 That’s why codes of discipline have arisen for raising factual or difficult children. 2 Some experts avow for strict authoritative castigation at all times while others argue for gentle or praise centric approaches. 3 Many parents find themselves confounded with the problem of unruly children. 4 Most adults however can agree that consistency and consequences are two key components of disciplining any child from the most pugilist to the most mild-mannered. 5 Being too permissive or too authoritarian can ultimately result with many instances of bad behavior.

In Sentence 2, what word should replace "castigation"?

Possible Answers:

pyroclastic

castigation (no change)

castellation

castration

iconoclasm

Correct answer:

castigation (no change)

Explanation:

“Castigation,” which means severe criticism or punishment, fits the meaning of the sentence and does not need to be changed.

Example Question #61 : Increasing The Contextual Relevance Of A Single Word

1 Most of you probably know essays to be boring, tendentious assignments required for English class. 2 However the essay has a fascinating history.3 Did you know that the first known example of an essay came in the 16th-century? 4 Its author was Michel de Montaigne the French philosopher. 5 Today the genre includes such disparate types as the dialectic, the narrative, the critical, the historical, the descriptive, and the lyric essay. 6 The genre progressed with essays such as Robert Burton’s The Anatomy of Melancholy, Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s On Poesy or Art, and Virginia Woolf’s A Room of Her Own.” 7 It remains to be, see how the essay will evolve in the future.

In Sentence 1, what word should replace “tendentious”?

Possible Answers:

tendentious (no change)

tendency

tenable

tedious

tenancy

Correct answer:

tedious

Explanation:

We’re looking for the adjective that most closely means boring. “Tedious” means dull or uninteresting, so it is a better choice than “tendentious,” or biased.

Example Question #62 : Increasing The Contextual Relevance Of A Single Word

1 Generally, a person will tell you they prefer not to have their food burned. 2 Because caramel: a delicious sticky dessert, is actually made by slowly burning sugar. 3 A copper saucepan, a candy thermometer, and sugar and water are all you need to make this lascivious treat. 4 Although some chefs prefer to use their eyes and nose rather than a thermometer. 5 Desserts that will be made from caramel, including ice cream, pies, crème brûlée, candy apples, nougats, flan, and pralines. 6 However it may take many disastrous attempts and scorched pans while the amateur caramel maker achieves the golden, buttery perfection of this tasty dessert.

In Sentence 6, what word should replace “while”?

Possible Answers:

unless

while (no change)

before

whereas

because

Correct answer:

before

Explanation:

The sense of the sentence is that it can take many tries to cook caramel correctly, so we want to use “before” to convey that sense.

Example Question #63 : Increasing The Contextual Relevance Of A Single Word

1 No one wants to live in the swamp. 2 But swamps are an incredibly important part of the Earth’s ecosystem. 3 They are defined as forested wetlands and can be found from Africa and Asia and in Europe and the Americas. 4 In fact: the only continent to not contained swamps is Antarctica. 5 Because swamps are rarely arid, meaning able to be farmed, and because it usually is not conducive to hunting, they are undervalued by human society. 6 In swamps, a portion of dry land that protects from the water is known as a “hammock.” 7 Moreover, swamps are actually integrity to our world, providing clean water and oxygen for people as well as breeding grounds for animals big and small. 

In Sentence 5, what word should replace “arid”?

Possible Answers:

arable

arid (no change)

amatory

amiable

arabesque

Correct answer:

arable

Explanation:

The word that means “farmable” here is “arable.”

Example Question #64 : Increasing The Contextual Relevance Of A Single Word

1 W. Somerset Maugham was a proliferate and English author of more than two dozen books. 2 Born in 1874 and orphaned at a young age, also working as an ambulance driver in World War I and studying medicine in London. 3 Among his life he traveled in Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, within other places, these experiences were also reflected in his writing. 4 His first novel, Liza of Lambeth, drew on these real-life experiences and became an instant bestseller, when it was published, in 1897. 5 One of Maugham’s most famous works, the American writer Theodore Dreiser gave a glowing review to the 1915 novel Of Human Bondage. 6 His legacy includes many plays, film adaptations, a tumultuous love life, an epigrammatic British literary award (the Somerset Maugham Award), and a steady if unexperimental oeuvre of fiction.

In Sentence 1, what word should replace “proliferate”?

Possible Answers:

prosperous

profligate

proliferate (no change)

proletarian

prolific

Correct answer:

prolific

Explanation:

While the author may have been "profligate" (wasteful), "prosperous" (wealthy or successful), or even "proletarian" (working class), the only word choice supported by the passage is “prolific,” or productive and fruitful.

Example Question #386 : Improving And Correcting Sentences

1 W. Somerset Maugham was a proliferate and English author of more than two dozen books. 2 Born in 1874 and orphaned at a young age, also working as an ambulance driver in World War I and studying medicine in London. 3 Among his life he traveled in Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, within other places, these experiences were also reflected in his writing. 4 His first novel, Liza of Lambeth, drew on these real-life experiences and became an instant bestseller, when it was published, in 1897. 5 One of Maugham’s most famous works, the American writer Theodore Dreiser gave a glowing review to the 1915 novel Of Human Bondage. 6 His legacy includes many plays, film adaptations, a tumultuous love life, an epigrammatic British literary award (the Somerset Maugham Award), and a steady if unexperimental oeuvre of fiction.

In Sentence 6, what word should replace “epigrammatic”?

Possible Answers:

epochal

eponymous

episodic

epigrammatic (no change)

epicanthic

Correct answer:

eponymous

Explanation:

Based on the title of the award, we can surmise that the adjective we’re looking for means named after, and “eponymous” has this meaning. “Epigrammatic” means relating to a short, witty saying; “episodic” means relating to episodes; “epicanthic” refers to a particular skin fold above the eyelid; “epochal” means significant or momentous.

Example Question #387 : Improving And Correcting Sentences

1 Whether or not you are superstitious. 2 Fortunetelling has played a major role in many cultures.3 Also known as divination. 4 Western fortunetelling arose from the Romani people and such as reading tea leaves’, gazing into crystal balls, tarot reading, palmistry, and observing the flights, innards, or eating patterns of birds. 5 In William Shakespeare’s famous play “Julius Caesar,” for example, a soothsayer warns the soon to be assassinated Caesar to beware the Ides of March. 6 Western fortunetelling has also been influenced by Eastern divination methods such as the I Ching and to read coffee beans. 7 Unfortunately several major religions prescribe fortunetelling with very degrees of severity. 8 Despite, fortunetelling still thrives in contemporary culture, psychics and Magic-8 balls are just two of many fun ways to attempt to see into the future.

In Sentence 7, what word should replace “prescribe”?

Possible Answers:

prescribe

proscribe

pronoun

prorate

profile

Correct answer:

proscribe

Explanation:

This is a tricky question; to “prescribe” means to advise the use of a treatment (usually medical), but to “proscribe,” the correct choice, means to forbid. Use the context clues to solve this question. Since the sentence is discussing "varying degrees" of restriction, "proscribe" makes the most sense.

Example Question #65 : Increasing The Contextual Relevance Of A Single Word

1 No one wants to live in the swamp. 2 But swamps are an incredibly important part of the Earth’s ecosystem. 3 They are defined as forested wetlands and can be found from Africa and Asia and in Europe and the Americas. 4 In fact: the only continent to not contained swamps is Antarctica. 5 Because swamps are rarely arid, meaning able to be farmed, and because it usually is not conducive to hunting, they are undervalued by human society. 6 In swamps, a portion of dry land that protects from the water is known as a “hammock.” 7 Moreover, swamps are actually integrity to our world, providing clean water and oxygen for people as well as breeding grounds for animals big and small. 

In Sentence 6, what word should replace “protects”?

Possible Answers:

protract

protect (no change)

proscribe

prostrate

protrudes

Correct answer:

protrudes

Explanation:

We can infer that we’re looking for a word that means sticks out of, and “protrudes” is the correct synonym. To “protect” something is to keep it safe, to “protract” something is to prolong it, to “proscribe” something is to forbid it, and to “prostrate” something is to weaken it.

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