SAT Writing : Inserting or Deleting Content

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT Writing

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Example Questions

Example Question #71 : Inserting Or Deleting Content

1 The lost-wax casting method may sound cryptic, but its really a fairly simple and comprehendible process. 2 It is also known as investment or precision casting. 3 It involves twelve steps in that an artist makes an original wax model; creates rubber and plaster molds from the model; fills the molds with wax; coats the new wax models with a ceramic material; and fires the wax-ceramic mixture into a kiln so that the outer layer becomes a reusable mold and the inner wax melts away. 4 Despite involves technical jingo such as spruing, metal-chasing, and burnout, it is a very versant process that can be applied to everything from jewelry making and sculpture, automobile and gun manufacturing.

5 Lost-wax has been used by sculptors from ancient Greece all the way to modern day Germany. 6 Lost-wax has even been applied to dentistry, it is most frequently used to make gold crowns and inlays.7 Why not give it a try? 

Which sentence needs an apostrophe added to it?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 2

Sentence 5

Sentence 1

Sentence 3

Sentence 4

Correct answer:

Sentence 1

Explanation:

In Sentence 1, the contraction “its” is lacking an apostrophe. We can tell that “it’s” is the correct word for the sentence because it is substituting for a subject and a verb “it is.”

Example Question #72 : Inserting Or Deleting Content

1 The legend of Billy the Kid, one of the most famous outlaws of the Wild West. 2 Allied Henry McCarty and William H. Bonney, Billy the Kid was a gunfighter who was rumored to have killed nearly two dozen men in 19th century America. 3 Friendly and charming, his status was relatively unknown until a price was put on his head in 1881 by the governor of New Mexico, than a territory. 4 He lived in New York City, Indiana, Kansas, and Arizona at various points within his life. 5 Billy the Kid’s various crimes include: murder, horse thievery, stealing firearms, and escaping from jail. 6 Many of these various crimes were committed as part of his membership in Old West gangs. 7 He was finally, captured and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in New Mexico in 1881.

What sentence is least relevant to the passage and can be deleted?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 3

Sentence 1

Sentence 4

Sentence 2

None of these sentences should be deleted.

Correct answer:

Sentence 4

Explanation:

The passage is more concerned with relaying the chief exploits of Billy the Kid than giving a detailed biography of him. While interesting, listing Billy’s various addresses doesn’t contribute much to the main idea of the passage.

Example Question #73 : Inserting Or Deleting Content

1 The legend of Billy the Kid, one of the most famous outlaws of the Wild West. 2 Allied Henry McCarty and William H. Bonney, Billy the Kid was a gunfighter who was rumored to have killed nearly two dozen men in 19th century America. 3 Friendly and charming, his status was relatively unknown until a price was put on his head in 1881 by the governor of New Mexico, than a territory. 4 He lived in New York City, Indiana, Kansas, and Arizona at various points within his life. 5 Billy the Kid’s various crimes include: murder, horse thievery, stealing firearms, and escaping from jail. 6 Many of these various crimes were committed as part of his membership in Old West gangs. 7 He was finally, captured and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in New Mexico in 1881.

What is the best title for this passage?

Possible Answers:

"Billy Isn’t Kidding"

"Outlaws and Obstacles: Billy the Kid’s Many Legal Challenges"

"Unmasking the Identity of Billy the Kid "

"A Brief Overview of Billy the Kid"

"Rifles and Horses: Billy the Kid’s Inheritance"

Correct answer:

"A Brief Overview of Billy the Kid"

Explanation:

The passage doesn’t focus solely on Billy the Kid’s identity, inheritance, or legal challenges, and “Billy Isn’t Kidding” is just a farcical title. The only reasonable title is “A Brief Overview of Billy the Kid.”

Example Question #73 : Inserting Or Deleting Content

1 If you’re wearing clothes right now you’re likely wearing something a sewing machine has produced. 2 But what you may not know is the history of the sewing machine that made your clothes. 3 The device was invented in England during the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th-century. 4 Greatly increasing efficiency by mechanizing the process. 5 Early machines were often used for stitching leather and canvas for various purposes including, horse tack, sails, and shoes. 6 Gradually, other machines emerged that were superior in Europe and America. 7 Famous brands today; include those by 19th century inventor Isaac Singer. 8 As the 1800s progressed sewing machines became purchases for not just clothing manufacturers but individuals. 

Where should the following sentence be inserted in the passage? “If it weren’t for this clever contraption, textile technology may never have advanced to where it is today.”

Possible Answers:

After Sentence 3

After Sentence 4

After Sentence 8

After Sentence 2

After Sentence 6

Correct answer:

After Sentence 8

Explanation:

This sentence neatly wraps up the passage’s discussion of early sewing machines, so it can be inserted as a conclusion sentence.

Example Question #74 : Inserting Or Deleting Content

1 The famous artist Man Ray is not nearly as well known as Picasso or Dalí, however, he contributed significantly to 20th century art. 2 Man Ray was particularly influential in Surrealism and Dadaism. 3 He worked in a variety of media including painting and photography, and he renamed a certain type of shadow-image photography “rayographs” after himself. 4 Born in Pennsylvania Ray lived in both New York City and Paris. 5 He also worked with fabric and collage.

What punctuation mark needs to be added to Sentence 4?

Possible Answers:

a semicolon

a colon

an apostrophe

a comma

a hyphen

Correct answer:

a comma

Explanation:

Here, we have a dependent clause (“Born in Pennsylvania”) and an independent clause (“Ray lived in both New York City and Paris.”) They require a comma for separation.

Example Question #496 : Sat Writing

1 If you’re wearing clothes right now you’re likely wearing something a sewing machine has produced. 2 But what you may not know is the history of the sewing machine that made your clothes. 3 The device was invented in England during the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th-century. 4 Greatly increasing efficiency by mechanizing the process. 5 Early machines were often used for stitching leather and canvas for various purposes including, horse tack, sails, and shoes. 6 Gradually, other machines emerged that were superior in Europe and America. 7 Famous brands today; include those by 19th century inventor Isaac Singer. 8 As the 1800s progressed sewing machines became purchases for not just clothing manufacturers but individuals.

What is the best title for this passage?

Possible Answers:

"Sewing Machines: Technological Innovation and Obstacles"

"Sewing Machines: Unethical Labor?"

"Sewing Machines: An Early History"

"Sewing Machines: A Comprehensive History"

"Sewing Machines: Superior to Hand Sewing?"

Correct answer:

"Sewing Machines: An Early History"

Explanation:

Because the passage gives an overview only of early sewing machines and not of modern-day sewing technology, the best choice is “Sewing Machines: An Early History.”

The passage does mention that machine sewing greatly increased the efficiency of the process over hand-sewing, but it does so as part of  a historical treatment of the subject; it is not the primary focus. Labor practices are not mentioned.

Example Question #291 : Improving Paragraphs

1 The tornado, a dreaded meteorological phenomena and a verifiable force of nature. 2 But what is it really? 3 Also known as a twister or a cyclone, tornadoes are rapidly rotating funnels of air linked between a cloud and either the surface of the earth or water. 4 They are caused by the creation of strong thunderstorms by rotating columns of air, resultantly increased rainfall causes increased downward air movement. 5 Rather than the Richter scale measures the strength of hurricanes the Fujita scale measures the strength of a tornado. 6 This natural disasters’ destructive mite is commemorated in such classic films as the 1996, movie, Twister. 7 And the 2014 “Into the Storm” and even the 2013 sparse “Sharknado.” 8 The Fujita scale, also called the F-scale, was named after an employee at the University of Chicago and originally had 13 different levels. 9 The thirteenth level of the scale is used to describe only the most awe inspiring of tornadoes.

Which sentence should have a hyphen added to it?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 7

Sentence 6

Sentence 8

None of the sentences requires a hyphen

Sentence 9

Correct answer:

Sentence 9

Explanation:

“Awe-inspiring” is always hyphenated. (Try reading it aloud and pausing between “awe” and “inspiring.” It should sound strange to your ear.)

Example Question #292 : Improving Paragraphs

1 The tornado, a dreaded meteorological phenomena and a verifiable force of nature. 2 But what is it really? 3 Also known as a twister or a cyclone, tornadoes are rapidly rotating funnels of air linked between a cloud and either the surface of the earth or water. 4 They are caused by the creation of strong thunderstorms by rotating columns of air, resultantly increased rainfall causes increased downward air movement. 5 Rather than the Richter scale measures the strength of hurricanes the Fujita scale measures the strength of a tornado. 6 This natural disasters’ destructive mite is commemorated in such classic films as the 1996, movie, Twister. 7 And the 2014 “Into the Storm” and even the 2013 sparse “Sharknado.” 8 The Fujita scale, also called the F-scale, was named after an employee at the University of Chicago and originally had 13 different levels. 9 The thirteenth level of the scale is used to describe only the most awe inspiring of tornadoes.

What is the best title for this passage?

Possible Answers:

"Tornados Today"

"Tornado Chasing"

"Tornados in Contemporary Film"

"Tornados: Survivor Stories"

"Tornado Alley"

Correct answer:

"Tornados Today"

Explanation:

All of these titles except for “Tornados Today” are too specific and would not give a reader an accurate sense of what the passage is about.

Example Question #293 : Improving Paragraphs

1 Think about medieval Christianity. 2 What do you see? 3 Likely you’re imagining monks, gloomy Gothic cathedrals with flying buttresses, or witches burned at the stake. 4 But what you may not be cognitive of is: the concept of the anchorite. 5 This is the moniker for a religious recluse who elects to be walled up in a small room inside a church. 6 The anchorite was not left to die, however, they were fed through small windows and used the imprisonment to participate more fully in the spiritual life of the community. 7 It is a spiritual calling that is now very rare; few if any anchorites still exist in the world today.

A sentence discussing which of the following topics would be most relevant to add to this passage?

Possible Answers:

the history of medieval illuminated manuscripts

a list of suggested readings about religious hermits

a discussion of medieval cathedral architecture 

a list of famous medieval anchorites

an overview of the structure of the medieval Mass 

Correct answer:

a list of famous medieval anchorites

Explanation:

Since the passage is mainly about anchorites, the most relevant topic to include would be a discussion of the best known anchorites. 

Example Question #294 : Improving Paragraphs

1 Think about medieval Christianity. 2 What do you see? 3 Likely you’re imagining monks, gloomy Gothic cathedrals with flying buttresses, or witches burned at the stake. 4 But what you may not be cognitive of is: the concept of the anchorite. 5 This is the moniker for a religious recluse who elects to be walled up in a small room inside a church. 6 The anchorite was not left to die, however, they were fed through small windows and used the imprisonment to participate more fully in the spiritual life of the community. 7 It is a spiritual calling that is now very rare; few if any anchorites still exist in the world today.

What is the best title for this passage?

Possible Answers:

"Archangels and Anchorites"

"The Anchorite Conundrum"

"Medieval Christianity"

"Early Church Fathers"

"What Are Anchorites?"

Correct answer:

"What Are Anchorites?"

Explanation:

Since the passage serves to explain what an anchorite is, the most accurate title is “What Are Anchorites?” and not any of the others, which focus on ideas that are not the main focus of the text.

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