SAT Writing : Improving Paragraphs

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT Writing

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Example Questions

Example Question #466 : Sat Writing

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.

What would be the best title for this passage?

Possible Answers:

"Disadvantages of Being Amish"

"Amish Oddities"

"Amish Wonderland"

"The Amish Way of Life"

"The Amish: A Strange History"

Correct answer:

"The Amish Way of Life"

Explanation:

“The Amish Way of Life” is a neutral, all-encompassing title for this passage. All of the other titles are too biased for the fairly analytical, detached tone of the passage. The best title here reflects not only the content of the piece, but also the tone in which that content is discussed.

Example Question #261 : Improving Paragraphs

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.

What sentence needs a comma added to it?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 4

Sentence 1

Sentence 2

Sentence 5

Sentence 3

Correct answer:

Sentence 2

Explanation:

In Sentence 2, we have two separate adjectives preceding a noun. These two adjectives should be separated with a comma: “slow, painstaking work.”

Example Question #44 : Inserting Or Deleting 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.

Which of the following sentences needs a semicolon added to it?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 4

Sentence 6

Sentence 5

Sentence 7

Sentence 3

Correct answer:

Sentence 5

Explanation:

In Sentence 5, we have a comma splice: Two independent clauses (“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” and “they don’t fade when exposed to light”) are incorrectly joined with a comma. That comma should be replaced with a semicolon.

Example Question #464 : Sat Writing

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 needs a semicolon added to it?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 3

Sentence 5

Sentence 4

Sentence 2

Sentence 1

Correct answer:

Sentence 2

Explanation:

Sentence 2 incorrectly uses a comma to separate two independent clauses. Adding a semicolon will fix this error. Correctly punctuated, the sentence would read: “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.”

Example Question #262 : Improving Paragraphs

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 of the following sentences needs an apostrophe added to or deleted from it?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 3

Sentence 4

Sentence 2

Sentence 1

Sentence 5

Correct answer:

Sentence 4

Explanation:

In Sentence 4, the “interests” aren’t possessing anything, so there is no need for an apostrophe.

Example Question #51 : Inserting Or 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 of the following pieces of information would be most relevant to add to the passage?

Possible Answers:

The taxonomy of popular Moluccan spices such as pepper and cloves

A list of the territorial gains made by the Dutch in the Spice Wars

The names of the builders of the Dutch and Portuguese warships

The origin of the name of the Moluccas

The ship’s log from the first recorded European sightings of the Moluccas

Correct answer:

The origin of the name of the Moluccas

Explanation:

Since the passage is mainly devoted to describing the Moluccas’ historical background and geographical location, all of the choices except “the origin of the name of the Moluccas” are too specific and would represent digressions from the main topic.

Example Question #472 : Sat Writing

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 of the following would be the best title for this passage?

Possible Answers:

"Who Lives in the Moluccas?"

"How Did the Moluccas Get Its Name?"

"What Are the Moluccas?"

"Who Conquered the Moluccas?"

"Where Are the Moluccas?"

Correct answer:

"What Are the Moluccas?"

Explanation:

This passage is primarily concerned with locating the Moluccas in a historical and geographical context. “Where Are the Moluccas” doesn’t adequately encompass the passage’s discussion of the Moluccas’ historical importance, but “What Are the Moluccas” does.

Example Question #471 : Sat Writing

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 would the following sentence best be inserted in the passage? “It is not uncommon for regions of the same country to have drastically different cuisines and culinary influences.”

Possible Answers:

Before Sentence 4

Before Sentence 3

Before Sentence 1

Before Sentence 2

Before Sentence 5

Correct answer:

Before Sentence 1

Explanation:

Because Sentence 1 begins with “One such example,” we can infer that some sort of introductory sentence is missing from the passage. The sentence to be inserted would fit well in this introductory role, since it gives a broad overview of the passage’s main topic and discusses the same idea (regional cooking) as Sentence 1.

Example Question #51 : Inserting Or Deleting 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.

What is the best title for this passage? 

Possible Answers:

"Slave Recipes Revisited"

"Revitalizing the American South’s Food"

"Ethnic Cuisines"

"Southern Kitchen"

"National Culinary Identities"

Correct answer:

"Southern Kitchen"

Explanation:

All of these titles except “Southern Kitchen” are too narrow for the passage; that is, they hone in on one specific detail of the passage while failing to encapsulate the main idea.

Example Question #263 : Improving Paragraphs

1 Glass; a material most people take for granted, is an essential constitute of modern life. 2 Most glass throughout history have been made of silicon dioxide; which is found in sand. 3 Typically glass is made by melting down and refining raw materials in processes that remove bubbles, improve strength, and augur durability. 4 This process can be tailored to create the desired end product, be that stained glass windows for a church and glass fibers for thermal insulation. 5 Because glass blowing can be used to create fanciful shapes and delicate figurines, most glass today is made more quickly and cheaply in factories. 6 These factories can produce everything. 7 From windshields and sterile medical equipment.

What is the best title for this passage?

Possible Answers:

"The Complexity of Glass"

"The Manufacture of Glass"

"The Manufacturers of Glass"

"The Utility of Glass"

"The Beauty of Glass"

Correct answer:

"The Manufacture of Glass"

Explanation:

While the passage does touch on the beauty, complexity, and utility of glass, the author is primarily concerned with informing the reader about how glass is made. Therefore, “The Manufacture of Glass” is the title that best encompasses the author’s message.

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