All SAT Writing Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #76 : 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.
What is the best title for this passage?
"Sewing Machines: An Early History"
"Sewing Machines: Technological Innovation and Obstacles"
"Sewing Machines: Unethical Labor?"
"Sewing Machines: Superior to Hand Sewing?"
"Sewing Machines: A Comprehensive History"
"Sewing Machines: An Early History"
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?
Sentence 8
Sentence 6
Sentence 7
None of the sentences requires a hyphen
Sentence 9
Sentence 9
“Awe-inspiring” is always hyphenated. (Try reading it aloud and pausing between “awe” and “inspiring.” It should sound strange to your ear.)
Example Question #78 : Inserting Or Deleting Content
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?
"Tornados Today"
"Tornado Alley"
"Tornados in Contemporary Film"
"Tornado Chasing"
"Tornados: Survivor Stories"
"Tornados Today"
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 #292 : 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?
an overview of the structure of the medieval Mass
the history of medieval illuminated manuscripts
a list of famous medieval anchorites
a discussion of medieval cathedral architecture
a list of suggested readings about religious hermits
a list of famous medieval anchorites
Since the passage is mainly about anchorites, the most relevant topic to include would be a discussion of the best known anchorites.
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.
What is the best title for this passage?
"Early Church Fathers"
"Archangels and Anchorites"
"What Are Anchorites?"
"The Anchorite Conundrum"
"Medieval Christianity"
"What Are Anchorites?"
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.
Example Question #81 : Inserting Or Deleting Content
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.
Which sentence needs a hyphen added to it?
Sentence 3
Sentence 1
Sentence 2
Sentence 4
None of the sentences
Sentence 1
Because “praise centric” is a compound adjective modifying a noun, it requires hyphenation: “praise-centric.”
Example Question #82 : Inserting Or Deleting Content
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.
Which sentence needs quotation marks inserted into it?
Sentence 6
Sentence 4
Sentence 5
Sentence 3
Sentence 2
Sentence 6
Titles of short works such as stories, poems, and essays require quotation marks around them.
Example Question #83 : Inserting Or Deleting Content
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.
Where should the following sentence be inserted in the passage? “Its etymology comes from the French verb ‘essayer,’ to try or attempt.”
Before Sentence 2
Before Sentence 4
Before Sentence 1
Before Sentence 3
Before Sentence 5
Before Sentence 3
Because this sentence doesn’t have to do with the chronological progression of the essay but is important information that could appear early in the passage, the best place for it is before Sentence 3, the start of the discussion of chronological development.
Example Question #84 : Inserting Content
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.
Which of the following topics would most enhance the passage if added in the form of a sentence?
an argument that the essay is no longer a relevant genre
an analysis of how essay writing is taught in American schools
a list of essays written by Michel de Montaigne
an introduction to other genres of prose writing
a discussion of the essay’s evolution outside the Western world
a discussion of the essay’s evolution outside the Western world
This passage is primarily presenting an overview of the development of the essay, so a sentence that provided perspective in the development of the essay beyond Western civilization would be most valuable. The rest of the subjects would be off topic for the passage.
Example Question #84 : Inserting Or Deleting Content
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.
Which of the following is not an acceptable title for this passage?
"Developmental Child Psychology"
"How to Raise a Child"
"Contemporary Child-Rearing"
"Discipline in the Modern Age"
"Praise and Punishment"
"Developmental Child Psychology"
“Developmental Child Psychology” does not reflect the focus of this passage, child discipline. All the rest of the passages would be appropriate, as they address some aspect of the fundamental focus of the passage.