SAT Writing : Improving Paragraphs

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT Writing

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Example Questions

Example Question #381 : 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 sentence should be deleted from the passage?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 1

Sentence 3

Sentence 5

Sentence 2

Sentence 4

Correct answer:

Sentence 3

Explanation:

While it does discuss spices, Sentence 3 is the only sentence that does not discuss the Moluccas, the central topic of this passage. 

Example Question #17 : Deleting Content

1 The purpose of this agricultural practice is to produce large amounts of meat, milk, eggs, and textiles, such as wool and leather, at low costs. 2 It has many negative consequences; however, and many activists have raised concerns about sustainability, environmental risks, and ethics. 3 Factory farming, sometimes known euphonically as intensive animal farming, or industrial farming, is the practice of raising livestock at very high densities in order to decrease the costs of production. 4 On most factory farms, animals are reduced to commodities: bred unnaturally, confined in uncomfortably small cages, and dosed with high strength antibiotics to reduce concomitant infections. 5 Although, the livestock suffers considerately, drug-resistant bacteria become more common, and significant environmental hazards arise from the high quantities of animal waste. 6 Does the phrase manure lagoons sound familiar? 7 As a light of this issue, many people choose to become vegetarian or join anti-factory farming campaigns. 8 What will you do?

Which sentence should have a single comma deleted from it?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 5

Sentence 2

Sentence 4

Sentence 1

Sentence 3

Correct answer:

Sentence 3

Explanation:

In the dependent clause in Sentence 3 (“sometimes known euphonically as intensive animal farming, or industrial farming”), we have a conjunction that is not separating two independent clauses. Therefore, no comma should be used in front of the conjunction. (Commas are, however, needed, after “Factory farming” and “industrial farming.”)

Example Question #14 : Deleting Content

1 The purpose of this agricultural practice is to produce large amounts of meat, milk, eggs, and textiles, such as wool and leather, at low costs. 2 It has many negative consequences; however, and many activists have raised concerns about sustainability, environmental risks, and ethics. 3 Factory farming, sometimes known euphonically as intensive animal farming, or industrial farming, is the practice of raising livestock at very high densities in order to decrease the costs of production. 4 On most factory farms, animals are reduced to commodities: bred unnaturally, confined in uncomfortably small cages, and dosed with high strength antibiotics to reduce concomitant infections. 5 Although, the livestock suffers considerately, drug-resistant bacteria become more common, and significant environmental hazards arise from the high quantities of animal waste. 6 Does the phrase manure lagoons sound familiar? 7 As a light of this issue, many people choose to become vegetarian or join anti-factory farming campaigns. 8 What will you do?

Which sentence should be deleted from the passage?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 4

Sentence 6

None of the sentences should be deleted.

Sentence 8

Sentence 2

Correct answer:

Sentence 6

Explanation:

While manure lagoons are certainly one result of factory farming, the informal tone of Sentence 6 does not match the rest of the passage, and the direct address to the reader is unnecessary.

Example Question #2601 : Sat Writing

1 “Waltzing Matilda” is the title of an Australian song. 2 This song is often called Australia’s unofficial national anthem. 3 Although unscrupulous to a foreigner, the song’s seemingly nonsensical lyrics are actually slang that describes a migrant worker’s travels. 4 The song even has it’s own museum in Queensland. 5 Can you believe that? 6 It was written in 1895 by the Australian author Banjo Paterson and has more recordings than any other Australian song, including the national anthem; “Advance Australia Fair.”

In Sentence 5, what punctuation mark should be changed?

Possible Answers:

No change should be made.

The period

The semicolon

The comma

The quotation marks

Correct answer:

The semicolon

Explanation:

The semicolon must be replaced by a comma or a colon, since semicolons are typically only used to separate two independent clauses. 

Example Question #2602 : Sat Writing

1 “Waltzing Matilda” is the title of an Australian song. 2 This song is often called Australia’s unofficial national anthem. 3 Although unscrupulous to a foreigner, the song’s seemingly nonsensical lyrics are actually slang that describes a migrant worker’s travels. 4 The song even has it’s own museum in Queensland. 5 Can you believe that? 6 It was written in 1895 by the Australian author Banjo Paterson and has more recordings than any other Australian song, including the national anthem; “Advance Australia Fair.”

Which of these sentences should be deleted from the passage?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 1

Sentence 5

Sentence 2

Sentence 3

Sentence 4

Correct answer:

Sentence 5

Explanation:

While rhetorical questions can often add to a passage by posing a thought-provoking idea, this particular one does not contribute to the content at all.

Example Question #2603 : Sat Writing

1 “Waltzing Matilda” is the title of an Australian song. 2 This song is often called Australia’s unofficial national anthem. 3 Although unscrupulous to a foreigner, the song’s seemingly nonsensical lyrics are actually slang that describes a migrant worker’s travels. 4 The song even has it’s own museum in Queensland. 5 Can you believe that? 6 It was written in 1895 by the Australian author Banjo Paterson and has more recordings than any other Australian song, including the national anthem; “Advance Australia Fair.”

Which sentence needs an apostrophe deleted from it?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 4

Sentence 3

Sentence 1

Sentence 5

Sentence 2

Correct answer:

Sentence 4

Explanation:

In Sentence 4 (as in all sentences), the possessive of it should be “its,” not “it’s.” "Its" signals possession, "it's" is an contraction of "it is."

Example Question #2604 : Sat Writing

1 As anyone who has tried it can tell you, Filipino food is an exciting intriguing blend of flavors. 2 Due to interaction with various nations and cultures, it’s cuisine is marked by influences from Austronesia, Spain, China, Malaysia, and the United States. 3 Some typical dishes including pancit, longganisa, lumpia, kare-kare, pinakbet, sinigang, and adobo. 4 For example, one could find everything from Spanish paella and Chinese spring rolls (locally called lumpia) if you walked into a Filipino restaurant.

5 Another important compound of Filipino cuisine is street food. 6 These street foods include many fried foods, such as bananas, plantains, dumplings, squid balls, battered quail eggs, and fruit or vegetable spring rolls.7 Taho, a warm street food, is composed of bean curd, a caramel syrup or arnibal, and tapioca pearls.8 Don’t forget dessert! 9 With such a variety of flavors, textures, and cooking styles, there’s certainly to be something for every gourmand.

Which of the following sentences should be deleted from the passage?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 2

Sentence 6

Sentence 4

None of these sentences should be deleted.

Sentence 8

Correct answer:

Sentence 8

Explanation:

While a sentence describing Filipino desserts could certainly enhance the passage, Sentence 8 does not provide any essential or interesting information about these desserts and should be deleted.

Example Question #23 : Deleting Content

1 While many people feel strongly about the genetic modification of foods. 2 Most do not understand the full nature of genetically modified (GM) plants and animals. 3 For example, did you even know that GM was the abbreviation for genetically modified? 4 Genetic modification is defined as the artificial manipulation of a specie’s DNA usually for the purpose of improving crop yield, resistance to disease, or nutritive value. 5 And did you know it has been going on for millennia, because ancient farmers were selectively breeding foods to provide better flavor, produce smaller seeds, or withstand drought and flooding?

6 Today, however, having more sophisticated tools allow scientists to transfer genes from one organism with another, this purposely provokes better pest resistance and other desirable characteristics. 7 Opponents of genetic modification argue that the DNA modifications are unstable, undesirable, and unhealthy for the environment. 8 Additionally, some are also arguing that consuming GM foods is unsafe for humans, despite much scientific evidence to the contrary.

Which of the following sentences should be deleted from the passage?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 5

Sentence 2

Sentence 6

Sentence 3

Sentence 4

Correct answer:

Sentence 3

Explanation:

Only Sentence 3 provides no useful or relevant information.

Example Question #22 : 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 should be deleted from the passage?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 4

Sentence 3

Sentence 1

Sentence 5

Sentence 2

Correct answer:

Sentence 2

Explanation:

While Sentence 2 does provide interesting alternative terms for the main focus of the passage, lost-wax casting, it does not fit well in the text. It interrupts the introduction of the process (Sentence 1) and the more detailed description of the process (Sentence 3) and would not fit well anywhere else, given that the entire passage is only concerned with the process of lost-wax casting and not its history or etymology. The best option in this case is to cut the sentence.

Example Question #23 : Deleting Content

1 E.J. Bellocq, who was he? 2 Those outside the photography coterie may not have heard of him, but his life’s work inspired innumerable films and works of literature. 3 Born into a rich family in the French Quarter of New Orleans Bellocq made a living, taking official photographs of ships, machinery, and other commercial items for local companies. 4 As a result, he became known for his portraits of Chinatown opium dens, and prostitutes in Storyville, one of the seediest districts of early 20th century New Orleans.

5 Bellocq’s work is categorized by its attention to detail and its rich aesthetic sensibility. 6 In his personal life, he was known for being eccentric, unfriendly, partially crippled, and possibly insane. 7 In his veritable Storyville portraits, the women are nude or clothed, looking at or away from the camera, and posed reclining or standing up, revealing great versatility on Bellocq’s part. 8 Tragically many of his negatives and prints were destroyed or damaged by an uncertain hand (mostly likely his or his Jesuit brother).

Which sentence should be deleted from the passage?

Possible Answers:

Sentence 6

Sentence 2

Sentence 4

None of these sentences should be deleted.

Sentence 8

Correct answer:

Sentence 6

Explanation:

Sentence 6 provides personal information about Bellocq that does not fit the rest of the passage. The text is concerned with Bellocq’s professional work, not his personal life.

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