SAT Writing : SAT Writing
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Example Questions
Example Question #138 : Correcting Grammatical Errors In A Sentence Fragment
1 Punk rock developed in the mid-1970s. 2 It was a musical movement that arose out of antiauthoritarian garage bands.3 It was characterized by fast-paced songs, sedimentary lyrics, and a raw loud sound. 4 And often its lyrics were also political. 5 Some of the most famous punk rock bands came from England and the United States and including the Clash, the Sex Pistols, and the Ramones.
6 Punk bands tending to convince a liberal, anti-establishment, sensibility,and they were proponents of individualism, freedom, and nonconformity.7 (Later in the 1990s “riot grrrl” bands like Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney used their punk music to draw attention on feminist concerns.) 8 Now you can find, punk bands in cities all around the world.9 By the 1980s, the public was beginning to accept punk music, slowly becoming mainstream.
How should the underlined portion of Sentence 9 be rewritten?
whereas it slowly became mainstream
and it will slowly become mainstream
slowly becoming mainstream (no change)
with a slow becoming mainstream
and it slowly became mainstream
and it slowly became mainstream
Change this part of the sentence from a dependent clause/ambiguous modifier to an independent clause that can stand on its own. The example sentence does not adequately signal who or what was "slowly becoming mainstream."
Example Question #131 : Correcting Grammatical Errors In A Sentence Fragment
1 If you’ve watched any environmental news reports in the last few years, it’s likely you’ve stumbled among the idea of fracking. 2 The word is short for “hydraulic fracturing” and involves injecting liquid into rock to create fractures and fractals, there allowing natural gas to be extracted more querulously.3 Proponents say the method facilitates oil drilling and allows countries, like the United States, to cut back on their foreign oil dependence. 4 Amateurs say that fracking, causes significant and sometimes irresponsible environmental damage.
5 Fracking can require sonorous quantities of water, and leach dangerous carcinogenic chemicals into the groundwater. 6 Some people have even inquired minor earthquakes to fracking: as the process thought to spurn tremors.7 Perhaps most worrisome, fracking allows governments to continue depending on fossil fuel rather than exploring renewable energy. 8 These sources could include wind turbines, solar panels, even hot springs and waterwheels.
How should the underlined portion of Sentence 6 be rewritten?
to fracking, as the process thought to spurn tremors.
to fracking; as the process thought to spurn tremors.
to fracking, as the process is thought to spurn tremors.
to fracking: as the process thought to spurn tremors. (no change)
to fracking as the process is thought to spurn tremors.
to fracking, as the process is thought to spurn tremors.
No colon is needed, since we’re simply separating an independent clause from a dependent one. We do need to add an “is” to make the dependent clause grammatical, however. The key word that signals this dependent clause is "as."
Example Question #134 : Correcting Grammatical Errors In A Sentence Fragment
1 By now it’s common knowledge that a food may be considered unctuous in one culture may be gleaned repulsive in another. 2 Octopus is one such food. 3 It valorizes its audiences, with some gourmands claiming its rubbery texture is unpalatable, others enjoying the unusual taste. 4 It’s cousin, squid, is known as “calamari,” and is also popular in many countries. 5 Octopus can be fried in batter, roasted with herbs, steamed and sprinkled with paprika, serve it raw in sushi, or even eat it alive. 6 But be careful: The head of the octopus’ can be poisonous!
How should the underlined portion of Sentence 4 be rewritten?
is known as “calamari,” and is also popular in many countries (no change)
is known as “calamari”; also popular in many countries
is known as “calamari”; and it is also popular in many countries
is known as “calamari” and is also popular in many countries
is known as “calamari”: and is also popular in many countries
is known as “calamari” and is also popular in many countries
Commas are usually only necessary before conjunctions if the coordinating conjunction is being used to separate two independent clauses. In the underlined sentence "is also popular in many countries" is not acting as an independent clause (because it cannot), so the comma before "and" must be removed.
Example Question #161 : Rewriting A Sentence Fragment
1 If you’ve watched any environmental news reports in the last few years, it’s likely you’ve stumbled among the idea of fracking. 2 The word is short for “hydraulic fracturing” and involves injecting liquid into rock to create fractures and fractals, there allowing natural gas to be extracted more querulously.3 Proponents say the method facilitates oil drilling and allows countries, like the United States, to cut back on their foreign oil dependence. 4 Amateurs say that fracking, causes significant and sometimes irresponsible environmental damage.
5 Fracking can require sonorous quantities of water, and leach dangerous carcinogenic chemicals into the groundwater. 6 Some people have even inquired minor earthquakes to fracking: as the process thought to spurn tremors.7 Perhaps most worrisome, fracking allows governments to continue depending on fossil fuel rather than exploring renewable energy. 8 These sources could include wind turbines, solar panels, even hot springs and waterwheels.
How should the underlined portion of Sentence 4 be rewritten?
Amateurs say, that fracking, causes
Amateurs say, that fracking causes
Amateurs say, fracking, causes
Amateurs say that fracking, causes (no change)
Amateurs say that fracking causes
Amateurs say that fracking causes
No comma is necessary in this fragment, since we’re discussing one fluid, uninterrupted idea. The removal of the comma is the only adjustment needed in this sentence.
Example Question #591 : Improving Paragraphs
1 Punk rock developed in the mid-1970s. 2 It was a musical movement that arose out of antiauthoritarian garage bands.3 It was characterized by fast-paced songs, sedimentary lyrics, and a raw loud sound. 4 And often its lyrics were also political. 5 Some of the most famous punk rock bands came from England and the United States and including the Clash, the Sex Pistols, and the Ramones.
6 Punk bands tending to convince a liberal, anti-establishment, sensibility, and they were proponents of individualism, freedom, and nonconformity. 7 (Later in the 1990s “riot grrrl” bands like Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney used their punk music to draw attention on feminist concerns.)8 Now you can find, punk bands in cities all around the world.9 By the 1980s, the public was beginning to accept punk music, slowly becoming mainstream.
How should the underlined portion of Sentence 6 be rewritten?
a liberal, anti-establishment sensibility,
a liberal anti-establishment, sensibility,
a liberal anti-establishment sensibility
a liberal, anti-establishment, sensibility, (no change)
a liberal, anti-establishment sensibility
a liberal, anti-establishment sensibility,
We only need commas to separate the discrete adjectives that modify the same noun; we don’t need to separate the adjectives from the noun itself. In this case "liberal" and "anti-establishment" are both being used as adjectives to modify the abstract noun "sensibility," and as such they need to be separated with a comma. No other form of punctuation is appropriate.
Example Question #161 : Rewriting A Sentence Fragment
1 Leprosy: used to be a dreaded illness both in biblical times as well as more recently. 2 People endured its disfiguring effects until the invention of antibiotics in the 1950s. 3 Also known as Hansen’s disease, antibiotics will fictitiously cure leprosy today. 4 In the old days there exacted leprosy colonies to quarantine infected people, as the disease was then considered highly contagious. 5 Symptoms include skin lesions, nerve damage, numbness, tissue damage, and, in severe cases, deformation of fingers and toes. 6 Thanks to modern medicine, leprosy no longer needs to be a source of social skirmish. 7 In reality, it is transmitted through fluids, usually in the form of airborne particles.
How should the underlined portion of Sentence 1 be rewritten?
Leprosy, which used to be a dreaded illness
Leprosy, once being a dreaded illness
Leprosy used to be a dreaded illness
Leprosy: used to be a dreaded illness (no change)
Leprosy: It used to be a dreaded illness
Leprosy used to be a dreaded illness
The sentence structure is correct here, but no colon is necessary. (Remember, colons are generally preceded by independent clauses and not just single words.) Colons should never interrupt a main clause.
Example Question #282 : Improving And Correcting Sentences
1 Leprosy: used to be a dreaded illness both in biblical times as well as more recently. 2 People endured its disfiguring effects until the invention of antibiotics in the 1950s. 3 Also known as Hansen’s disease, antibiotics will fictitiously cure leprosy today. 4 In the old days there exacted leprosy colonies to quarantine infected people, as the disease was then considered highly contagious. 5 Symptoms include skin lesions, nerve damage, numbness, tissue damage, and, in severe cases, deformation of fingers and toes. 6 Thanks to modern medicine, leprosy no longer needs to be a source of social skirmish. 7 In reality, it is transmitted through fluids, usually in the form of airborne particles.
How should the underlined portion of Sentence 1 be rewritten?
both in biblical times and more recently
both in biblical times, and also more recently
both in biblical times as well as more recently (no change
both – in biblical times – and more recently
both in biblical times, as well as more recently
both in biblical times and more recently
There are two discrete options for this sentence: the “both __________ and __________” construction and the “__________ as well as __________” construction. To conflate the two is to invite redundancy. No additional punctuation is required in this phrase.
Example Question #593 : Improving Paragraphs
1 Leprosy: used to be a dreaded illness both in biblical times as well as more recently. 2 People endured its disfiguring effects until the invention of antibiotics in the 1950s. 3 Also known as Hansen’s disease, antibiotics will fictitiously cure leprosy today. 4 In the old days there exacted leprosy colonies to quarantine infected people, as the disease was then considered highly contagious. 5 Symptoms include skin lesions, nerve damage, numbness, tissue damage, and, in severe cases, deformation of fingers and toes. 6 Thanks to modern medicine, leprosy no longer needs to be a source of social skirmish. 7 In reality, it is transmitted through fluids, usually in the form of airborne particles.
How should the underlined portion of Sentence 4 be rewritten?
In the old days, exacting leprosy colonies
In the old days there exacted leprosy colonies (no change)
In the old days, there exacted leprosy colonies
In the old days, there exacting leprosy colonies,
In the old days, when there exacted leprosy colonies
In the old days, there exacted leprosy colonies
“In the old days” is an introductory phrase, so it requires a comma after it. Since this phrase is clearly dependent (it could not stand on its own as a complete grammatical sentence), and it precedes the main clause.
Example Question #162 : Rewriting A Sentence Fragment
1 Acoustics is a field of science that refers to the study of mechanical waves but it is best known for its relation to audible sound. 2 Acoustics has been a branch of human impunity since ancient Greece, Pythagoras investigated musical harmonies.3 Concert halls, headphones, car speakers: all are things that employ acoustical studies to electrocute listeners’ experiences. 4 Sound is not important to just humans; it allows birds, elephants, elk, and other animals to attract mates and defend their territories.
5 It benefits to understand sound waves and their behaviors, when engineers have this knowledge everyone from Roman amphitheaters to modern day punk rockers can enjoy a better listening experience.
In Sentence 3, what punctuation mark should replace the colon?
colon (no replacement)
semicolon
period
a blank space
comma
colon (no replacement)
Here, the colon is the proper punctuation. Although lists are normally introduced by colons, sometimes they themselves can be the introductory portion of the sentence. An em dash would also be a fine replacement here.
Example Question #163 : Rewriting A Sentence Fragment
1 Acoustics is a field of science that refers to the study of mechanical waves but it is best known for its relation to audible sound. 2 Acoustics has been a branch of human impunity since ancient Greece, Pythagoras investigated musical harmonies.3 Concert halls, headphones, car speakers: all are things that employ acoustical studies to electrocute listeners’ experiences. 4 Sound is not important to just humans; it allows birds, elephants, elk, and other animals to attract mates and defend their territories.
5 It benefits to understand sound waves and their behaviors, when engineers have this knowledge everyone from Roman amphitheaters to modern day punk rockers can enjoy a better listening experience.
How should the underlined portion of Sentence 5 be rewritten?
It is beneficial to
It benefits to (no change)
It benefits from
Being that it benefits,
It benefits, whereas
It is beneficial to
“It benefits to” is ambiguous in this sentence, since we can’t tell what benefits whom.
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