All SAT Writing Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #2 : Correcting Single Word Grammatical Errors
[1] Voltaire was an eighteenth-century's French Enlightenment philosopher. [2] According to Voltaire, an enlightened person is a rational individual who thinks independently, tolerates others, rejects superstition, and embraces science and reason. [3] Voltaire was a strong monarchist who rejected democracy and wanted a ruler who used his or her power to allow free intellectual activity. [4] Many enlightenment philosophers gave their own definitions of what an enlightened person was and did.
[5] Voltaire very much admired the English monarchy, leading him to publish Letters on the English, and he wanted the French monarchy to closely resemble the enlightened English monarchy. [6] He did not think that democracy was a plausible form of government because he simply did not have enough trust in the common people and believed that an enlightened despot would be a safer option. [7] Ironically, just as Luther’s ideas were twisted and exaggerated to inspire peasant revolts, some of Voltaire’s anti-democratic ideas ended up inspiring the French and American Revolutions.
Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
eighteen centuries'
eighteen-century's
eighteenth century's
eighteenth's century
eighteenth-century
eighteenth-century
The correct answer is "eighteenth-century." There is no grammatical reason for the possessive case to be used in this sentence. Instead, "eighteenth-century" can be used as an adjective describing Voltaire. The hyphen is necessary because the two words are functioning as an adjective together.
Example Question #2 : Correcting Single Word Grammatical Errors
1 Although many people have heard of the seven wonders of the world, most don’t know who made the original list. 2 Both Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian, and Callimachus, a scholar at the famous Library of Alexandria, composed early lists of the seven wonders. 3 Although, an extract copy of these lists has not survived.
4 Still, historians know that the original seven wonders were. 5 They included Colossus of Rhodes, the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. 6 Only the Great Pyramid still exists today. 7 Ruins or evidence of five of the other wonders have been found, but the Hanging Gardens have never been located by archaeologists.
8 What do these seven wonders have in common? 9 Since ancient times, scholars have made their own lists of seven wonders of the world. 10 Some of these wonders include Stonehenge, the Great Wall of China, the Hagia Sophia, Macchu Pichu, and the Golden Gate Bridge.
In Sentence 3, what word should replace “extract”?
extracorporeal
extract (no replacement)
extant
external
extorted
extant
The word “extant” means still in existence, complete, and not destroyed, and it is the only option provided that makes sense in the context of the sentence.
Example Question #211 : Rewriting A Single Word
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 word or phrase in Sentence 4 needs to be changed?
one
walked into
could find
locally called
example
one
Here, we have pronouns (“you” and “one”) that don’t match. For the sake of consistency and concision, both pronouns in this sentence should be “you.”
Example Question #11 : Correcting Single Word Grammatical Errors
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 contains an apostrophe error?
None of these sentences contains an apostrophe error.
Sentence 4
Sentence 1
Sentence 3
Sentence 2
Sentence 4
In Sentence 4, we’re making a singular noun that ends with ‘s’ into a possessive. The correct process for this kind of noun is to put the apostrophe after and not before the s. In this sentence "specie's" should be spelled "species'"
Example Question #511 : Improving And Correcting Sentences
1 Unlike most languages, Esperanto was created artificially and not arrived naturally from other language’s evolution. 2 If you’ve ever traveled in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language, you’ll be familiar with the motives of the creators of Esperanto; a universal language constructed in 1887. 3 It was invented by the linguist L.L. Zamenhof, its name translating roughly to “the hopeful one,” and it was intended as a simple, neutral language that could transfer national differences and promote international harmony.
4 Implementing Esperanto, although, was more difficult than anticipated. 5 Yet more than two million people world-wide are fluent in Esperanto, far more are fluent in so-called global languages, such as English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and Hindi. 6 Linguistically, Esperanto relies within a Latin alphabet and a grammar and vocabulary based primarily on Indo-European languages. 7 Luckily, free online resources, local clubs, and interminable school-sponsored instruction have kept this valuable linguistic experiment from dying out altogether.
Which sentence contains an apostrophe error?
Sentence 4
Sentence 3
Sentence 1
Sentence 5
Sentence 2
Sentence 1
In Sentence 1, we’re clearly talking about multiple languages evolving. The correct way to make a standard plural noun possessive is by putting the apostrophe after and not before the “s”: languages’.
Example Question #11 : Correcting Single Word Grammatical Errors
1 Unlike most languages, Esperanto was created artificially and not arrived naturally from other language’s evolution. 2 If you’ve ever traveled in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language, you’ll be familiar with the motives of the creators of Esperanto; a universal language constructed in 1887. 3 It was invented by the linguist L.L. Zamenhof, its name translating roughly to “the hopeful one,” and it was intended as a simple, neutral language that could transfer national differences and promote international harmony.
4 Implementing Esperanto, although, was more difficult than anticipated. 5 Yet more than two million people world-wide are fluent in Esperanto, far more are fluent in so-called global languages, such as English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and Hindi. 6 Linguistically, Esperanto relies within a Latin alphabet and a grammar and vocabulary based primarily on Indo-European languages. 7 Luckily, free online resources, local clubs, and interminable school-sponsored instruction have kept this valuable linguistic experiment from dying out altogether.
In Sentence 1, what word should replace “arrived”?
arrived (no change)
contrived
despised
derived
deprived
derived
Languages can’t be “arrived” from other languages, but they can be “derived,” or taken from other languages.
Example Question #12 : Correcting Single Word Grammatical Errors
1 Unlike most languages, Esperanto was created artificially and not arrived naturally from other language’s evolution. 2 If you’ve ever traveled in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language, you’ll be familiar with the motives of the creators of Esperanto; a universal language constructed in 1887. 3 It was invented by the linguist L.L. Zamenhof, its name translating roughly to “the hopeful one,” and it was intended as a simple, neutral language that could transfer national differences and promote international harmony.
4 Implementing Esperanto, although, was more difficult than anticipated. 5 Yet more than two million people world-wide are fluent in Esperanto, far more are fluent in so-called global languages, such as English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and Hindi. 6 Linguistically, Esperanto relies within a Latin alphabet and a grammar and vocabulary based primarily on Indo-European languages. 7 Luckily, free online resources, local clubs, and interminable school-sponsored instruction have kept this valuable linguistic experiment from dying out altogether.
What word should replace “although” in Sentence 4?
whereas
however
wherefore
although (no change)
while
however
“However” is a conjunctive adverb, the correct part of speech for this sentence construction. “Although” is a subordinating conjunction, and it does not match the structure of Sentence 4.
Example Question #821 : Improving Paragraphs
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?
In Sentence 3, what word should replace the underlined “that”?
these
which
than
that (no change)
then
which
“In which” is a phrase that can introduce various other items; “in that” is a phrase that means in the sense that or for the reason that. The former option is the one that fits the context of this sentence, so "that" should be replaced with "which" in the sentence.
Example Question #3361 : Sat Writing
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.
In Sentence 1, which of the following words should be changed?
force
none of these words should be changed.
dreaded
phenomena
meteorological
phenomena
“Phenomena” is plural; “phenomenon,” the correct choice, is singular.
Example Question #3362 : Sat Writing
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.
In Sentence 6, what word should replace “mite”?
mite (no change)
might
mete
mate
meight
might
We’re talking about the tornado’s destructive force or strength, so we need the homonym for “mite” (a tiny object or speck of dust) that correctly fulfills the meaning required (expressing a possible condition).