SAT Writing : Improving Sentences
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Example Questions
Example Question #1221 : Improving Sentences
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.
The race's winner was actually only the driver to complete the full race.
The race's winner was actually the only driver to complete the full race.
The race's winner was actually the driver only to complete the full race.
The race's winner was actually the driver to only complete the full race.
The race's winner was actually only the driver to complete the full race.
The race's winner was only actually the driver to complete the full race.
The race's winner was actually the only driver to complete the full race.
The placement of "only" in the sentence is confusing and odd, as it seems to imply that the subject was merely the driver who finished. The sentence will make the most sense if "only" is used to show that the winner was the one driver to finish. The sentence which best does this is "The race's winner was actually the only driver to complete the full race."
Example Question #83 : Correcting Modifier Placement Errors
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.
The runner was the third person only from his home country to win a medal at the games.
the third person only from his home country
the only third person from his home country
only the third person from his home country
the third person from only his home country
the third person from his home country only
only the third person from his home country
The use of "only" in the sentence is confusing, and makes it unclear what is being modified by the adjective. The word can be better used by placing it at the front of the underlined phrase to show the subject was the third person from the country; therefore, the correct answer choice is "only the third person from his home country."
Example Question #1 : Commas
There once was a shepherd boy whom sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. He was hot and exhausted fanning himself, rapidly in a feeble attempt to cool himself down. On top of that, he had never been so bored before. To amuse himself, he decided to play a joke. He put his hands around his mouth and yelled in a loud voice, "Wolf! Wolf! A wolf is chasing the sheep!”
They came running. They asked the boy, “What’s going on? Did you yell ‘A wolf is chasing the sheep?’”
The boy laughed. “It was just a joke, everyone.”
The people fumed, but they all returned to their homes.
The next day, the boy bored again decided to amuse himself again. He bellowed, “Wolf! Wolf!” Again, the townspeople came running. Once they arrived and witnessed the laughing boy, they realized they’d been tricked a second time. Nonetheless, they returned home and irritated resolved to never fall for the trick again for third time.
The next day, the boy was watching his sheep. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a wolf appeared from behind the bushes. With its teeth bared, the boy cowered as the wolf approached the sheep. Terrified, he called, “Help! A wolf! A wolf is here!” The people ignored his cries. “That mischievous boy,” they all said to one another. “He must think he can fool us again.” But not one of them came running.
No one was there to witness as the wolf ate every last sheep on the hillside, as the boy helplessly cowered behind a bush. As the boy hid, he shook his head. “I shall never fib again,” he resolved to himself.
How should the underlined section be corrected?
With its teeth bared, the wolf approached the sheep as the boy cowered.
NO CHANGE
Its teeth was bared as the wolf approached the sheep and the boy was cowering as it did so.
With bared teeth the boy cowered as the wolf the sheep approached.
With its teeth bared, the wolf approached the sheep as the boy cowered.
In the original sentence, the boy is the subject of the sentence, so the phrase "with its teeth bared" would be a modifier for him. The author was intending to use this phrase to describe the wolf, so one has to choose an option in which the phrase clearly modifies the wolf. In "With its teeth bared, the wolf approached...," the wolf is the subject of the sentence, so the modifier applies correctly.
The sentence, "With bared teeth the boy cowered as the wolf the sheep approached" does not fix the modifier, and it is confusing to read without a comma setting off the prepositional phrase, "with bared teeth." The sentence, "Its teeth was bared as the wolf approached the sheep and the boy was cowering as it did so," is needlessly wordy. The sentence, "With his teeth bared, the boy cowered as the wolf approached the sheep" still has a misplaced modifier, and now that "his" is added, it is significantly more confusing.
Example Question #1 : Recognizing Sentences That Contain No Errors
More recently, the trend reversed itself to come back to the original position.
reverses itself
reversing itself
reverses themselves
reversed itself
reversed themselves
reversed itself
The underlined portion is correct as is. While the sentence is somewhat awkwardly worded, the underlined portion is gramatically correct, and there is little that other answer choices do to improve the sentence.
Example Question #1 : Recognizing Sentences That Contain No Errors
The identity of the killer remained a mystery for the next fifty years.
until fifty years.
until the next fifty years.
for the next fifty years.
and fifty years.
in fifty years.
for the next fifty years.
The "identity of the killer" was unknown a while, so the use of the preposition "for" is correct, as it indicates the length of time was fully taken by the mystery of the killer's identity. The sentence is correct as written.
Example Question #2 : Recognizing Sentences That Contain No Errors
Forcing the issue, the students brought up the teacher's overly long assignments.
Issue forcing,
Issue being forced,
Forcing the issue,
Forcing issues,
Force the issue,
Forcing the issue,
The underlined section of the sentence is a dependent clause, meaning it defines the rest of the sentence, but is not able to stand alone. The phrase "Forcing the issue" is correct in its usage.
Example Question #3 : Recognizing Sentences That Contain No Errors
Hungry and tired, the group stopped under the tree by the river bank for the night.
under the tree by bank of river
under the tree, the river bank
under the tree by the river bank
under tree by river bank
under the tree by the rivers banks
under the tree by the river bank
The underlined phrase, although slightly awkward and over worded, is actually perfectly grammatically correct. As none of the "corrected" answer choices are grammatically correct, the unchanged form of the underlined portion is the correct answer.
Example Question #4 : Recognizing Sentences That Contain No Errors
No one will come to our defense but ourselves in our time of need.
ourself
our own
ours
our self
ourselves
ourselves
The use of "ourselves" is actually correct in the sentence, as it refers to the previous use of "our" in the phrase "our defense;" therefore, the correct answer is to keep the word as "ourselves."
Example Question #1222 : Improving Sentences
Trying to understand her students' issues, the teacher found ways to ask about their problems indirectly.
Trying to understand her students' issues, the teacher found ways to ask about their problems in an indirectly fashion.
Try to understand her students' issues, the teacher found ways to ask about their problems indirectly.
Trying to understand her students' issues, the teacher found ways to ask about their problems indirectly.
Trying to understand her students' issues, the teacher found ways to asks about their problems indirectly.
Trying to understand her student's issues, the teacher found ways to ask about their problems indirectly.
Trying to understand her students' issues, the teacher found ways to ask about their problems indirectly.
The sentence is absolutely correct as written, and needs no improvement. The various corrections all make the sentence incorrect, as "asks" does not work in an infinitive, "student's" refers to one student and contradicts "their" as mentioned later, "indirectly" is an adverb and not an adjective, and writing "try" makes the sentence unclear and a fragment.
Example Question #11 : Recognizing Sentences That Contain No Errors
Choose the best way to rephrase the underlined portion of the sentence. One of the answer choices repeats the original phrasing.
Since she arrived home from work, Rachel has been locked in her room, watching television and refusing to speak to anyone.
has been locked in her room, watched television, and refused
has been locked in her room, watching television and refusing
is watching television locked in her room, refusing
is locked in her room, watching television and refusing
locked in her room, is watching television and refusing
has been locked in her room, watching television and refusing
This sentence is phrased nicely. The other options confuse the verb tense or otherwise complicate the coordination of events.
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