Anyone can help me with these questions pls?

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
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<p>These two questions come from Oct SAT writing section</p>

<li>“Had it not been for two particularly skillful members of the work crew, we could not have completed the apartment renovations on schedule.” (Error identification)</li>
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<p>The answer is no error. But I wonder if the phrase “Had it not been for” is correct. What does “it” refer to, and what does “for” modify?</p>

<li>The Great Gatsby is now considered a classic novel set in American’s Jazz Age, but in 1925 “its reviews would be mixed and its sales would have been disappointing” (Correct sentence)</li>
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<p>The answer is “its reviews were mixed and its sales disappointing”. But I felt the correct form should be “its sales were disappointing”. Is it ok to omit “were” here?</p>

<p>Thanks a lot</p>

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<ol>
<li><p>You’re right. “it” is an unclear pronoun reference. However, these errors are acceptable when they don’t interfere with meaning. </p></li>
<li><p>Again, I think you’re right. However, the “were” can be left out. In English some words are understood to be there. For example “He is taller than I” is an acceptable sentence. It is understood that “he is taller than I AM” is what’s actually meant. The “am” can be left out.</p></li>
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<p>Let me try to explain more clearly than the other poster. “Had it not been for X” is an idiomatic way of expressing an IMAGINARY CONDITION that took place in the PAST. (In grammar-speak, a contrary-to-fact conditional statement expressed in the subjunctive mood.) I say “idiomatic” because it seems to break the rules, but because this is an accepted expression, it does seem to break the rules of grammar (in this case, an ambiguous pronoun and unclear preposition reference). When dealing with idioms (and diction), don’t waste time trying to understand WHY the words are there; just focus on HOW to use the idioms.</p>

<p>“Had it not been for X” is another way of saying “If it had not been for X” or “If X had not been”</p>

<p>Does that look more familiar?</p>

<p>Ex:

  1. If I had not earned an F in Bio, I would not have had to go to summer school.
  2. If it had not been for the F I earned F in Bio, I would not have had to go to summer school.
  3. Had I not earned an F in Bio, I would not have had to go to summer school.
  4. Had it not been for the F I earned in Bio, I would not have had to go to summer school.</p>

<p>I think #3 is the best because it is most concise and most active in its verb usage but they are all correct and they all mean the same thing. </p>

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<p>Yes, this method of writing is called “ellipsis” (like the … thing). You are allowed to omit repeated words in the second (or third) instance of parallelism.</p>

<p>Ex:
The committee decided that the policy was obsolete, that the chairman was corrupt, and that the meeting room was unsafe.
The committee decided that the policy was obsolete, the chairman corrupt, and the meeting room unsafe.</p>

<p>See? It’s a nice, concise way to write. It’s not actually bad parallelism.</p>

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<p>very good explanation ^</p>

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<p>I see. Thanks you.</p>

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<p>1)ok–dependant clause comma indendent…</p>

<p>2) were would --imaginary conditionals–conditional that one comes up all the time- watch out for so too also, go-try get-will, remember when the sentence starts with a negative then use past participle (had had, have gone)</p>

<p>simple past tense-past participle tense</p>

<p>negative situation: here this is from my study guide for accuplacertest…No sooner we arrived at the party than Mary came in.</p>

<p>no sooner==neg…so past participle must be used in the first part…</p>

<p>had we arrived…than came</p>

<p>Exasperated, Bill finally lost his temper with his unruly children.</p>

<p>Correct. Exasperated is a past participle phrase that describes Bill. Therefore, the sentence is correct as it is written. So the correct answer is A.</p>

<p>If stealing money from your employer, you could be charged with the crime of embezzlement.</p>

<p>Correct. This question tests your knowledge of conditional sentence structures. Conditional sentences often begin with the word if. Conditional sentences may address hypothetical or imaginary situations. This sentence mentions an imaginary situation. Therefore, the simple present tense (steal) is used in the “If” clause, and the modal verb (could) is used in the main part of the sentence. The two parts of a conditional sentence must be separated by a comma. </p>

<p>i didn’t understand it but i selected the one that sounds the best.</p>

<p>A REAL SITUATION<br>
Jack will cut the grass if he has time. (present)
(He doesn’t know if he has time yet - maybe.)<br>
Jack would cut the grass if he had time. (present)
(He doesn’t have time.)</p>

<p>A HYPOTHETICAL SITUATION
Jack cut the grass if he had time. (past)
(He did whenever he had time.)<br>
Jack would have cut the grass if he had had time. (past)
(He didn’t have time.).</p>

<p>the above are kinda screwed since its backward.</p>

<p>real
present -future has-will(get -will)
simple past-simple past (had-would)</p>

<p>fake
past-past Had-cut
present-past participle (had had–would have cut)</p>

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<p>^ umm… are you trying to ask for explanations?</p>