consolidated hard grammar problems from blue book

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
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<p>Hi, I'm starting a thread to discuss the consolidated "hard" grammar problems of the first 4 official sat study guide tests. (I am a currently around a 2200 SATer, so plz answer it will also help yourself!!) Also, I have included random spontaneous grammer questions that popped up in my head.</p>

<p>I have the answers, but I want a thorough grammatical explanation for each problem...</p>

<p>Test 1:
section 7 ( p 414)-
q10 : the answer is:
Scientists predict technological changes in the next century as dramatic as the development of the transcontinental railroad in the last century.
Isn’t this wrong? Shouldn’t the correct statement read century will be as dramatic since it is referring to a future change, so you need “will be”??</p>

<p>q22: Is a single gerund always singular? Also, does the word "prevents" correlate with the noun "requiring"?</p>

<p>section 10 ( p 429)
q 8: Surface mining is safer, quicker, and cheaper than deep mining, but its toll in human misery is greater.</p>

<p>Why is that the answer, and not it has a greater human misery toll (B) </p>

<p>q 11: is "evidence" always singular?</p>

<p>Test 2
Secion 7 (p 479)
Q 13: The labor union is negotiating a contract with the hospital that will satisfy the demands of the workers and be acceptable to all levels of management.</p>

<p>Isn’t the “will” before “be acceptable to” implied? Or is “will” never implied???</p>

<p>Q 17: Paule Marshall, whose barbadian background has influenced her writing, describes many details of life in the Caribbean islands vividly in her novels and short stories.</p>

<p>Shouldn’t it be “influenced” instead of “has influenced”. Isn’t the “has” unnecessary. Shouldn’t u just use the simple past?</p>

<p>Q 19: In those cities in which public transportation is adequate, fewere traffic problems occur and pedestrians are rarely involved in accidents.</p>

<p>I saw on the post that “which” can be used to replace “where”. What is the rule for using who/which/ where interchangeably?</p>

<p>Q 28: The quality of multivatimin tablets is determined by how long its potency can be protected by the manufacturer’s coating material. </p>

<p>Doesn’t “its” refer to “the quality”, because “of multivatimin tablets” is just a preopositional phrase? Thus, “its” is not ambiguous, right???
What’s the rule for ambiguity concerning the use of “its”</p>

<p>Test 3: sec 6
P 537
Q 11: the reason first novels are so often their writers’ best work is that it draws upon all the experiences of childhood. </p>

<p>Why can this not be correct? Doesn’t “it” refer to the only singular noun, “ the reason”. Why is “it” still considered ambiguous?</p>

<p>Test 4: sec 6:
P 600
Q 9 isolated by the sea, the aboriginal peoples of Australia had developed a unique culture long before the arrival of Europeans. </p>

<p>What is the rule for people v. peoples.
People refers to plural?
Peoples refer to singular??</p>

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<p>plz someone help here!!</p>

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<p>“Test 1:
section 7 ( p 414)-
q10 : the answer is:
Scientists predict technological changes in the next century as dramatic as the development of the transcontinental railroad in the last century.
Isn’t this wrong? Shouldn’t the correct statement read century will be as dramatic since it is referring to a future change, so you need “will be”??”</p>

<p>No because when you say “predict…as,” it has to be in the present tense because “as dramatic” is referring to the prediction and not the future event. By saying I predict the changes as dramatic, I am NOT saying that it WILL be dramatic (although it is true), I am saying that my prediction involves the changes being dramatic. “Dramatic” is being used as an adverb to modify “predict,” I think.</p>

<p>“q22: Is a single gerund always singular? Also, does the word “prevents” correlate with the noun “requiring”?”</p>

<p>I don’t know what a single gerund is but of course “prevents” correlates with “requiring,” since it’s a noun.</p>

<p>"section 10 ( p 429)
q 8: Surface mining is safer, quicker, and cheaper than deep mining, but its toll in human misery is greater.</p>

<p>Why is that the answer, and not it has a greater human misery toll (B)"</p>

<p>“Human misery toll” is 3 nouns in a row, which sounds awkward if not wrong. (E) is consistent with the beginning of the sentence by saying something is [insert comparative adjective].</p>

<p>“q 11: is “evidence” always singular?”</p>

<p>No, the plural form of “evidence” is still “evidence.” But you can’t say “the evidence show” because that’s like saying “the water have” or “the furniture bring.” They are mass nouns. But if you are talking about two discrete sets of evidences, you can say “evidences” in the same way you can say “fishes”</p>

<p>"Test 2
Secion 7 (p 479)
Q 13: The labor union is negotiating a contract with the hospital that will satisfy the demands of the workers and be acceptable to all levels of management.</p>

<p>Isn’t the “will” before “be acceptable to” implied? Or is “will” never implied???"</p>

<p>Verbs like “will” and “is” are always implied and don’t have to be repeated. You wouldn’t say “the day is cold and is rainy” in the same way you wouldn’t say “…will satisfy…and will be acceptable.” </p>

<p>"Q 17: Paule Marshall, whose barbadian background has influenced her writing, describes many details of life in the Caribbean islands vividly in her novels and short stories.</p>

<p>Shouldn’t it be “influenced” instead of “has influenced”. Isn’t the “has” unnecessary. Shouldn’t u just use the simple past?"</p>

<p>I don’t want to say the reasoning is that it was a long-term effect like many people do to explain it. But if you don’t know that already then you should know it. The influence wasn’t a single event but something used to describe a long-term connection.</p>

<p>"Q 19: In those cities in which public transportation is adequate, fewere traffic problems occur and pedestrians are rarely involved in accidents.</p>

<p>I saw on the post that “which” can be used to replace “where”. What is the rule for using who/which/ where interchangeably?"</p>

<p>I think you mean “in which” and not “which.” You can’t replace “in which” with “where” in this sentence because the sentence starts with “in those cities,” which warrants a parallel “in which” to describe the connection in the cities between public transportation and traffic problems. I don’t know the rule you’re talking about considering “who” doesn’t belong there</p>

<p>"Q 28: The quality of multivatimin tablets is determined by how long its potency can be protected by the manufacturer’s coating material.</p>

<p>Doesn’t “its” refer to “the quality”, because “of multivatimin tablets” is just a preopositional phrase? Thus, “its” is not ambiguous, right???
What’s the rule for ambiguity concerning the use of “its”"</p>

<p>A quality can’t have potency. “Its” can describe “quality” or “tablets” depending on the context. There’s no rule considering that “what’s the rule for ambiguity” is ambiguous itself.</p>

<p>"Test 3: sec 6
P 537
Q 11: the reason first novels are so often their writers’ best work is that it draws upon all the experiences of childhood.</p>

<p>Why can this not be correct? Doesn’t “it” refer to the only singular noun, “ the reason”. Why is “it” still considered ambiguous?"</p>

<p>Don’t look at the structure, look at the meaning. “It” would be describing the “first novels” and not the “reason,” making it wrong. “It” can describe the “reason” or the “first novels” depending on the context.</p>

<p>"Test 4: sec 6:
P 600
Q 9 isolated by the sea, the aboriginal peoples of Australia had developed a unique culture long before the arrival of Europeans.</p>

<p>What is the rule for people v. peoples.
People refers to plural?
Peoples refer to singular??"</p>

<p>People and peoples are both plural. People refers to a group of many persons. Peoples refers to a group of many groups of people. Whether you use “peoples” or “people” depends on context. “The…peoples of Australia” implies that the writer of the sentence wants to make Australians seem diverse and of different groups and not a single group of people that were to be helped by the “Europeans.”</p>

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<p>"Test 4: sec 6:
P 600
Q 9 isolated by the sea, the aboriginal peoples of Australia had developed a unique culture long before the arrival of Europeans.</p>

<p>What is the rule for people v. peoples.
People refers to plural?
Peoples refer to singular??"</p>

<p>People and peoples are both plural. People refers to a group of many persons. Peoples refers to a group of many groups of people. Whether you use “peoples” or “people” depends on context. “The…peoples of Australia” implies that the writer of the sentence wants to make Australians seem diverse and of different groups and not a single group of people that were to be helped by the “Europeans.”</p>

<p>I don’t think "peoples’ is plural. It should be singular, because the answer is “the aboriginal “peoples” of Australia “had” developed a unique culture”
The “peoples” is correlated with the singular “had”</p>

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<p>nvmd ure right, forget about that ^ comment</p>

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<p>alright! more hard probs, ppl post em</p>

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<p>Concerning Q 13: The labor union is negotiating a contract with the hospital that will satisfy the demands of the workers and be acceptable to all levels of management. , isn<code>t what the demonstrative pronoun</code>that` is referring to unclear? It can be the hospital or the contract, as I see it.</p>