<p>In the magazine article it says that, in 1971, a hunter took two snapshots of an ivory-billed woodpecker, a species that was then purported to be extinct. No error. (should it be 'said that'? Please explain)</p>
<p>For the American railroad magnate and
philanthropist Henry Huntington, what began as personal collecting in a modest scale led eventually to the formation of one of the nations major research centers, the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. (should it be 'on'? Please explain)</p>
<p>His primary reason was that as art had only served an aesthetic purpose and no utilitarian purpose, it should be rendered useless. (should it be 'should have been'? Please explain)</p>
<p>How confusing. (your questions as part of the sentences, that is :P)</p>
<p>Could you give us the choices? I work better when I can see the choices ;)</p>
<p>But here’s my try of tackling the blurbs.
As for the first one, the “it” seems to refer to the magazine article in which case
it shouldn’t be written as the subject of the main clause. So I think you have to
use it as part of an expletive in saying, “In the magazine article, it is said that…”
Not sure…I need the choices! :P</p>
<p>And for the second one, I think you are right in saying it’s “on a modest scale.”</p>
<p>For the last one…seeing with this structure, you generally go one difference in
the tenses between the clauses…So having gone from pluperfect tense, you naturally
should go to perfect tense and therefore, as you said, “it should have been.” </p>
<p>(“Art should have been rendered useless as (since) it had only served an aesthetic purpose and no utilitarian purpose.”)</p>
<p>I hope what I was saying was right…Oh, and I missed one on the grammar section of the Writing part of the SAT, much to my frustration… :(</p>