May 2006 Official SAT difficult Math/WR questions!

<p>Hey, I have two questions, which are as follow:</p>

<ol>
<li>Writing:</li>
</ol>

<p>Mediators were standing by, prepared (to intervene in) the labor dispute (even though) both sides (had refused) earlier offers (for) assistance. (No error).</p>

<p>The correct answer is "for"--I assume this is unidiomatic, but what would be the corrected sentence?</p>

<p>2.) Math:</p>

<p>In the xy-coordinate plane, the point T is the same distance from the origin as point P is from the origin. Considering the coordinate of point P is (a, b), which of the following could be the coordinates of point T?</p>

<p>a. (-a, b)
b. (a, -b)
c. (-b, -a)
d. (-b, a)
e. (b, a)</p>

<p>The answer is a (-a, b), but I was wondering why it cant be any of the others; is the distance not the same?</p>

<p>THANK YOU!</p>

<p>I believe the correct preposition in the sentence should be “of”</p>

<p>I don’t understand the math answer. The hypotenuse/distance for each point to the origin must always be positive so all the points have the same distance. If you square the legs and add them then take the square root you’ll always get the same result</p>

<p>^ Pretty much answered it how I would.</p>

<p>I remember this question from the BB. To clarify, the point (a,b) is located in the FOURTH quadrant, which the poster forgot to right ;), so we can consider the point to be (a,-b). To be located at a point the same distance, the point must be in the third quadrant, and the only point that satisfies the condition is A (-a,b). or (-a,-b)</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

<p>@cortana431: But regarding the math problem, I still have an issue. Like BlahBlahBlah1 said, if you square the lengths and take the square root (hypotenuse=distance), then wont the result always be the same?</p>

<p>It’s not really your fault, but the diagram is required for this question. Blahblah is correct, however in the actual question from the blue book, Point T is in the THIRD quadrant. So the question is basically saying, which coordinate lies in the third quadrant? Choice A is the only coordinate out of the 5 that lies in the third quadrant.</p>

<p>OH alright haha, thanks!</p>