<p>Question 1: "The difference between the candidates is that one is radical; the other, conservative." is supposedly right, but I thought that the right answer would be "one is radical, the other, conservative. Why is the first version right but not the second?</p>
<p>Question 2: The following sentence is incorrect. "Many studies of new drugs are funded by major pharmaceutical firms, which suggests the possibility of bias in their conclusions" So apparently, the correct version is "a state of affairs that suggests the possibility of bias in their conclusions." Why is the first version wrong and the second correct?</p>
<p>For #2, many studies does not agree with ‘suggests’, it should be suggest since studies is a plural subject. The correct version includes ‘a state of affairs’, this is a prepositional phrase and ‘state’ is the subject which agrees with ‘suggests’.</p>
<p>one is radical – complete sentence
the other is conservative — complete sentence</p>
<p>the “is” is omitted after the semicolon because it’s sort of implied, so “one is radical, the other, conservative” would be a run-on sentence, and of course, the semicolon is used appropriately since they’re both independent clauses.</p>
<p>First of all, DO NOT use Barron’s. Its questions are inaccurate and hence pretty much useless. These types of grammar questions would never appear on the SAT. Stick to the Official SAT Study Guide (latest edition is the second edition), which is written by the same people who make the SAT.</p>
<p>1)
Clause 1: One is radical.
Clause 2: The other is conservative.</p>
<p>When there are two clauses, you can use a coordinating conjunction–like “and”–to tie them together (“one is radical and the other is conservative”). You can also simply divide them into two sentences: “One is radical. The other is conservative.” Another alternative is to use a semicolon: One is radical; the other is conservative. A semicolon basically puts 2 individual related statements into ONE sentence. You can’t use a comma because a comma can’t divide two clauses (or, in this case, two sentences) by itself; you have to either leave them as two separate sentences or use a semicolon.</p>
<p>The reason you can say “one is radical; the other, conservative” and not just “one is radical; the other is conservative” (both are fine) is that you are allowed to omit the second “is.” It is implied. This works with a period too: “One is radical. The other, conservative.” This concept is not tested on the SAT presumably because it is obscure and not very essential. However, you should know the difference between a semicolon and a period. Here are some examples:</p>
<p>WRONG: The man woke up, he brushed his teeth soon after.
RIGHT: The man woke up and, soon after, he brushed his teeth.
RIGHT: The man woke up and he brushed his teeth soon after.
RIGHT: The man woke up. He brushed his teeth soon after.
RIGHT: The man woke up. Soon after, he brushed his teeth.
RIGHT: The man woke up; soon after, he brushed his teeth.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. I’ve been using Barron’s for PSAT review (I have to take it this October) and there are lots of mistakes in it. Therefore, I switched to McGraw Hill’s PSAT guide, which is much better. Does anyone have any suggestions as to which PSAT books they’ve found helpful? (I have the official SAT guide too, so I’ll start looking at that as well).</p>