My Progress Thread

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
661

<p>I am not worried about verbal and math at all, though I consumed most of the time to study the former.
I got one and two wrongs for verbal respectively in October and December, and both math 800.
Calamity lies in CR. I spent an entire month to do that Kaplan reading, and my score did remain the same 610.
And writing depends on luck in my opinion, got 10 and then 9. But I just spent two hours to look at grammar the night before December test and I got a progress of 50.
Rewards do not match where I paid. Pathetic.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/2812/zzzzv.jpg[/url]”>http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/2812/zzzzv.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

663

<p>^ D, I believe. It should be “any other tool.” I honestly can’t really describe the grammar behind it, but saying you use it more than “any tool” just sounds wrong.</p>

<p>I’m jumping into this thread kinda randomly, haha, but know that I have been following it the whole way and wish you all the best of luck. I’m taking the test on Saturday as well. Can’t believe the countdown to test day is switching from “days” to “hours.” Ahhhhh.</p>

664

<p>^ I back up mstein and say that it is D…it is any other tool, no just any tool.</p>

665

<p>Two days to go, fellow nerds. All your work, all the effort, all the sweat, all the practice tests…it all comes down to the moment less than 36 hours from now. This test will determine whether you go to college or not, no matter what people say to make it seem any less significant. This is THE number one test. It is THE test that will determine your future career. Start getting nervous.</p>

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<p>That made me laugh, Fat_Nerd. I actually think that once you break 2100, you are clearly competent, and your score bears little to no pertinence on your future success. To be honest, my motivation is that I just want to beat all of the noobs at my school who think they are the epitome of erudition. :P</p>

<p>Anyway! I have a question. How do you know when you use a gerund instead of a “to” verb. I generally do these questions by ear. Consider the following:</p>

<p>The condition known as laryngitis prevents the vocal cords [to move] freely.</p>

<p>I know that the correct expression would be “from moving” as it implies an ongoing action, but can someone please explain the underlying mechanics of this? Does the verb “to move” imply that something will happen in the future? When would a “to” verb be acceptable?</p>

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<p>I honestly do it by ear too, teteatete, and I never had a specific rule for it. However, sometimes it’s proper grammar to say “to + verb”, such as “I don’t want to move”, whereas if you said “I don’t want moving”, that would be grammatically incorrect. Therefore, I think you should just stick to your gut feeling, which I think would be pretty accurate considering you’re a native English speaker(?)</p>

668

<p>I am hoping for a 1900 + on the SAt tomorrow. Been studying for 3 weeks, got it up from 1600 - (1950 - 1950). Followed alot of your advice and stuff on here. Since I lived in the country, I did not go to school and had to do Homeschooling. So this is my first test somewhere else, and I am super nervous… RAWR</p>

<p>Anyways, thanks for the great thread.</p>

669

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<p>It is “any other tool” because you wouldn’t want the sentence to imply that the hammer is better than “any tool” - including itself :)! How in the world can a hammer be better than itself ;)?</p>

670

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<p>This web resource answers your question:</p>

<p>[ENGLISH</a> PAGE - Gerunds and Infinitives Part 1](<a href=“http://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/part_1.htm]ENGLISH”>Gerunds and Infinitives Part 1 | ENGLISH PAGE)</p>

<p>There are also specific verbs that take only a gerund or an infinitive:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/gerund_list.htm[/url]”>http://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/gerund_list.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/infinitive_list.htm[/url]”>http://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/infinitive_list.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>GOOD LUCK :D!</p>

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<p>And soon, we’ll be sitting in the testing room, and the proctor will be reading the same hackneyed script. And soon, we’ll be back on CC speculating on the right answers and our scores and the curve. And soon, we’ll get the scores :D.</p>

671

<p>Some of you may remember me from earlier this month when I started to post in this thread…</p>

<p>I just wanted to apologize for completely stopping xD </p>

<p>I have been so busy preparing for upcoming science competitions that I have not done ANY SAT prep. Yep you heard that right. My first day of prep for this saturday’s SAT was yesterday.</p>

<p>So anyways, good luck everyone!</p>

<p>Lets do this :D</p>

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<p>Let me guess - Bio Olympiad :)?</p>

<p>In any case, good luck :D. </p>

<hr>

<p>Here’s a hard writing question</p>

<p>1) The director valued the actor not so much for his broad commercial appeal but because he approached every role with passion and intelligence.</p>

<p>b) but because of his approaching every role with passion and intelligence
c) but for being passionate and intelligent in approaching every role
d) as for him approaching every role passionately and intelligently
e) as for his passionate and intelligent approach to every role</p>

673

<p>^ Is it E?</p>

674

<p>^It is, but can you explain? C seems correct as first glance, but is its construction incorrect?</p>

<p>–</p>

<p>Here are a couple more</p>

<p>2) The first Asian American to be elected governor in the US, Ariyoshi has served longer than any of his predecessors when he retired from office in 1986.</p>

<p>3) Someone who uses a personal computer to perform only such tasks as word processing and sending e-mail need not buy the most advanced model available on the market.</p>

675

<ol>
<li>E</li>
<li>E</li>
</ol>

<p>I believe the key words “not so much” is what makes C wrong. You need the construction not so much…as. Also, it may be because of a parallelism issue. Because it should be in the form of “For his broad commercial appeal” AND FOR PARALLELISM REASONS, " For his passionate and intelligent approach. I may be wrong, so I’m hoping for someone else to chime in and help me out. :)</p>

<p>BTW, 2 and 3 were hard</p>

676

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<p>No and yes. </p>

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<p>I see why C is incorrect now. There’s a gerund but no possessive :o! Infidel! </p>

<p>In all seriousness, C isn’t parallel either. </p>

<p>The director valued the actor … for his broad commercial appeal … for being passionate …"</p>

<p>If there were a “his” inserted before “being,” then C would be a viable choice. Thanks for your helpful explanation :).</p>

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677

<p>OHH…Is #2 (B)? I chose this because “has served” needs to be in the past tense?</p>

678

<p>^Yes, #2 is B, because “has served” is the present perfect (has/have + past particple) and the present perfect indicates that an action continues from the past to the present. </p>

<p>Unfortunately, the present perfect does not make sense in the context of the sentence; Ariyoshi retired in 1986. He is not governor currently.</p>

679

<p>The SAT will occasionally test you on your knowledge of past participles. Here is a list of past participles that I have stumbled across in REAL/ACTUAL SATS. Feel free to suggest additions to this list :). </p>

<p>Base, simple past, past participle:</p>

<p>Shrink; Shrank; Shrunk (October 2011 PSAT Form W)</p>

<p>Swim; Swam; Swum</p>

<p>Begin; Began; Begun</p>

680

<p>IceQube, do you have any tips for the essays?</p>

<p>Like, what examples are you using?</p>