<p>I will definitely do the work if you help point me in the right direction :)</p>
<p>Q #9</p>
<p>Go to page 95 in TUGtSG</p>
<p>Study the FANBOYS, These are the only conjunctions that can connect two independent clauses with a comma. See also page 97, at the top. Memorize those four conjunctions. They require a semicolon as Erica illustrates.</p>
<p>Q #17</p>
<p>I will admit that this question, even though it is listed as “Easy”, trips up a lot of students who know about parallelism but haven’t practiced enough to understand how it is tested, When you identify a list, make sure you count the items in the list and make them as parallel as possible. Q # 17 only lists three things…</p>
<p>Crossing… stream
stepping… rocks
following… trail</p>
<p>…that are already parallel. “that grew steeper and steeper” is not a fourth thing in the list, it is just a modifying phrase that tells you more about the trail. Does that make sense? Check out page 45 in TUGtSG and do the exercise on page 46. I will try to dig up some real questions for you.</p>
<p>Q #25</p>
<p>This is something you are going to have to memorize for the SAT. TUGtSG doesn’t say much at all about indefinite pronouns. What you need to know is that personal pronouns will always be required to refer to specific nouns. On the SAT, ‘one’ must refer to the generic ‘people’, not a specific named noun (in this case ‘a student’). You would never write…</p>
<p>John really needs to do his homework if one wants to get a good grade.</p>
<p>…would you? Of course you would write…</p>
<p>John really needs to do his homework if he wants to get a good grade.</p>
<p>The SAT is the same thing. It just used a more complex multi-clause sentence to fool your ear.</p>
<p>I’m going to skip the Fixing Paragraph questions. They just do not lend themselves to easy explanation over a message board.</p>
<p>Section 10, #8</p>
<p>First, you have to recognize that there is an Ambiguous Pronoun error in the original sentence. This type of error is more common on Improving Sentences so you should always be on the lookout. You cannot be sure what ‘they’ refers to in the original sentence. </p>
<p>Choice B does not fix the original error.
Choices C & E, while removing the ambiguous pronoun, still leave us wondering exactly what has become ‘coeducational’</p>
<p>Choice D is the only sentence that fixes the original sentence by making it clear that it is ‘some colleges’ that have become ‘coeducational’.</p>
<p>I’m afraid you have found yet another topic that is not covered well in TUGtSG. Erica provides some decent examples of how this is tested in the Identifying Sentence Errors section, but not really any for the IS section. I will locate some practice sentences for you.</p>
<p>til tomorrow, good luck</p>
<p>Keep them coming, thank you so much for you efforts in helping me improve. Although where you told me to do exercises on pg. 46. I already did them all. After I review today and a bit of tomorrow. I will take another writing section and tell you how it goes. Thanks again for putting in the time to help me improve. It is most appreciated. :)</p>
<p>@yzamyatin
Can i get a little help on vocab? I hd scored well in my previous SAT, but i think i lost it in writing… That also specially my bcause of my low knowlegde of vocabs… I am able to pinpoint my problem… But hv no idea on how to prepare vocabulary
A little help will mean a lot…</p>
<p>@dark98</p>
<p>Can you clarify please? Are you referring to Sentence Completion questions on the CR section?</p>
<p>There are, in my discretionary way of classifying them, two kinds Comparisons (conjunctions) and Lists</p>
<p>Comparisons</p>
<p>When two things/actions are being compared, especially when using correlative conjunctions, the two things/actions must be parallel in grammatical structure </p>
<p>
not only in the best of times but also having a bad time WRONG
not only in the best of times but also in the worst of times CORRECT</p>
<p>
both a toothache and his head hurt WRONG
both at toothache and a headache CORRECT</p>
<p>
neither walking in the park nor to swim in the pool WRONG
neither walking in the park nor swimming in the pool CORRECT</p>
<p>A real College Board example </p>
<p>-(Like) her nonfiction, Jean Craighead Georges fiction (draws extensively) not only from published material but also (she had) firsthand observations of animals (and) ecological systems. (No error)</p>
<p> not only from published **but also<a href=“from%20her”>/b</a> firsthand CORRECT</p>
<p>Note though that not ALL comparisons will be so direct. Sometimes you will have to notice subtle relationships in a sentence that demand parallelism but are not set up so cleanly. Here is an example of a level 5 difficulty question that does not include a conjunction or obvious comparison </p>
<p>-To insist that a poem means whatever (one) (wants it) to mean is often (ignoring) the intention and (even) the words of the poet. No error</p>
<p> To insist that is (to ignore) the CORRECT</p>
<p>Lists</p>
<p>When two or more things/actions are listed, they must be parallel in grammatical structure as well. Most of the time (on ISE questions), there will be only two things listed, connected by the coordinating conjunction and. For example </p>
<p>-In many parts of the world (where) grasses cover vast expanses of land, periodic, controlled burning (is practiced) in order to keep woody brush (from gaining) a foothold and (it stimulates) continuing grass growth. (No error)</p>
<p> to keep wood brush **and<a href=“to%20stimulate”>/b</a> continuing grass growth CORRECT</p>
<p>Note that the important part to keep parallel is the to keep and to stimulate. Do not get too hung up on rest of the phrase. Here is another example </p>
<p>-In their search for ways to extend the human life span and (warding off) diseases, scientists (find themselves) focusing not on expanding the diet (but rather) on (limiting it). No error</p>
<p> to extend the human life span **and<a href=“to%20ward%20off”>/b</a> diseases… CORRECT</p>
<p>Parallelism Errors with lists more than two items long are rare on the ISE section of the test (they are more frequent on the IS section). In many cases, like your example in question 17, there are no errors in such sentences. Here is another example </p>
<p>-The common cold is (one of our most) indiscriminate diseases; (it makes) no (distinction between) (you and me), millionaires and paupers, or athletes and couch potatoes. (No error)</p>
<p> (No error) CORRECT</p>
<p>This is no hard and fast rule though. You will occasionally run into a list three items long that does contain an error </p>
<p>-The charm (of) Loftings book (lies in) the humorous reversal (of) rolesthe animals guide, assist, and generally (they take) care of the helpless humans. (No error)</p>
<p> guide, assist, and generally (take) care of CORRECT</p>
<p>To quote the CB “The pronoun “they” introduces a clause, breaking the pattern of successive verbs that precedes it.” </p>
<p>Indeed it does.</p>
<p>Wow that was really helpful actually. I reviewed the pages you told me already. I’m about to review my errors that I cut out of the blue book and pasted onto a notebook. Then I will take another writing test, and hopefully will reduce my errors atleast by 2 this time.</p>
<p>Agh, to my dismay, I made 9 mistakes(1 improving Paragrph)this time. WHAT IS GOING ON!</p>
<p>Test # 8
Section 4(#1,3,16,18,22,35)
Section 10(#3,10,11).</p>
<p>My thoughts for you to help analyze what’s wrong with my though process:</p>
<h1>4 was stuck between (a) or (d). (a) seemed correct due to “because” and it giving a cause-effect(the problem is because the sale…). (d) seemed redundant to say “where” because it already stated certain countries.</h1>
<h1>3 I kinda looked for similarities/diffferences in the answer choices. A-D had “,we” and i stupidly assumed that was a comma spliceso i rushed and chose E.</h1>
<h1>16 I 1st thought it was just “thrown” and chose C, but then erased it and thought “in poor” was the wrong preposition, like it should be “into” or “at”.</h1>
<h1>18 I first thought B should be “over” instead of “more than”, since more than sounded a litttle akward, but then I though about it and it seemed B was okay, so i changed my answer to NE.</h1>
<h1>22 it looked like a will vs. would problem. I know “would” is usually used with passed tense verbs and “will” with present tense verbs. I was unsure on this one since it said “resent” and “to acquire” but the “were” right before “to acquire” confused me so I chose B.</h1>
<h1>3 I guess I rushed and overlooked B. I was down to D or E. and D looked grammatically correct but it just didn’t seem to flow well with the sentence, so I chose E. I know i was thinking and looking for the phrase “lettters that”, but overlooked it and ignored it i guess.</h1>
<h1>10 it was down to C or D. I took out D because i asked myself “possible one of Europe’s oldest (what)?” and since it didnt have languages infront of it, like C, I eliminated it; a somewhat mindset of faulty comparions was my downfall.</h1>
<h1>11 I chose D after eliminating B,C, and E. A just seemed wrong since the verb “was” had been placed before a comma. I though it should’ve been – their productivity, not suprisingly, WAS very low. So that led me to D.</h1>
<p>slasheer</p>
<p>What is your typical Math score?</p>
<p>uh, I only took 1 full test around July 10 or something. The score for Math was 700. But since then i bought Dr. Steve’s 28 math strategies and ive been working on that, when I’m done ill work on math. But can you help me with my previous test por favor.</p>
<p>I ask because in my experience, native speakers are able to get their Writing scores up above their Math scores after a handful of practice tests. If you are up around 700 in Math then you should be able to get down to only a couple of MC errors on Writing.</p>
<p>Tomorrow I will post the Ambiguous Pronoun example questions I promised. I will also take a look at your latest practice test but no promises. I’m not sure how much time I will have.</p>
<p>@yzamyatin
Since i am not a native english speaker, and english is my second language… I m having a difficult time writing essays… And i think my vocabulary got me there… I hv scored 2100… And scored least in writing…</p>
<p>Im vietnamese but grew up in U.S. I learned Vietnamese as a child 1st, but English is my primary language.</p>
<p>Thank you, anything that helps me, will be most appreciated</p>
<p>I m an indian… Presently in the middle east… So…</p>
<p>Oh sorry if that looked like it was directed to you dark98. That was meant for YZamyatin, explaining i am a native speaker.</p>
<p>…for Improving Sentences type questions.</p>
<p>Remember that pronouns must not only refer to nouns in the sentence, but also leave no question as to which nouns they are referring to. Pay close attention to the wrong answer choices. Note why they are wrong. Are they repeating the original error or are they creating new errors? </p>
<p>After carefully studying both of the articles, Dr.
Rodriguez and Nurse Alba found that the only
difference between them were their titles.</p>
<p>(A) them were their titles
(B) them were the titles
(C) the articles were the titles
(D) the articles was that of the titles
(E) the articles was their titles </p>
<p>Giant stars, or those that weigh 100 times what the Sun
weighs, are important to galaxies and the universe
because with furious combustion, it produces many
important elements that form planets and other bodies,
including carbon, oxygen, sodium, and neon.</p>
<p>(A) because with furious combustion, it produces
(B) because their furious combustion produces
(C) due to their furious combustion, producing
(D) as their furious combustion produced
(E) in that with furious combustion, they produced</p>
<p>In his novels, Thackeray displayed his consciousness
of the world about him, as does Dickens, but he sees
the world from an entirely different vantage point.</p>
<p>(A) as does Dickens, but he sees
(B) as with Dickens, but he saw
(C) as Dickens, but Thackeray sees
(D) as in those of Dickens, but he has seen
(E) as did Dickens, but Thackeray saw </p>
<p>Here are a few examples of questions that do not strictly meet the requirements to be labeled Ambiguous Pronoun errors. They are described as such by the College Board, and they are not quite traditional Missing Referent errors, so I include them here as hybrids for your edification. </p>
<p>In Death of a Salesman Willy Loman mistakenly
believes that his sons have no flaws, believing which
leads to many problems for the entire family.</p>
<p>(A) believing which leads
(B) a belief that leads
(C) and which is to lead
(D) the belief of which leads
(E) his believing this leads </p>
<p>Nancy and Carlos will represent Central High in
the swimming competition, their work in this having
been excellent this year.</p>
<p>(A) competition, their work in this having been
excellent this year
(B) competition, they have done excellent work
this year in this
(C) competition, for this year they have done
excellent work in this
(D) competition, for their swimming has been
excellent this year
(E) competition, their work as swimmers having
been excellent this year </p>
<p>That was a tough one. Note that while the word ‘swimming’ appears in the original sentence, it is used as an adjective to modify ‘competition’, not as a noun. Adjectives cannot be pronoun referents. The College Board has used this trick on many occasions.</p>
<p>It underlies the poem that human beings are free to
choose and may be blamed for their choices.</p>
<p>(A) It underlies the poem
(B) In the poem, they assumed
(C) In the poem, a basic assumption which is made is
(D) It is an assumption that underlies the poem
(E) The basic assumption of the poem is </p>
<p>Good luck with those. I will be around only sporadically over the next week or so. Good luck with your studies…</p>
<p>(1) Narrowed it down to D and E. I though E was still ambiguous because of the existing “their”- I though, “did it refer to the articles or Dr. Rodriguez and Nurse Alba”]
Chose D. I guess I got it wrong when i looked it up.</p>
<p>(2) Chose B cause I couldn’t identify whether the “it” in the original was supposed to refer to combustion that produces _____ or was it the Giant stars that produced _____.</p>
<p>(3) A, B, and D are out due to ambiguous pronoun “he”. Now down to C and E, I though how i would fix this and came up with “as Dickens did”. I saw a version of that in D, so i chose that. Also I though C was wrong in its use of “sees” which is present tense when earlier, the verb “displayed”, was used.</p>
<p>(4) At first I was leaning towards E although it sounded akward because on Silverturtle’s grammar guide, there was a section on “Gerund errors with the possessive case”. A part in which tells you if a gerund exists, its usually needs a possesive noun/pronoun. However, after looking at all the choice, I though B was the best answer because it was conciser and seemed grammatically correct.</p>
<p>(5)A,B,and E didn’t have a conjunction connecting the 2 clauses. Down to C and D, C looked as if it just repeats the error of the original by saying “this” which is supposed to refer to their swimming, but swimming acts as adjective to competition in the first clause. So I chose D. </p>
<p>LOL as I type up my though process, i moved down to the next question, and noticed you already explained swimming as the adjective. My bad. I remember working on this problem in one of he BB test, but I didn’t remember the answer. I’m glad I can reason to this one.</p>
<p>(6)A,C,and D seem to repeat the error of lacking an antecedent by the use of “It”. (C) seems to be too wordy and I think “which” needs to be replaced with “that”. So my answer is E.</p>
<p>Again, thank you so much. I feel that this exercise has helped me understand Pronoun’s on the SAT on a deeper level. Also writing my though process down, and eliminating each error one by one helps a bunch, especially along with your tip of asking, “Does the answer choice repeat the error/create a new one”. That right there is some good advice. Common sense if you think about it, but sometimes you need to be told in order to emphasize it more, rather than subconsciously. I hope you will continue to help me on my endeavor.</p>