Post the most difficult SAT writing questions here!

<p>cryptic, is this an actual SAT problem from collegeboard?</p>

<p>No. It's from Grubers.</p>

<p>Such of his novels as was humorous were successful. </p>

<p>i've never heard a sentence as bad as this. even if this is grammatically correct, it's stylistically horrible. </p>

<p>stick with CB's actual questions</p>

<p>I have to agree with you. I've actually asked this question to four other people and it baffled each and every one of them. I know it's best to practice with CB but I want additional practice. The questions are not the same format, especially Grubers' CR, (despicable, despicable) but it's practice nonetheless.</p>

<p>this one is from Princeton Review:</p>

<p>When it debute, the show was criticized by the press for being sophomoric; by the time the show reached its third season, however, some critics came to appreciate the redeeming features of this witty comedy. no error.</p>

<p>I marked the MOST GLARING ERROR. Seriously, discussing questions written by non-ETS outfits is an exercise in futility and is often misleading. </p>

<hr>

<p>I am sorry to say, but I agree with Princeton Review. From my blog:</p>

<p>Let’s take a look at a question from the Princeton Review:</p>

<p>When it debut, the show was criticized by the press for being sophomoric; by the time the show reached its third season, however, some critics came to appreciate the redeeming features of this witty comedy. no error.</p>

<p>Now, the Princeton Review indicates the correct answer is B. Some people, however, will tell you that there is nothing wrong with “for being”. Let’s examine this sentence closely. The correct preposition for the word “criticized” depends on the context.</p>

<p>One is criticized for something, not as something. How does one use the preposition ‘for’? From our friend the New Oxford America Dictionary:
2 affecting, with regard to, or in respect of (someone or something) : she is responsible for the efficient running of their department | the demand for money.</p>

<p>criticized for the mistake
criticized (with regard to) the mistake</p>

<p>criticized for not calling (calling is acting as a gerund, and therefore a noun)
criticized (with regard to) not calling</p>

<p>criticized for lying (gerund = noun)
criticized (with regard) to lying</p>

<p>Similarly, an action is criticized as + adjective. Why? Again, let’s consult the dictionary:
as–used to refer to the function or character that someone or something has</p>

<p>criticized as despicable
criticized because the person or action has a despicable quality (or character)</p>

<p>criticized as ineffectual
criticized because the action was ineffectual</p>

<p>criticized as problematic
criticized because something is problematic</p>

<p>So! Let’s look at the Princeton Review sentence: “the show was criticized for being sophomoric”. NO NO NO! The show was criticized because it possessed a sophomoric “character”. Hence, the reason that the answer is B.</p>

<p>If this explanation does not satisfy you, which it should, let’s look at it from another angle. If you learned diagramming, you’ll see that “the show was criticized for being sophomoric” cannot be diagrammed. Why? Well, “show” is the subject, “the” is the article, “was criticized” is the verb. Great! Now, let’s look at the rest of the sentence–a prepositional phrase. Every prepositional phrase has a preposition and an object, which has to be a noun.
‘For being sophomoric’ violates this rule! ‘For’ is the preposition. What is the noun? ‘sophomoric’ cannot be a noun. If ‘being’ were the noun (and it has to be because ‘being’ cannot be a verb since -ing endings are either gerunds or participles, and we have to have a noun with a prepositional phrase), then what is sophomoric doing there? Adjectives have to come before nouns in English, so “for being sophomoric” is completely wrong! We have a prepositional phrase with no noun, and if we make “being” a noun (a gerund), then ‘sophomoric’ is just hanging there, as it is modifying nothing. no no no!!</p>

<p>NOW, there is another problem with this sentence, and the Princeton Review slipped. The second part should read, “some critics had come to appreciate the redeeming features of this witty comedy.” Why? Ah…you will have to wait until tomorrow.</p>

<p>To visit my blog, click here [Pierre’s</a> English SAT](<a href=“http://pierresenglishsat.blogspot.com/]Pierre’s”>http://pierresenglishsat.blogspot.com/)</p>

<p>Best,
Pierre~</p>

<p>(we had never seen) anything like this style before , we thought we were looking at giant sculptures,not buildings.</p>

<p>correct answer is : never having seen .
why not :
1- the original form ( we had never seen)
2- we never saw
3-never had we seen
4-never seeing.
help me , pleaseee :0</p>

<p>@tekokiboom</p>

<p>The rule is that two independent clauses cannot be separated by just a comma, so the other answers would all work if there was a semi-colon or a conjunction after “before.”</p>

<p>Only “never having seen” correctly forms a dependent clause that modifies “we.”</p>

<p>all right this was from the Jan SAT (cost me twenty points, modified a little because I don’t remember the original question):</p>

<p>In the last fifty years, a number of places in New York have been designated by law, protected as landmarks, and (painstakingly renovated). (No error)</p>

<p>So… which one is correct? I’ll post the answer later.</p>

<p>Hey. I think the answer is no error. Not sure- I don’t remember the question- but I got an 80 MC.</p>

<p>merci very much.</p>

<p>PR: [you may not realize that it is still possible to pick one’s own fruit from an orchard]; the supermarket is not the only place where fruit is available
bracket is underlined
A) you may not realize that it is still possible to pick one’s own fruit from an orchard
B) One may not realize that it is still possible to pick your own fruit from an orchard
C) Picking your own fruit from the orchard
D) Although many don’t realize it, picking fruit from the orchard is still an option
E) picking your own fruit from the orchard can be a possibility
Answer is D)… Can someone explain this and tell me what category this fall under
dont say improving sentences or what ever dont be so vague please
like for example: idiots, gerunds etc…</p>

<p>(There is speculation that the name “Wendy” was) the invention of J.M. Barrie who created a character by that name for his famous play Peter Pan.</p>

<p>A) As it is
E) The name “Wendy” by some speculation</p>

<p>the answer is a but why e is wrong ??</p>

<p>It wasn’t invented by some speculation. That’s what E means. It’s a modifier error. It also omits the verb.</p>

<p>i think it might be easy for non-native speakers to pick up on errors because they learn formal english whereas we learn grammar up to the end of 6th grade (at least in my town) and then it’s yolo i guess…</p>