<ol>
<li>No two of the specimens (was sufficiently alike to warrant them being called) members of a single species.</li>
</ol>
<p>D. were sufficiently alike to warrant the calling of them
E. were sufficiently alike to warrant calling them</p>
<p>Why is it E and not D?</p>
<ol>
<li>(My grandson thinks he can cook better than any other person at the fair; and he) has blue ribbons to prove it. </li>
</ol>
<p>B. My grandson thinks he can cook better than any other person at the fair, and he
E. Thinking he can cook better than any other person at the fair, my grandson</p>
<p>What is the difference in meaning of B and E? Why is B the correct one?</p>
<ol>
<li>The common cold is (one of our most) indiscriminate diseases; it makes o distinction between you and me, millionaires and paupers, or athletes and couch potatoes. </li>
</ol>
<p>I marked A as wrong because the sentence doesn’t say who “our” is. The answer is No error.</p>
<p>4.Electronic bulletin boards, combining the convenience of a telephone with the massive information storage capacity of a computer, present messages on (diverse subjects as) astronomy, artificial intelligence, and skydiving.</p>
<p>A. diverse subjects as
B. diverse subjects that are
C. subjects of such diversity as
D. subjects as diverse as</p>
<p>I picked A. The answer is D. But D implies that the subjects are diverse in themselves. However the whole of different subjects are diverse. I was waiting for an answer like “diverse subjects such as” Can someone elaborate on this usage of “as”? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance. These are probably the last questions I have before the SAT on Saturday.</p>
<p>Because the noun phrase is “two of the specimens,” which is plural. The “no” only tells us something about the “two.” It is an adjective, which does not affect the plurality of a verb–the noun does.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>A dependent clause like “Thinking…fair” is parenthetical. Like an adjective, if you remove it, the sentence should still make sense (since it is dependent; if you remove it, the independent clause should be able to stand on its own, hence why it’s independent):</p>
<p>(Thinking he can cook better than any other person at the fair), my grandson has blue ribbons to prove it.</p>
<p>“It” is ambiguous. You can also think of it this way: “thinking” modifies “my grandson” (the grandson is doing the thinking), so it is just an adjective. You don’t say, “the happy man liked being it.” You say, “the happy man liked being happy” because the adjective can’t act as an antecedent.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>“Our” may refer to us (humans). Not sure about how the CB stands on questions like this</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>“Subjects of such diversity as” means the same thing as “diverse subjects such as.”</p>
<p>“Diverse subjects” means the same thing as “Subjects of diversity.” Since “such” can modify adjectives or nouns, you can say “[such] diverse subjects” OR “subjects of [such] diversity.”</p>
<p>“as” in this case is used to complete the phrase “such…as…” which is followed by examples.</p>
<p>The nouns in the sentence are “annual visitors” and “[New York City’s] Central Park.” “Number” is a verb in the sentence. The relevant antecedent is “annual visitors.” One thing amounts to, or numbers, another. The verb “number” implies number (it means “to amount to in number”; e.g., “the crew numbers 100” = “the crew amounts to 100”), so saying “X numbers the number of Y” is redundant. You say “X amounts to Y” and “X numbers Y”:</p>
<p>Annual visitors to NYC’s Central Park number the annual visitors to Mouth Rushmore. Annual visitors to NYC’s Central Park number those to Mount Rushmore.</p>
<p>“Had visited” is past perfect. Which means that the action occurred nonspecific time in the past, relative to another event in the past.
“Visited” is in simple past which means that the event occurred at a specified time in the past.</p>
<p>So in the sentence you stated above, the past perfect would be appropriate because “we flew”, occurs in the past. However, when you visited your relatives that occurred even further in the past. By using simple past, as indicated in the latter sentence, you imply that the two events occurred around the same time, which is not the case.</p>
<p>The above post is correct. If you want my version of the explanation (I had already typed this before he posted, and I thought it was a waste to delete it), read:</p>
<p>If you have two events that occurred in the past, it may not be clear which one occurred first and which one occurred second, right? The past perfect “had” tells us that one event occurred before the other. This means that the event occurred in the past, and ended in the past.</p>
<p>You know that state you are in after having finished something? You feel accomplished. If you say “I have prepared for the test,” the studying occurred in the past, but “have” is present perfect because it indicates that the studying is still affecting you in the present. “I have prepared” implies that you are STILL prepared. “I prepared” only tells us that you prepared in the past–it focuses on the event itself; you may not be prepared still. “I have prepared” focuses on the state you are in after having prepared (i.e., that you are prepared).</p>
<p>“I had prepared” is simply the past tense version. You may have accomplished something in the past, but it doesn’t affect you anymore. That’s why the second event comes in in past SIMPLE tense (“flew”); past SIMPLE focuses on the event itself. Past perfect (“had”) focuses on the state that you were in after you had done something.</p>
<p>
The visit occurred in the past, and ended in the past. It occurred in an abstractly long period of time; after it ended, they were in the state of having visited their relatives. After that, they flew back to Toronto.</p>
<p>1)The (first)two superbowls (were)won by Green Bay but in (these times )anybody
(could) win the big game.</p>
<p>The correct answer is “No Error”, but why can’t we replace ‘could’ with ‘can’
Can someone please tell me when to use ‘can vs could’ and ‘will vs would’.</p>
<p>(Can) you please explain (to me) to (whom) this package (is) addressed?
Is there any error in this question?</p>
<p>(Many) people questioned (if) realistic drama (has) any place (in) Victorian society. No error.
For this one I chose ‘if’ because I thought that it should be whether instead because if is used for conditions only. Is ‘if’ sometimes used to replace whether? the correct answer is ‘has’.</p>
<p>All the hurricane victims (except) for Mr. Mills and (me) have decided to (accept) the settlement proposed (by) the insurance company. No error.
I chose ‘me’ because I thought that though me is the object of the preposition for, it is also the subject of ‘have decided’ and as such it should be ‘I’ but the correct answer is No error. Why is it so?</p>
<p>(At least) four people, including (me), (have decided) to drop the class (because of) the racist teacher. ‘No error’
The correct answer is ‘no error’ but once again I chose ‘me’ because I thought it should be ‘I’ instead because I have also decided to drop the class.</p>
<p>(Whom) (did) you (say) this package was (for)? (No error).<br>
The correct answer is ‘whom’ but I don’t see why it is wrong because ‘whom’ is the object of the preposition ‘for’ </p>
<p>If you sign up as a volunteer for the (special olympics), you will find (that) you (receive) as (much as you give). (No error).
The correct answer is ‘special olypics’. I would like to know why it is wrong.</p>
<p>“Your themes,” said Ms. Buchanan, (will be) due in class on (September 7); late papers will (lose) one full (grade).” (No error).
I chose ‘September 7’ because I thought that it should be ‘September 7th’. The correct answer is ‘will be’. Why is it so?</p>
<p>(Parking her car) at the (depot), Ms. Jones (decided) (to take) the bus to town. (No error).
I chose ‘Parking her car’ because I thought it should be ‘having parked her car’ because she parked her car before she decided to take the bus;but the correct answer is ‘No error’</p>
<p>(Preserving) rare and valuable books (is one) of the challenges (facing) the (Librarian of Congress). (No error).
I chose ‘No error’ because I thought that everything was correct but the correct answer is ‘Librarian of Congress’, why?</p>
<p>(Everyone) is excited about graduation (because all) (had worked) so hard for (it). (No error).
I chose ‘because all’ because I thought that it should be ‘because everyone’. The correct answer is ‘had worked’. why?</p>
<p>Known as Johnny (Appleseed), John Chapman (distributed) apple seeds and saplings to families (bound) for the (west). (No error).
I don’t see anything wrong with this question but the correct answer is ‘west’, why?</p>
<p>Needing a (sustained) wind for (flight), the albatross (rarely) crosses the (equator). (No error).
I don’t know why the correct answer is ‘equator’.</p>
<p>Horatio, Hamlet’s loyal (friend), wishes to die by his own (hand but) consents to stay alive so that he (can tell) (Hamlet’s story). (No error).
In the first place, I thought that ‘his’ and ‘he’ were ambiguous because the can both either replace ‘Horatio’ or ‘Hamlet’.why aren’t they ambiguous? The correct answer is ‘can tell’, why is it wrong?</p>
<p>We (visited) Boston (Harbor), the (site) of the (Boston Tea Party). (No error)
The correct answer is ‘Harbor’ can someone please tell me what is wrong with ‘Harbor’</p>
<p>(George’s mother), Karen, (has come) (with us) to the (mall). (No error).
The correct answer is ‘has come’, but I don’t see anything wrong with the sentence because I can be speaking with someone on the phone while we are still at the mall so that ‘has come’ will be correct.</p>
<p>If you are sure (that) you are in the (right,) you (would not) mind an independent examination (of) the case. (No error).
The correct answer is ‘would not’ because it should rather be ‘will not’, why?</p>
<p>You (would) have to choose (her), if you are looking (for) the best athlete to (represent) the school. (No error).
The correct answer is ‘would’ but I didn’t see anything wrong with the question so I chose ‘No error’</p>
<p>I do not wish to (make) a formal complaint, but I would have been (better pleased) if you (gave) the award to the person (who) best deserved it. (No error).
The correct answer is ‘gave’, why?</p>
<p>In this case, “could” is the past tense of “can.” The sentence is in the past tense because it is about the first two Superbowls. “Would” is the past tense of “will.” There are also other differences, but in this case those are the only differences. </p>
<p><a href=“Can”>quote</a> you please explain (to me) to (whom) this package (is) addressed?
Is there any error in this question?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>No, there is no error in this sentence. The phrase “to whom” is correct because “whom” is the object of the preposition “to.” Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia:</p>
<p>"Whom is the form used when it is the object of a preposition…For example:</p>
<p>To whom have you been talking? (Compare: You have been talking to him.)</p>
<p>For whom have you taken these marvelous photographs? (You have taken these marvelous
photographs for him.)</p>
<p>With whom are you going to the cinema? (You are going to the cinema with him.)</p>
<p>He sent gifts to his granddaughter, of whom he was fond. (He sent gifts to his granddaughter; he was fond of her.)"</p>
<p><a href=“Many”>quote</a> people questioned (if) realistic drama (has) any place (in) Victorian society. No error.
For this one I chose ‘if’ because I thought that it should be whether instead because if is used for conditions only. Is ‘if’ sometimes used to replace whether? the correct answer is ‘has’.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Look “if” up in the dictionary. Most, if not all, that I have encountered (at least online) list a definition of “whether,” so they are interchangeable. A lot of people prefer “whether,” though. The answer is “has” because it should be “had.” The people questioned life as they were living it, which was also in the past.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It is not the subject of “have decided.” The subject is “all the hurricane victims.” “Me” is the object of the preposition “for.” Only one collective thing can be the subject, because it is directly linked to the verb. “Mr. Mills and me” is linked to the preposition only. The preposition modifies the subject.</p>
<p><a href=“At%20least”>quote</a> four people, including (me), (have decided) to drop the class (because of) the racist teacher. ‘No error’
The correct answer is ‘no error’ but once again I chose ‘me’ because I thought it should be ‘I’ instead because I have also decided to drop the class.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Same as above. The subject is “four people.” The subject INCLUDES the object because “include” is a verb. Another correct sentence would be: “They were all there except me.”</p>
<p><a href=“Whom”>quote</a> (did) you (say) this package was (for)? (No error).
The correct answer is ‘whom’ but I don’t see why it is wrong because ‘whom’ is the object of the preposition ‘for’
[/quote]
</p>
<p>First of all, I can tell these questions are not from the College Board. The SAT for the most part doesn’t test who vs. whom. However, if you want to know, here is an excerpt from Wikipedia:</p>
<p>"Forms with who in which the preposition does not immediately precede the pronoun are commonly judged acceptable in everyday use, and in spoken use especially:</p>
<p>He sent gifts to his granddaughter, who he was fond of.</p>
<p>However, this form often violates the (separately controversial) rule against ending a sentence with a preposition, so the traditional objective form may be preferable, even in speech."</p>
<p>I recommend sticking to study material from the College Board (e.g., “The Official SAT Study Guide, edition 2”), because it is the company that makes the SAT.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is a horrible question and bad study material. I assume it is wrong because it is not capitalized as follows: “Special Olympics.”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Once again a horrible question. Something like this will never be on the SAT. Both 7 and 7th work. “Will be” is the answer because it should be “are” (present tense). Something “due” is expected, or owed, before it is actually handed in. If I expect rain, I say that “I expect rain,” not that “I will expect rain.” If it will rain tomorrow, you may say “we ARE due for rain tomorrow.”</p>
<p><a href=“Parking%20her%20car”>quote</a> at the (depot), Ms. Jones (decided) (to take) the bus to town. (No error).
I chose ‘Parking her car’ because I thought it should be ‘having parked her car’ because she parked her car before she decided to take the bus;but the correct answer is ‘No error’
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Your thinking is correct, but perhaps Ms. Jones decided what she was going to do while she was parking her car. If the sentence were to say “Ms. Jones took the bus” as opposed to “Ms. Jones decided to take the bus,” you would be correct in that “having parked her car” would be the correct substitution.</p>
<p><a href=“Preserving”>quote</a> rare and valuable books (is one) of the challenges (facing) the (Librarian of Congress). (No error).
I chose ‘No error’ because I thought that everything was correct but the correct answer is ‘Librarian of Congress’, why?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The place these questions come from is unreliable. It is a bad place at which to study.</p>
<p>“Librarian of Congress” should be “Library of Congress.” “Facing” is also incorrect because it should be “faced by.” You face challenges; challenges don’t face you.</p>
<p><a href=“Everyone”>quote</a> is excited about graduation (because all) (had worked) so hard for (it). (No error).
I chose ‘because all’ because I thought that it should be ‘because everyone’. The correct answer is ‘had worked’. why?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yes, you are correct; “all” should be “everyone.” “All” may be a pronoun, but it means “everything,” not “everyone” (e.g., “all is lost”). “Had worked” is also incorrect because it is in the past perfect, which indicates that the working took place in the past, but is not influential in the present. It obviously is, since it has allowed everyone to graduate. It should be “has worked” (present perfect) because the working is important in the present. Similarly, if you say “I have prepared,” you indicate that you are still prepared in the present. If you say “I prepared,” or “I had prepared,” you are not necessarily still prepared.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The W in “west” should be capitalized. Again, this study material is not accurate and barely helpful in studying for the SAT. The SAT does not even test capitalization errors.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Again, the E in “equator” should be capitalized. Don’t study from these sources!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>“His” and “he” aren’t ambiguous because “Hamlet’s loyal friend” isn’t the subject of the sentence. It is used as a parenthetical. Its only purpose is to describe Horatio, and could be omitted (as if it were in parentheses) without changing the overall meaning of the sentence.</p>
<p>This sentence is faulty. “Can tell” is acceptable, but whoever wrote this sentence probably thought that it should be “may tell.” “Can” and “may” are interchangeable for the most part. However, “may” leans towards purpose while “can” leans towards one’s being able to do something.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with it.</p>
<p><a href=“George’s%20mother”>quote</a>, Karen, (has come) (with us) to the (mall). (No error).
[/quote]
The correct answer is ‘has come’, but I don’t see anything wrong with the sentence because I can be speaking with someone on the phone while we are still at the mall so that ‘has come’ will be correct. </p>
<p>“Has come” should be “has gone.” The appropriate verb is “go,” not “come.”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>“Will” is used given an assumption (something that is assumed to be true; realistically; assuming that it IS true). “Would” is used given a condition (something that is not true; hypothetically).</p>
<p>If you want to use “would” in this sentence, you would have to say “If you were sure” because “were” is the subjunctive and stresses the condition.</p>
<p>“If you eat this, you will die.”
“If you were to eat this, you would die.”
“If I were a millionaire, I would buy this.”
“If I am a millionaire tomorrow, I will buy this.”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Same as above. The “are” in the phrase “if you are looking for” is indicative. It indicates something in the present, as if was actually the case in the present (as opposed to a hypothetical condition). “Will” is indicative as well. You can modify the sentence to say:</p>
<p>“You would have to choose her, if you were looking for…”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>“Gave” should be “had given,” which is in the past perfect. An event in the past perfect influences an event in the present perfect. Perfect tenses are based on influence with respect to time.</p>
<p>The simple past “gave” focuses on the action/event itself, as opposed to its influence. Since the sentence is talking about how he would have felt if something had happened, it is a condition and therefore is focusing on cause and effect (influence).</p>
<p>For example:</p>
<p>“If I had not studied, I would not have passed.”
“If I had eaten sooner, I would not be hungry right now.”</p>
<p>These sentences don’t focus on the EVENT of studying or the EVENT of eating. It focuses on how those events affected something else.</p>
<p>Lacking good instruction, my mistakes in creating a graph to illustrate historical trends were numerous.</p>
<p>a. my mistakes in creating a graph to illustrate historical trends were numerous.
b. I made numerous mistakes in creating a graph to illustrate historical trends.
c. there were numerous mistakes in the graph I created to illustrate historical trends.
d. I created a graph to illustrate historical trends with numerous mistakes.
e. the graph I made for illustrating historical trends had numerous mistakes.</p>
<p>the answer is B, but i choose E. Is the main subject here “I”? I somehow believe that it is “the graph”. B for me, changes the meaning of how i intepret the sentence altogether. I’m taking it as something like “because i didn’t get clear instructions, i was very wrong in creating a graph” which was different.</p>
<p>Also, </p>
<ol>
<li> By simply entering an Internet website or calling a toll-free number, a catalog order can be placed for almost anything from cheesecakes to fully equipped desktop computers.
a. a catalog order can be placed
b. by placing a catalog order
c. they will place your catalog order
d. you can place a catalog order
e. your catalog order can be placed
I chose A in this, because i thought it’d be wrong to introduce “you/your” etc…</li>
</ol>
<p>The main subject here should be “I,” not “graph,” because the sentence starts with “lacking good instruction…” which modifies the subject. Does a PERSON (“I”) lack good instruction, or does a GRAPH lack good instruction?</p>
<p>CORRECT: “Lacking good instruction, I made numerous mistakes in creating a graph to illustrate historical trends.”
Implication: “I lack good instruction; therefore, I was not instructed on how to do something.”</p>
<p>INCORRECT: “Lacking good instruction, the graph I made for illustrating historical trends had numerous mistakes.”
Implication: “The graph lacks good instruction; therefore, the graph was not instructed on how to do something.”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Your interpretation doesn’t conform with the grammatical structure of (B). You can’t assume that “lacking good instruction” modifies “I” if “I” isn’t the subject of the independent clause.</p>
<p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>This sentence has the same issue as the first one. Notice that the sentence starts off with “by simply entering…” The subject of the independent clause is the one doing the “entering.” Only humans (“you”) can do that. “You” is OK because “you” can mean “one”:</p>
<p>
[quote]
one; anyone; people in general: a tiny animal you can’t even see.<a href=“definition%20from%20dictionary.com”>/quote</a></p>
<p>When someone advertises a product and says “you are able to do this,” they aren’t necessarily referring to YOU yourself. They are talking about anyone in general that uses the product.</p>
<p>The heat was already overwhelming and lasted a week, which duration made it seem sheer torture
c. overwhelming and lasted the duration of a week to make it seem
d. overwhelming and its lasting a week made it seem
ans is D.
i understand that in C, “it” sounds ambiguous, but “it” is also ambiguous in D.
My dad says that “it” in D obviously refers to “the heat being overwhelming” but from experience from CB, you absolutely CAN’T ASSUME anything. This is really annoying.
Furthermore, it - the heat/week both can seem like “sheer torture” so i don’t get that.</p>
<p>The number of awards given this year to biochemists accentuate the significant gains being made in the study of chemistry of living organisms. no error
My dad says there is a subject verb disagreement here, that “the number of awards” is singular, and “accentuate” is plural. However, i think that the subject matter here is the “awards” which are plural. This agrees with accentuate (plural) so there’ll be no error.
Also, just to clarify, is “the number of awards” singular or plural?</p>
<p>C is not wrong because the “it” is ambiguous; “lasted the duration of a week” is unnecessarily complicated phrasing, and “to make” implies that the heat lasted a week for the purpose of seeming like sheer torture, not that it seemed like sheer torture because the heat lasted a week. D is much more clear and concise, and manages to retain the intended meaning.
Even if “it” is ambiguous, that shouldn’t make a difference, because it’s used in both answer choices and D is much more concise and less awkwardly-phrased than C.</p>
<p>Your dad is correct. “Number” is the subject of the sentence, and “of awards” is a prepositional phrase, with “of” as the preposition and “awards” as the object. Since the subject is singular, the verb should be singular as well, in which case “accentuate” is incorrect.</p>
<p>The “it” in the phrase “made it seem sheer torture” is not ambiguous because it isn’t meant to refer to anything previously said. In fact, it refers to “torture.” A more familiar phrase than “made it seem X” would be “X seems like Y,” which translates into “X appears to look like Y.” “The heat’s duration made it seem sheer torture” means that the heat’s duration made torture appear to exist. However, you wouldn’t say “the heat’s duration made torture seem,” even though that translates into “the heat’s duration made torture appear to exist.” You say “the heat’s duration made it seem torture.”</p>
<p>Similarly, you would say “it appears that X…” which inherently means “X appears.” “It” just anticipates X. There is no specific “it” that appears X; that just wouldn’t make sense. Some other cases in which “it” does not have a clear antecedent are:</p>
<p>“It is said that love is blind” (refers to an arbitrary, unnamed group)
“It is cold today” (refers to the weather)
“He is just humble, although that is not how he made it seem” (refers to the impression of his humility, not the humility itself; there is no logical noun that “it” can refer to)</p>
<p>This is pretty complicated if you are not familiar with the phrase. More people are familiar with the phrase “seems like,” not just “seems.” The SAT probably won’t test this as an individual issue. There will be other issues within the sentence that clearly distinguish the best answer from the second best, even if you don’t know every issue at hand.</p>
<p>^ Yes, “it” is an expletive pronoun in those cases, which means that it has no semantic implication. It some contexts, though, we can think of the expletive “it” as a cataphoric pronoun.</p>