<p>So would one just need to know that resistance to sounds more correct than resistance of, or is their a rule of idioms for words like resistance?</p>
<p>Questions:</p>
<p>(Although far more skilled a politician), he argued less convincingly at the debate than did his opponent.</p>
<p>(A) Although far more skilled a
(B) Regardless of far more skill as a
(C) Despite a far more skilled
(D) Compared to having far more skill as a
(E) Yet a far more skilled</p>
<p>A sounds correct but so does E. Which is correct, and why?</p>
<p>I don’t remember the sentence structure exactly but I also saw something like this once:</p>
<p>Swimmer Jean Roq was the most decorated athlete in the 1982 Olympics(,winning many awards.)</p>
<p>(A) ,winning many awards
(B) ; many awards were worn by him
(C) by winning many awards</p>
<p>I chose A because it makes more sense that Roq was a decorated athlete while he won many awards, no? C sounds like faulty cause effect…perhaps he became the most decorated athlete by winning many awards, but he WAS a decorated athlete by winning? </p>
<p>(I don’t have the actual answers)…So any input would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>Sorry two more:</p>
<p>Understanding that she could not take her illness lightly (and hoping for swift, effective treatment), Maria decided to see a specialist.</p>
<p>(A) and hoping for swift, effective treatment
(D) yet hoping for her treatment to be swift and effective</p>
<p>The answer is A. Why not D?</p>
<p>Anna Freud adapted classical psychoanalytic technique to the treatment of young children, being Sigmund Freud’s daughter.</p>
<p>(A) as it is
(D) Anna Freud, Sigmund Freud’s daughter, adapted classical psychoanalytic technique to the treatment of young children.</p>
<p>I can see why the answer is D, but grammatically, why is the use of “being” incorrect in A?</p>
<p>@arooj1a2b3c </p>
<p>Idioms tend to trick people up because either they don’t sound correct themselves, or the (incorrect) alternate for them used in the question is commonly used (incorrectly) in informal speech. ‘Resistance to’ is the usage, resistance ‘of’ or ‘for’ are incorrect.</p>
<p>Two questions.</p>
<p><a href=“http://i.imgur.com/tUoW9.png[/url]”>http://i.imgur.com/tUoW9.png</a></p>
![http://i.imgur.com/tUoW9.png[/url]](http://i.imgur.com/tUoW9.png%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>For this one, I got the right answer (which is A) because it sounded funny. Grammatically speaking, why is A wrong and what would you change it to.</p>
<p><a href=“http://i.imgur.com/GsO95.png[/url]”>http://i.imgur.com/GsO95.png</a></p>
![http://i.imgur.com/GsO95.png[/url]](http://i.imgur.com/GsO95.png%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>The correct answer for this one is D. I am guessing it is the correct answer because you are supposed to change it to “nurses or doctors” to match up with the subject. My issue is that the subject of the sentence “the vast majority of children” is singular so why would D have to be changed?</p>
<p>Thank you so much!</p>
<p>Now that Nikki completed the final chapter of her manuscript, she feels sufficiently confident about submitting her novel to the publisher</p>
<p>change completed to “has completed” …because we use the present perfect to indicate that while an action may have occurred sometime in the past it still has relevance to the present…or in this case, has just recently been completed…</p>
<p>Hence, because of the word “now…has completed”</p>
<p>PRESENT PERFECT</p>
<p>a. A situation that began in at prior point in time and continues into the present:</p>
<p>I have been a teacher since 1967.</p>
<p>c. A VERY RECENTLY COMPLETED ACTION </p>
<p>Mort has just finished his homework.</p>
<p>TO ANSWER YOUR SECOND QUESTION</p>
<p>While majority may be considered a singular subject…the entire phrase itself…the vast majority of children refers to children in a plural sense…hence…we must change to “nurses” and “doctors”…whereas if it said something like “Each of the children is interested in becoming A DOCTOR or A NURSE…” because each is obviously referring to one child in a singular context…</p>
<ol>
<li><a href=“http://imageshack.us/a/img51/3202/photooct13105734am.jpg[/url]”>http://imageshack.us/a/img51/3202/photooct13105734am.jpg</a></li>
</ol>
![http://imageshack.us/a/img51/3202/photooct13105734am.jpg[/url]](http://imageshack.us/a/img51/3202/photooct13105734am.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>The answer is …A
What’s wrong with B? Sorry about the picture…I couldn’t figure out a way to make it vertical.
Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>I just took this PSAT today. When I did this problem I eliminated C,D,E because they were blatantly incorrect. Left between A and B, A is shorter and more concise, whereas B has the odd phrase “would have been told”. You don’t need the “have been”</p>
<ol>
<li>The cape buffalo plays a vital role in the ecology of the “grasslands when they eat” tall, coarse grasses and thereby encouraging the growth of the shorter, softer grasses eaten by smaller animals.</li>
</ol>
<p>(A) grasslands when they eat
(B) grasslands when it eats
(C) grasslands, eating
(D) grasslands, it eats
(E) grasslands by their eating</p>
<p>The answer is C, but why? And what makes B wrong?</p>
<p>For number 20 on 2012’s practice test (post 1186), this is why B is incorrect. </p>
<p>"The past subjunctive involves hypothetical circumstances; it includes the verb were, regardless of whether the subject is singular or plural. </p>
<p>If he were to arrive at 5pm, I would be very happy."</p>
<p>Also:</p>
<p>"-Do NOT use would have in a clause that begins with if: </p>
<p>If he would have arrived (had arrived) at 5pm, I would have been very happy."</p>
<p>From: [Reading</a> and Writing Tips for the SAT and ACT: Complete SAT Grammar Rules](<a href=“http://ultimatesatverbal.blogspot.com/p/complete-sat-grammar-rules.html]Reading”>http://ultimatesatverbal.blogspot.com/p/complete-sat-grammar-rules.html)</p>
<p>Thanks @arooj1a2b3c and MasterYster</p>
<p>@JJRONALDINHO</p>
<p>B is wrong because it says “when it eats tall, coarse grasses and thereby encouraging” these are not parallel. C is correct because “by eating…and thereby encouraging…” is parallel. Always be careful about the -ings. By using -ing sort of stuff (sorry I suck at technical terms) they make a phrase that comes after comma or in between commas which explains what has been talked about before the comma. It helps if you read these sort of sentences a few times and get used to them, because they are super common on the sat. good luck hope this helps</p>
<p>A flurry of do-it-yourself books on the market today are inspiring homeowners to do their own repairs.</p>
<p>(A) are inspiring homeowners to do their own repairs
(B) are inspiring to homeowners about their own repairs
(C) is inspiring homeowners into doing their own repairing
(D) is inspiring homeowners to do their own repairs
(E) inspiring homeowners to repair their own homes</p>
<p>I chose (A) because the *books * are inspiring homeowners, not the flurry of books.
I understand that “A flurry,” the subject of the sentence, is singular, however in silverturtle’s writing guide, he mentioned how the subject-verb agreement depends on the sentence’s purpose:</p>
<p>"Consider this sentence, which I wrote earlier:</p>
<pre><code>The number of people is amazing.
</code></pre>
<p>The sentence is not trying to say that the people themselves are amazing, just that how many there are is amazing. Such an intention contrasts with that of this sentence:</p>
<pre><code>A number of people are amazing.
</code></pre>
<p>Here the people themselves are being directly referred to, and the agreement reflects this."</p>
<p>Let’s go back to my question:
The books are inspiring the homeowners and are being directly referred to in the sentence. The flurry is not inspiring the homeowners…
So why is the answer “D” and not “A”?</p>
<p>There are a few words which may take singular or plural, depending on context (and American vs. British conventions). These include “number,” “committee,” “faculty,” and perhaps a few additional collective nouns.</p>
<p>Your logic is impeccable, but your grammar is faulty. The word “flurry” is the subject of the sentence, and it takes a singular verb, regardless of the plural in the intervening prepositional phrase.</p>
<p>Thank you, QuantMech!
It makes sense now — “flurry” is not a collective noun.</p>
<p>“The ‘Mayan Riviera’, which (extends down) the eastern coast of Mexico, (has many hidden) caves, one (of which) is larger (than the size of) Monaco.”</p>
<p>The correct answer is “Than the size of”. I don’t get it? can someone elaborate?</p>
<p>“Vanessa had a tendency (of changing) her mind often, (so often) in fact that her friends (gave up expecting) her (to show up at) their parties.”</p>
<p>The correct answer is “of changing”, why is that wrong?</p>
<p>“Quincy took Dan to Derek’s home (for a visit), (never imagining) that five years (would pass) before (seeing) Derek again.”</p>
<p>The correct answer is (seeing). I don’t get this one too</p>
<p>Thanks for whoever answers my questions!</p>
<p>In the first one, whenever you have a comparison of two things on the SAT, you want to pick the construction that has two elements of the same category. In this case, the comparison is between one of the caves and Mexico. A cave and “the size of Mexico” are not elements of the same category. One is a geographical feature and the other is a measure (which would usually have units).</p>
<p>Often, in SAT questions involving improper comparisons, the extra words are needed to make the items being compared belong to the same category; e.g., the works of art by Picasso are more abstract than Kincaid. Here you would need “the works of Kincaid” instead. But in the Mayan Riviera case, the extra words are not correct.</p>
<p>The second one should be “Vanessa had a tendency to change her mind often.” I’d suggest that you look at silverturtle’s guide, and check the use of infinitives vs. gerunds.</p>
<p>For the third, I believe it should be “before he saw” rather than “before seeing.” However, I can’t give you a fool-proof rule for this one. Maybe someone else can?</p>
<p>in the case of “seeing”, its a case of a vague modifier…whereas we can see clearly that “imagining” refers to quincy , it could have been either quincy or dan who saw derek again, entiendes?</p>
<p>Can anyone help me out with these questions :</p>
<p>1)Katherine felt that she (has not had) (any understanding of) the (highly intricate working) of the stock market (until) her uncle took her to the New York Stock Exchange.(NE)</p>
<p>Correct answer is A but why so ??</p>
<p>2)(Because) his experience in the naval medical corps had been (rewarding) , Bob (applied to) medical school after he (was discharged) from the navy. (NE)</p>
<p>Correct answer is E but why isnt it (was discharged) shouldnt it be (had been discharged)</p>