Question of the Day

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>In order to prepare for the speech he was given
A B
to all of the parents and teachers at the school,</p>

<p>George practiced speaking in front of a group
C<br>
of his friends. No error
D E</p>

<p>The answer says B. But why cant it be E. Couldnt George have received the speech as an assignment thus "was given" would make sense.</p>

2

<p>The structure of the sentences implies that he hasn't given the speach yet so "was given," which is past tense should be changed to future tense like "will give." </p>

<p>Thus, "B" is the only one that's correct. </p>

<p>"E" is correct since "his" only clarifies which "friends." Bascially, it's "group." "Group" of what? Group of friends. Which friends? "his friends." So, put it all together. "group of his friends," which is grammatically correct.</p>

3

<p>

Technically a teacher does not "give" a speech, even if it's understandable in conversation; he or she assigns a speech, or gives a speech assignment. </p>

<p>In addition, look at the next part of the sentence: "the speech he was given to all of the parents and teachers at the school." How could one be given a speech to an audience? There's no way the parents and teachers could be an indirect object in this case. </p>

<p>(Also, don't think too hard about how a sentence COULD be right. I'm sure that if you think hard enough about many "incorrect" sentences, you can come up with SOME situation in which they could be grammatically correct. That's sort of a problem with the test, IMO, but uh... don't overthink it, that's all I can tell ya.)</p>

4

<p>Think about it. It couldn't be a received assignment, because if it were then the clause/phrase should have ended after "was given" and not continue with "to all of the parents and teachers at the school."</p>

<p>However, since "to all of the parents and teachers at the school" is present, then the meaning of the sentence changes.</p>