Sample Writing questions

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>As I did before with [url=<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/1107317-math-practice.html%5Dmath%5B/url"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/1107317-math-practice.html]math[/url&lt;/a&gt;], I'm trying to write practice sections and I wanted to post these here for you guys to mess with if you want. I've got an answer key, and I'll post that in a day or two, but in the meantime I figured I'd let first comers create their own. Whaddya say, got 10 mins to do a practice section #10?</p>

<p>[ol]
[li]Inside the glove compartment were legal documents, pictures, and there were a few napkins from the coffee shop, but no gloves.</p>[/li]
<p>[list=A]
[<em>]and there were a few napkins from the coffee shop, but no gloves.
[</em>]and there were a few napkins from the coffee shop, but not any gloves.
[<em>]and napkins from the coffee shop, no gloves were there.
[</em>]and napkins from the coffee shop, but no gloves.
[li]and napkins from the coffee shop, there were no gloves.[/li][/ol]</p>

<p>[li]Even though I have seen the movie countless times, I still laughed when the sheriff throws his mug.</p>[/li]
<p>[list=A]
[<em>]laughed when the sheriff throws his mug.
[</em>]laugh when the sheriff throws his mug.
[<em>]laugh when the sheriff threw his mug.
[</em>]laughed whenever the sheriff throws his mug.
[li]laugh when the sheriff will throw his mug.[/li][/list]</p>

<p>[li]Yesterday I fell down the stairs and then tried to act like I did it on purpose.</p>[/li]
<p>[list=A]
[<em>]Yesterday I fell down the stairs and then
[</em>]Yesterday I fell down the stairs, I
[<em>]I fell down the stairs yesterday, I
[</em>]After I fell down the stairs yesterday; I
[li]Falling down the stairs; I [/li][/list]</p>

<p>[li]Fleeing the horde of zombies on foot, an apparently safe building became visible to the terrified couple.</p>[/li]
<p>[list=A]
[<em>]an apparently safe building became visible to the terrified couple.
[</em>]the terrified couple spotted a building that looked safe.
[<em>]a safe looking building was spotted by the terrified couple.
[</em>]the terrified couple's luck changed when they spotted a safe looking building.
[li]their fear subsided somewhat when the terrified couple would spot a safe looking building.[/li][/list]</p>

<p>[li]In many cultures they consider fish eggs a delicacy.</p>[/li]
<p>[list=A]
[<em>]In many cultures they consider fish eggs a delicacy.
[</em>]In many cultures fish eggs are considered a delicacy.
[<em>]In many cultures a delicacy is considered to be fish eggs.
[</em>]Fish eggs, a delicacy in many cultures.
[li]They consider fish eggs to be a delicacy in many cultures.[/li][/list]</p>

<p>[li]The argument between Paarin and me about the dent in his car continued until the early morning.</p>[/li]
<p>[list=A]
[<em>]between Paarin and me about the dent in his car continued
[</em>]between Paarin and I about the dent in his car continued
[<em>]about the dent in his car continued for Paarin and I
[</em>]on the dent in his car between Paarin and me continued
[li]between Paarin and I on the dent in his car continued[/li][/list]</p>

<p>[li]A consummate gentleman, Stefan's etiquette and social grace was unmatched.</p>[/li]
<p>[list=A]
[<em>]Stefan's etiquette and social grace was unmatched.
[</em>]Stefan's etiquette and social grace were unmatched.
[<em>]Stefan's etiquette as well as his social grace were unmatched.
[</em>]Stefan possessed unmatched etiquette and social grace.
[li]Stefan's social grace was matched only by his etiquette.[/li][/list]</p>

<p>[li]Most of my favorite movies contain slapstick humor, however physical comedy is not the only way to make me laugh.</p>[/li]
<p>[list=A]
[<em>]slapstick humor, however physical comedy is not
[</em>]slapstick humor, but physical comedy is not
[<em>]slapstick humor, and physical comedy is not
[</em>]slapstick humor; physical comedy is not
[li]slapstick humor, but it is not physical comedy that is[/li][/list]</p>

<p>[li]There are many reasons to see I Heart Huckabees, Jason Schwartzman's performance being one reason.</p>[/li]
<p>[list=A]
[li]Huckabees, Jason Schwartzman's performance being one reason.[/li][li]Huckabees, Jason Schwartzman's performance is only one of them.[/li][li]Huckabees; Jason Schwartzman's performance, for one.[/li][li]Huckabees, the performance of Jason Schwartzman is one of them.[/li][li]Huckabees, including Jason Schwartzman's performance.[/li][/list]</p>

<p>[li]Lindsey knows that the reason people dislike her is because of her being a Philadelphia Phillies fan.</p>[/li]
<p>[list=A]
[<em>]is because of her being a
[</em>]is because she is a
[<em>]is that she is a
[</em>]is her being a
[li]is that of her being a[/li][/list]</p>

<p>[li]A shockingly indelible moment, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I found out that Kurt Cobain had died.</p>[/li]
<p>[list=A]
[<em>]A shockingly indelible moment,
[</em>]A shocking, indelible moment,
[<em>]It was a shocking and indelible moment;
[</em>]Shocked and indelible,
[li]Shocking and I will never forget it,[/li][/list]</p>

<p>[li]The popular SAT blogger's website was better than his rival because of all the pretty pictures and linked vocab words.</p>[/li]
<p>[list=A]
[<em>]was better than his rival because of all the pretty pictures and linked vocab words.
[</em>]was better than that of his rival, it had more pretty pictures and linked vocab words.
[<em>]was better than his rival's, but it had more pretty pictures and linked vocab words.
[</em>]was better than his rival's, it had more pretty pictures and linked vocab words.
[li]was better than his rival's because of all the pretty pictures and linked vocab words.[/li][/list]</p>

<p>[li]Study the ancient fighting art of Hapkido and you will learn to avoid directly matching your strength against your opponent's.</p>[/li]
<p>[list=A]
[<em>]your strength against your opponent's.
[</em>]yours against your opponent.
[<em>]your strength against your opponent.
[</em>]your strength with your opponent.
[li]your opponent's strength against one's own.[/li][/list]</p>

<p>[li]Hammurabi, an ancient Babylonian king who is famous for his code of 282 laws which codified in great detail his "eye for an eye" philosophy and was written in the Akkadian language.</p>[/li]
<p>[list=A]
[<em>]Hammurabi, an ancient Babylonian king who is famous for his code of 282 laws which codified in great detail his "eye for an eye" philosophy and was written in the Akkadian language.
[</em>]Hammurabi, an ancient Babylonian king, famous for his code of 282 laws which codified in great detail his "eye for an eye" philosophy and was written in the Akkadian language.
[<em>]Hammurabi, famous for his code of 282 laws and an ancient Babylonian king, his "eye for an eye" philosophy was written in the Akkadian language.
[</em>]A famous ancient Babylonian king, Hammurabi, is best known for his "eye for an eye" philosophy codified in his code of 282 laws and being written in the Akkadian language.
[li]Hammurabi, an ancient Babylonian king who is famous for his code of 282 laws which codified in great detail his "eye for an eye" philosophy, wrote in the Akkadian language.[/li][/list]</p>

<p>[/list]</p>

<p>These are my choices:

  1. D
  2. B
  3. A
  4. B
  5. B
  6. A
  7. D
  8. B
  9. E
  10. B
  11. D
  12. E</p>

<p>DBABBADBECDEA</p>

<p>Didn’t read last one. Too long :/</p>

<p>Is 14-E?</p>

<p>10char</p>

<p>LOL I forgot to write the last two:
13. A
14. E</p>

<p>You guys are mostly right, but not completely. I’ll post a link to the answer key tomorrow. Which ones were you least sure about?</p>

<ol>
<li>D</li>
<li>B</li>
<li>A</li>
<li>B</li>
<li>B</li>
<li>A</li>
<li>D</li>
<li>B</li>
<li>A</li>
<li>C</li>
<li>D</li>
<li>E</li>
<li>A</li>
<li>D</li>
</ol>

<p>9, 11, and 14 are the tricky ones to me.</p>

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>Thanks for working on this! Here’s the answer key:
<a href=“PWN the SAT Sentence Improvement Diagnostic 1 Answer Key - Google Docs”>PWN the SAT Sentence Improvement Diagnostic 1 Answer Key - Google Docs;

<p>A few things I’ve been thinking as I’ve seen your responses come in:</p>

<p>1) I shouldn’t have used “indelible”…that’s tougher vocab than you’d get on the SAT writing section, and it threw a bunch of you.
2) I’m not sure I love question #9 anymore (although that movie is seriously one of my favorites). I just don’t think it’s SAT-ish enough.</p>

<p>Keep the feedback coming, if you’ve got it. :)</p>

<p>I thought 3 was tricky. I missed 10 because I didn’t read all the choices (I’m so stupid >_<) and I missed 11 because I misinterpreted what indelible meant. They were all good questions imo.</p>

<ol>
<li>E. (Got this wrong)</li>
<li>B.</li>
<li>D. (And this.)</li>
<li>A. (…and this…)</li>
<li>B.</li>
<li>A. (?) </li>
<li>D.</li>
<li>B. </li>
<li>B. (?) (Wrong.)</li>
<li>B. (…)</li>
<li>A. (?) (…)</li>
<li>E. </li>
<li>A.</li>
<li>E. (?)</li>
</ol>

<p>These are my answers…and they’re most likely all wrong, but hey, I need all the help I can get. Thanks for posting this :D</p>

<p>…6 wrong. Looks like I need more help than I thought D:</p>

<p>Thanks for this! I liked the rationales. For #5, I picked B because of process of elimination…but can someone explain why B wouldn’t have a comma after the “In many cultures”?</p>

<p>Thanks for the continued feedback, guys, and I’m glad you’re finding this useful. </p>

<p>@em2375: that’s a good point and I wish I could edit the original post still to fix it. I’ll repair it in the other places it appears on the web. :/</p>

<p>@xcloudy: a comma wouldn’t be wrong there, but it’s not necessary. It basically comes down to a decision by the writer regarding style.</p>