I have purchased a book ‘SAT Grammar Workbook’ by Erica Meltzer and there is a task on page 9, #20.
In 1963, Lina {directed} (A) her first film, {whose} (B) theme - the lives of impoverished people in southern Italy - {will become} © a recurring motif in her {later} (D) works. No Error (E)
I chose # B, because I thought that we can not use ‘whose’ for the theme of a movie because we can only use ‘who and whose’ relating to people. Am I wrong or is it a typo?
Even conservative authorities (e.g., Brian Garner) agree that “whose” can refer to things as well as people. So B is OK.
The error is C. The sentence is written about 1963 from the perspective of some later date. References to the future also need to use 1963 as a baseline but discuss events that happened before the time the sentence was written (e.g., the rest of the 1960s and 1970s, not the 2020s).
That is, we need a way of writing about the future in the past. Since the past of “will” is “would,” the correct verb for C is “would become.”
Great thanks so much!!! While I was waiting for an answer another question came up :). I would really appreciate if you could help me with this one as well!
[The elimination] of poverty ought to be within our grasp, [and yet] for hundreds of millions of people across the globe, it remains [but a dream] . The correct answer is - No error, but I think that it should read ‘It remains anything but a dream’ or something like that. Am I wrong? Is ‘but a dream’ correct?
The idiom is a little old-fashioned or literary, so it may seem unfamiliar to you, but it is perfectly good English.
WOW, thank you so much, you literally saved me so much time because I couldn’t find anything on the internet!
The problem with me is that even though I always end up choosing the correct answer,I generally don’t know why that answer choice is ‘wrong’.Moreover,the papers don’t have answer explanations.So could you please tell me why these choices are wrong?
Q.Because the American Indian rodeo includes games and exhibitions developed (as early as) the seventeenth century,(they predate) (by) a few hundred years (the form) of rodeo now seen on television.(No Error)
Ans. (they predate) is wrong.I think that its wrong because it should be “it” instead of “they”.Am I right?
Q.Five years in (writing),her new book is (both a response) to her critics’ mistrust (with) her earlier findings and (an elaboration) of her original thesis.(No error)
Ans.(with) is wrong.I think it should “of” instead of “with”.Am I right? Please give me further and clear reasoning for this answer because I think “with” is idiomatically wrong in this situation.But again,I’m not sure 
Q.(Despite) its cultural importance,the Daily Gazette (lost) 70 percent of its subscribers since 1920 and,by 1955,was (losing) (as much as) $200,000 a year.(No error)
Ans.(lost) is wrong.I feel that it should be “has lost”.Am I right?
Q.(It was) a Chinese American grower who finally succeeded (with adapting) the (now familiar) orange tree (to ) the American climate.(No Error)
Ans.(with adapting) is wrong.I feel that it should be “in adapting” because"with" is idiomatically wrong in this case.Am I right?
Q.Because the garden was (untended),the windows (had no) shutters,and the lawn (overrun) by weeds,people (passing by) the old house assumed that it was unoccupied.(No error)
Ans. (overrun) is wrong.Is it because it should be “was overrun”?
Please confirm whether my reasoning is fine.Thanks a million 
Thanks a lot @marvin100
Q. Not very particular (in) nesting (sites),house wrens (may nest) in birdhouses,mailboxes,building crevices-even in the pockets (of) hanging laundry.(No error)
Ans.(in)
should it be “about nesting sites…”?
@hardwork213 You are correct
Thanks!
I got these wrong.Please tell me why.
Q.Jorge wanted,(for the most part),to travel around the world (after graduation),but sometimes he (thought about) (taking a job) at his mother’s company instead.(No error)
Ans.(No error)
But I chose B.Shouldn’t it be “after graduating”?
Q.Intense preoccupation (on) technique (appears to be) (the one) trait that great pianists (have in) common.(No error)
Ans.(on)
What’s wrong with “on”?what should be used instead?
Nope, “after graduation” is fine–both “graduating” and “graduation” are nouns.
Idiom–“preoccupy with” is conventional.
Thanks!
Jocelyn,my friend (since) junior high school,believes she is (more well suited) to a career in the sciences (than to) the business careers her parents (have urged her) to pursue.(No error)
Ans.I chose (since) because “since” is generally used for dates(eg.1980s).
But the answer is “more well suited”.What’s wrong with that?
Q.(Even when) Barbara Jordan put questions (toward) a political nominee,her elegant (diction evoked) in listeners (memories of) her eloquent political speeches.(No error)
Ans.(toward).Should it be “towards” because it says “a political nominee” BUT at the same time it says “put questionS”.Please explain this one.
I chose “Even when” because I thought that the “even” over here is unnecessary.
Post 14.
There may be exceptions I can’t think of at the moment, but since is generally used with reference to any kind of time, not just dates; this includes long events like junior high school and short events like lunch.
“More well” is simply unidiomatic. “Better” is the customary usage.
Post 15.
You are not going to be tested on some imaginary difference between “toward” and “towards” that experts have been debating for 100 years. Yes, there are post-hoc guidelines about when each should be used, but you don’t get tested on guidelines, especially when there is no real consensus on them.
You “put questions to” someone. That’s the idiom. Don’t try to explain why. That’s why we call it an idiom.
“When” and “Even when” are not the same. The former just indicates that something happened. The latter indicates that an expectation has not been met, or that something unexpected occurred.
Thanks! that helped