SAT writing. Almost at the 800.

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
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<p>Just got a 710 (YAY) big improvement from my 47 on freshmen PSAT [LOL].</p>

<h2>Q1. How do you know when the "perfect" tense is more appropriate than the regular when doing improving sentences? Like I notice that you have to use it in the phrase "since last september,". Can you all give me other phrases to look out for, or better yet a general rule to follow?</h2>

<p>Q2. Can someone when to use "Let" and when to use "Lets" (not the contraction let's). </p>

<p>A poetic form congenial to Robert Browning was the dramatic monologue, [which let him explore..]</p>

<h2>A poetic form congenial to Robert Browning was the dramatic monologue [that lets him explore..]</h2>

<p>Q3. ".When for the first time the U.S. imported more oil than it exported, Americans should have realized that an energy crisis [is]/[was]/ imminent.</p>

<h2>^I changed the answers to ask a question, for I just want to know: are both right? or is "was" wrong? I still feel shaky on the tenses </h2>

<p>Intimacy, love, and marriage are 3 [different, if interrelated subjects.]</p>

<p>Intimacy, love, and marriage are 3 [different subjects when interrelated]</p>

<p>Intimacy, love, and marriage are 3 [subjects that are different although being interrelated] </p>

<h2>Q4. Uh oh, level 5 question. Why is the first one right, and the latter 2 wrong? I chose the middle.</h2>

<ol>
<li> When Marie Curie shared the 1903 Nobel prize for Physics with two other scientists -- her husband Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel -- she [had been] the first woman to win the prize. </li>
</ol>

<h2>Q5. I got it right, but only by ear. And I almost missed it. So can someone please tell me when the perfect tense is incorrect!?!?!!? </h2>

<p>"most of the sediment and nutrients ______"</p>

<h2>Q6. Is "most" the subject?</h2>

<p>The museum is submitting proposals to several foundations in the hope [to gain] funds to build a tropical butterfly conservatory.</p>

<h2>Q7. Need a rule. I recall silverturtle telling me that abstract nouns require infinitives... but what about this? An exception? I'm sure hope is an abstract noun. I must have some rules mixed up. Silverturtle please help. </h2>

<p>The empire state building, the sears tower, the canadian national tower -- each of these structures was the tallest in the world at the time [they were] built. </p>

<h2>Q8 Ok. I put no error. Should it be "it was" because singular "each" is the subject?</h2>

<p>Now for the most retarded question I've ever seen. </p>

<ol>
<li>Which is the best revision of sentence 6?
"You can even buy posters of his paintings!"</li>
</ol>

<p>D. People can even buy his paintings as a poster.
E. One can even buy posters of his paintings.<br>
B. Even ordinary people like us can buy posters of his paintings.</p>

<p>Should I even ask it? Ok, why is E better than D. thank god A wasn't "as it is now".</p>

<p>Thanks all.</p>

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<p>The present perfect tense indicates that the action continues to the present. Phrases with “since” indicate that the action continues, as in:</p>

<p>“I have run since I was six years old.” </p>

<p>The past perfect tense indicates that the action occured before something for which the simple past tense was used, as in:</p>

<p>“I had not known about the material when I began to study it.”</p>

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<p>In the first sentence, “let” is being used in the past tense; in the second sentence, “let” is being used in the present tense. Here are the conjugations for “let”: [English</a> verb let conjugated in all tenses.](<a href=“http://www.verbix.com/webverbix/English/let.html]English”>English verb 'let' conjugated).</p>

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<p>Only the past tense works here. “have realized” may look as though it is in the present; it is, however, in the past tense (it is preceded by the the modal verb “should”).</p>

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<p>The second choice is grammatical but illogical. The subjects are always different, and they are always interrelated; they don’t suddenly become different when one interrelates them.</p>

<p>“being interrelated” is not parallel with “different” (the former is a gerund phrase; the latter is an adjective). The better form would be: “Intimacy, love, and marriage are 3 subjects that are different but interrelated.”</p>

<p>One may suspect that the same fallacy that I noted for choice 2 exists in choice one (“if” may function similarly to “when,” thereby indicating that the differences only arise upon interrelation). “if” is being used in a different sense here, though. The relevant definition from Merriam-Webster:</p>

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</an></p>

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<p>“shared” is the simple past tense; “had been” is the past perfect. Use “became.”</p>

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<p>Yes, “most” is the subject. But do not take this to mean that the subject is singular. “most” is one of those indefinite pronouns for which one must look to the pronoun’s complement in order to discriminate between singularity and plurality. The complement is found in the succeeding prepositional phrase, as in:</p>

<p>“Most of them were…”</p>

<p>“Most of it was…”</p>

<p>So, your sentence should be, “Most of the nutrients and sediments [plural verb]…”</p>

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<p>1) The perfect tense does not have to describe an action that was continuously done in the past and the present. It can describe an action that was done once in the past, but still has an effect on you in the present</p>

<p>“I have prepared for the test.”</p>

<p>You prepared in the past, and you are prepared in the present.</p>

<p>“I prepared for the test.”</p>

<p>You prepared in the past. You may or may not be prepared in the present.</p>

<p>Often, you use the present tense in order to communicate experience and therefore prestige, power, etc. “I have seen many movies so I do know the difference between a bad one and a good one like any movie critic does.” The process of seeing the movies occurred in the past but influences, or justifies, your (pompous) opinion in the present.</p>

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<p>Most abstract nouns’ complements are indeed infinitives. This list may be helpful in determining whether to use a gerund or an infinitive: [Verb</a> Lists: Infinitives and Gerunds](<a href=“http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/verblist.htm]Verb”>http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/verblist.htm).</p>

<p>“in the hope of” or “in the hope that” seem to be the accepted idioms here.</p>

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<p>@ post #8,</p>

<p>Yes, the present perfect’s applicability extends beyond the impression I gave in post #2. See [ENGLISH</a> PAGE - Present Perfect](<a href=“http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentperfect.html]ENGLISH”>Present Perfect Tense | ENGLISH PAGE) for more information.</p>

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<p>Yes, “each” is always singular.</p>

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<p>Choice (D) is wrong because the paintings would be bought as posters not as a poster.</p>

<p>Choice (E) correctly uses the indefinite “one.”</p>

<p>The original is wrong because “you” is colloquial when used as a substitute for the indefinite “one.”</p>

<p>Choice (B) seems grammatical; I assume that the sentence’s context renders this choice a poor one.</p>

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<p>I wouldn’t call the justifying use of the present perfect one that is used “often.”</p>

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<p>In response to post #4. Why should it be in the past? Because the rest of the sentence is in the past?</p>

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<p>silverturtle, can you explain more about abstract noun +infinitive/gerund?</p>

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<p>Yes. “should” was being used in the past tense there.</p>