SAT Writing answers explainations

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>I tried the writing section of the College Board Official Practice Test 2013 (<a href="http://sat.collegeboard.org/SAT/public/pdf/getting-ready-for-the-sat.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://sat.collegeboard.org/SAT/public/pdf/getting-ready-for-the-sat.pdf&lt;/a&gt;) and I have made about 7 mistakes with no explanations. Also I have been taking writing tests with no improvement. I almost keep a constant rate of 4-7 mistakes in the MC portion every single time. I have read the ultimate guide to grammar, Silverturtle's guide, and even sparknote's. It is like a new mistake pops up every time.</p>

<p>Okay, anyway, here are the 7 questions:
Section #5 question 7:
A poetic form congenial to Robert Browning was the
dramatic monologue, it let him explore a character’s
mind without the simplifications demanded by stage
productions.
(A) monologue, it let him explore
(B) monologue, which let him explore
(C) monologue that lets him explore
(D) monologue; letting him explore
(E) monologue by letting him do exploration of
I chose (C) and it was (B), why?</p>

<p>Section #5 question 29:
29. The cost of <a href="A">safely disposing</a> of the toxic chemicals <a href="B">is approximately</a> <a href="C">five times what</a> the company paid <a href="D">to purchase it</a>.<a href="E">No Error</a>
I chose (E) and the answer was (D).</p>

<p>Section #5 question 33:
33. In context, which is the best way to revise sentence 7
(reproduced below) ?
One of his most famous works is a realistic painting by
the name of “The Banjo Lesson.”
(A) Add “In contrast,” to the beginning of the
sentence.
(B) Change “a realistic painting by the name of” to
“the realistic painting”.
(C) Delete the words “of his most famous works”.
(D) Change “is” to “had been”.
(E) Delete “most famous”.
I chose why is it (B)?</p>

<p>Section #5 question 34:
34. Which sentence is best inserted after sentence 7 ?
(A) The painting shows a man teaching his grandson
how to play the banjo.
(B) He finished “The Banjo Lesson” in 1893.
(C) In the painting, a bright light sets off the man and
boy.
(D) Banjos came to the United States from West
Africa.
(E) Portraits by Tanner show a psychological depth
and compassion.
Okay, this one was the most confusing. I chose (B) because (D) and (E) are wrong as they are completely unrelated and (A) and (C) are similar, so the logical conclusion was that (B) was correct. However I was wrong; (A) was the answer.</p>

<p>Section #10 question 4:
4. Experts disagree about what is the definition of
intelligence and how to measure it.
(A) what is the definition of intelligence and how to
measure it
(B) how to define intelligence, and also its
measurement
(C) how to define and measure intelligence
(D) defining intelligence as well as measurement
(E) the definition of intelligence and measuring it
(C) was the right answer. Why is (E) wrong?</p>

<p>Section #10 question 14:
14. Born of Ibuza parents in Nigeria, novelist Buchi
Emecheta moved to England in 1962, since which she
has lived in North London.
(A) 1962, since which she has lived in North London
(B) 1962 and has lived since then in North London
(C) 1962, since then she has lived in North London
(D) 1962 and lived since then in North London
(E) 1962, and living in North London since that time
(B) was the right answer. I could cross out (E) and (A) but I couldn't for the rest.</p>

<p>Also I was asking if it was possible to decrease the number of mistakes to a maximum of 1 by the time I take the test in October. Thank you in advance.</p>

2

<p>These are all answers with explanations on the college board owners area, </p>

<p>For the section 5 question 29, toxic chemicals problem, instead of it, it should be them referring to the chemicals as plural I believe.</p>

3

<p>Because I have nothing better to do :P</p>

<p>for the browning question, the original sentence has a comma splice, so it isn’t A. you want an answer that’ll link the function of the sonnet to browning’s use of it, which is clearly B. C is in the present tense, which wouldn’t make sense. D is like, the opposite of a comma splice and weird-sounding and E is totally ***.</p>

<p>Dreamday answered the second question.</p>

<p>I can’t really tell you why A isn’t correct without the context of the sentence, but we’ll say it’s wrong anyways. B eliminates unnecessary wordiness and is correct. C and E eliminate important parts of the sentence that characterize the painting and D implies that his most famous work changed, which is highly improbable.</p>

<p>So for the next one, D and E are clearly wrong. Isn’t it common sense to follow a statement about an artist’s painting with a description of the painting itself? Which leads to A. C wouldn’t make sense without A before it, and B is a trivial fact.</p>

<p>The next one needs parallelism; the only answer choice that satisfies this is C.</p>

<p>For the last one, I’m not really sure what the part of speech is called, but “which” should be replaced by “when” or some other word indicating time because the sentence is about when she moved. So A is wrong. C is a comma splice. E is weird. Since requires a present perfect verb, so D is wrong. Leaving B.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the replies. Here is a general question regarding parallel structures. If I have the sentence: I would prefer to swim in a pool rather than a sea. That “a sea” part, is it parallel with “a pool”, or should it be parallel with “in a pool” and become “in a sea” or even “swim in a sea”?</p>

5

<p>Can someone here explain This one too me</p>

<p>The diner near the dorms which (houses/house) the students (serves/serve) breakfast all day.</p>

<p>Answers:
house/serves</p>

<p>I don’t understand why it’s not houseS and serveS.
Isn’t it–> The diner houses ___-- The diner serves?</p>

6

<p>The diner does not house the students, the dorms do. Hence, since dorms is plural, the word is house. However, the diner is the one serving the students, so it must be serves, since diner is singular.</p>

7

<p>Thank you. Also I thought you can’t use “which” unless its “,which”. Also I thought “near the dorms” was kinda of a prep phrase thing so you cross it out.</p>