On this question, I didn’t know “as to be” is okay in this situation. Please Explain.
Rotary phones, once the height of technology, are now so obsolete and rare as to be unknown to younger generations.
A) same (correct)
B) are now so obsolete and rare and unknown to younger generations
C) are now unknown to younger generations stemming from their obsoleteness and rareness
D) now are obsolete and rare, which means that younger generations are unaware of it
E) now are unknown and younger generations think they are obsolete
The hearings of the McCarthy era often cast doubt on the integrity of those brought to trial as well as anyone that had a relationship to them, however distant.
A) same
B) with relationships to them, even distantly
C) related to them, however distantly (correct)
D) with a relationship to the defendants, however distantly
E) related to them however distant
Forest fires, long {thought to be} a detriment to the environment, {are} now understood {not only} to be unavoidable but also to be {a boon} to the forests. (No error: correct)
why isn’t a boon incorrect? shouldn’t it be plural since forest fires is plural?
Although many people (scoff at) superstitions, (they) usually have some of their own, (from) retrieving face up pennies from the sidewalk to (selecting) lucking numbers for the lottery. (No error: correct)
isn’t they wrong because it is ambiguous and referring to superstitions not people?
“So X as to be Y” is a permissible and idiomatic expression.
(A) has an idiom error (relationship with not to)
(B) same error
(D) adj/adv mix-up (should be distant not distantly)
(E) adj/adv mix-up the other way (should be distantly not distant)
This is an unusual and rare question. Normally we want noun/noun agreement, but in this case “forest fires” have already been called “a detriment” (singular), making “boon” permissible and parallel. I wouldn’t be concerned about this Q, though–it’s an outlier.
(D) the word “distantly” is modifying “relationships” so it must be an adj not an adv
(E) the word “distant” is modifying the word “related” so it must be an adv not an adj
Thank you! Also, I have a question on ambiguous nouns… So on the SAT I will see stuff life “Most critics” and “some books” and “many students” and they are not underlined and are not considered ambiguous… but on this question
“They say comedians face a difficult task: they must challenge and mock the status quo without alienating their audiences who represent the status quo.” the answer is “they say”… I was stuck on this question for a good two minutes because I thought it was a little too ambiguous but I thought I was being over analytical… Any suggestions on that topic? Or common things to look for
It’s not ambiguous–there’s literally no antecedent in the sentence! On the SAT, all pronouns must have antecedents with a few exceptions:
I/me
You
We/us
It (when used as an expletive or dummy pronoun as in “It is hard to explain grammar on the internet” or “It’s raining men.”)
Just for the sake of splitting hairs, “they” in “they say” does not need an antecedent when the phrase is used idiomatically, meaning “it is rumored,” or “everybody knows”.
For example: “You know what they say, …”, “As they say, …”.
A twist: if you doubt some claim, you can add “, or so they say” after you quoted it:
The redesigned SAT scores will be a better predictor of a student’s college success, or so they say.
A major cause of stress in school is… where seniors must manage not only academic requirements and sports schedules, but also standardized testing and college applications, during their first semester.
A) Same
B) seniors need to manage not only academic requirements and sports schedules, but also
C)where seniors… (incorrect because a cause can’t be a where
D) when (incorrect because a cause can’t be a when
E) the management by seniors of not only academic requirements and sports schedules, but also
The answer is B. I was suck between E and B… But I don’t know why? My books says its because E is too passive? please explain
@marvin100 In all the years of taking and analyzing the CB SATs I have never seen a question based on this idiom, but TCB/ETS throw surprises at us from time to time from up their sleeves, so it makes sense to absorb a new idiom whenever you encounter one.
Of course, there is no such thing as an exhaustive list of idioms, but learning a few extra ones might come in handy.
Okay, @gcf101
In that case I’ll stick with what I wrote above in post [url=<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19192674/#Comment_19192674%5D#8%5B/url”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19192674/#Comment_19192674]#8[/url].
@avneety I may sound harsh, but you are coming here for and getting a lot of help, so it would be a courtesy on your part to spill the beans and tell us nosy CCers where you are finding these questions.
Many of them sure don’t look like authentic CB ones; it that’s the case, it would be prudent of you to switch to true CB materials, even if they lack the explanations.
I agree with your reasoning. There are only so many rules that are being tested on the current SAT (it appears that the new test will cover quite a larger grammar territory), and questions on ambiguous pronouns - whether with no antecedents or with more than one - are the staples on the CB menu.
Also: the fact that “comedians face a difficult task…” can’t be interpreted as part of common knowledge, hence the aforementioned idiom need not apply.
