Some Grammical Questions, THX.

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>I am really fed up with the grammical questions, and I need your help, thank you.</p>

<p>In Alaska, the ground is riddled with ice wedges, many quite ancient, caused by the cold earth cracks and the cracks fill with water.
A. by the cold earth cracks
B. by the cold earth cracking
C. when the cold earth cracks
D. where they crack the cold earth
E. through the cold earth cracking
the right answer is C, but how about A.</p>

<p>The director valued the actor not so much for his broad commercial appeal but because he approached every role with passion and intelligence.
A. but because he approached every role with passion and intelligence
B. but because of his approaching every role with passion and intelligence
C. but for being passionate and intelligent in approaching every role
D. as for him approaching every role passionately and intelligently
E. as for his passionate and intelligent approach to every role
the right answer is B, but how about A and E.</p>

<p>When recipes for iced tea appeared in a few late-nineteenth-century cookbooks, the drink did not become popular until the 1904 World’s Fair.
the sentence error indentification chooses When, but what's wrong with When.</p>

<p>With the Louisiana Purchase, the United States acquired a larger territory in area than if you combined Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Portugal.</p>

<p>A. larger territory in area than if you combined Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Portugal
B. larger territory in area than combining Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Portugal
C. territory larger in area than if Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Portugal were combined
D. territory larger in area than Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Portugal combined
E. territory larger than if the area of Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Portugal combined
the correct answer is D, but how about B and E</p>

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<p>Grammatical**</p>

3

<p>waht, are you a native English speaker? Some of these questions are much easier for native speakers than for non-native speakers.</p>

<p>In the first question, "the cold earth cracks" is a clause with subject and verb. "By" is a preposition, which has an object that is a noun (or noun equivalent, such as a gerund), but which is not followed by a full clause. In contrast, "when" is a subordinating conjunction, so it is followed by a clause. That is why A does not work. B would work as far as this explanation goes, but then "by the cold earth cracking" would not be parallel with the structure "and the cracks fill with water." Also, it should really be "by the cold earth's cracking."</p>

<p>In the next example, you have "The director valued the actor not so much for his [noun describing characteristic]," so to have parallel structures, it should be followed by another noun structure. Choice A contains a full clause. Personally, I think E is better than B (unless I am somehow reading it wrong--so no help from me on that!), but perhaps it's not liked because "passionate" and "with passion" have slightly different shades of meaning?</p>

<p>The one about iced tea is actually funny. You need to know that the late-nineteenth century means the late 1800's. If "When" is used, the sentence essentially means that the appearance of iced tea in the cookbooks in the late 1800's delayed the general popularity of the drink. If that happened, those must have been some truly awful recipes! The word that is intended instead of "When" is "Although." The correct sentence means that the recipes had appeared earlier, but the drink did not become popular until it was served at the World's Fair.</p>

<p>The problem with the last one is also an issue of parallel structures. The item that follows "than" should be either a territory (or group of nations) or an area. In case B, what follows the "than" is "combining." This creates a non-parallel structure, because "combining" is an action and neither a territory nor an area. Similarly, E starts with "if" which introduces a clause expressing contingency, and again "if" is neither a territory nor an area. Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Portugal combined <em>is</em> a territory (interpreted as a region on a map), though it is not a territory in the colonial historical sense of the term.</p>