SOS on the SAT writing section!!!

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
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<p>going to take my SAT in June, but i still get BAD scores in the writing section. I mean the grammar section.....
i usually miss 8-9 questions and that's unbelievably NUMEROUS number.</p>

<p>i am so frustrated and the test day is coming soon!!!!!!!!!
do you guys have any suggestions on how to study the writing section? </p>

<p>here are some questions that i couldn't understand from today's practice test:</p>

<p>1.AN ISE QUESTION:
in 1991 B military officials arrested dissident political leader ASSK, (A.thereby) (B.preventing) her from leaving B (C.for accepting) the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo.</p>

<p>i thought the answer would be A, because it looks like a comma splice; what's more, THEREBY is not a conjunction so it cannot be used to connect two independent clause(i think the two clauses between the comma are independent sentences.)</p>

<p>BUT the answer is C. i know C is wrong however howcome A is right??????</p>

<p>2.AN IS QUESTION:
Fabric was very expensive in the US before the Industrial (Revolution, this is why )scraps were saved and recycled into such items as patchwork quilts and doll clothes.</p>

<p>the correction of the () part is : Revolution, and so</p>

<p>and, so are both coujunctions right? then why they can be put together? i thought you have to use one conjunction at one time to combine two clauses. i guess that's not the case... what is ?</p>

<p>3.AN IS QUESTION:
Nominated for vice president of the US in 1884 and 1888,(and frontier feminist, is Marietta Stow,endorsing protection )of widows' rights and racial equality.</p>

<p>the answer is:
frontier feminist Marietta Stow endorsed protection</p>

<p>so the whole sentence goes like this:
Nominated for vice president of the US in 1884 and 1888,frontier feminist Marietta Stow endorsed protection of widows' rights and racial equality.</p>

<p>there is no conjunction after the comma!!!!!! isn't this a comma splice???</p>

<p>thanku you guys.
please help me.....i am feel kinda despondent about this section....</p>

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<p>Taking the SAT tests are very demoralizing, as progress comes slow for most people and usually it is the 5th test that you actually see improvement.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>It is not a comma splice. You dont need a comma when you saw because, and this is cause and effect. She doesn’t leave “for accepting” the Nobel Prize; for is not appropriate to use here. A good way to correct it would be “preventing her from leaving to accept…”</p></li>
<li><p>And introduces the new clause, while so shows that because the fabric was expensive, scraps were saved and recycled. If an answer was just “and” it would seem that the people weren’t saving scraps BECAUSE the fabric was expensive. It would seem more like the first clause did not cause the second clause. But and is good at separating the two clauses.</p></li>
<li><p>I forgot the name for this, but it is definitely the right answer. “Nominated for vice president of the US in 1884 and 1888” needs to modify the subject since it is a dependent clause. Maybe it will sound better to you if you read it: Frontier feminist Marietta Stow, nominated for vice president of the US in 1884 and 1888, endorsed protection of widows’ rights and racial equality.
It is the same sentence, except I moved the clause so hopefully you can see the phrase needs to modify the subject. The sentence is all over the place before the correction.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I have never seen on any of my practice tests that a comma made all the difference. I think they may have asked a semicolon once, but I would look for other grammatical mistakes first.</p>

<p>I really hoped this help, and my reasoning may not be perfect.</p>

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<p>there is no because in the first question…???
and is it called “an inversion” ,a full inversion in the case of the third question. right?</p>

<p>thank u Dreaminapples.
you really helped me to understand those questions XD</p>

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<p>‘So’ can also show cause and effect, but for me at least it is easier to see it with ‘because’ since I’m more used to it. I am glad I could help. :-)</p>