<ol>
<li><p>Its difficult to imagine how one can contrive of vivid, picturesque details about an exotic and distant place that he has never once visited. No Error </p></li>
<li><p>I have tried every shawl, shrug, and scarf with this maroon dress but, to my consternation, none of them seem right for the casual yet put-together look I desire. No Error</p></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>(Its) difficult to imagine how one can (contrive) of vivid, picturesque details (about) an exotic and distant place that (he) has never once visited. No Error </p></li>
<li><p>I (have) tried every shawl, shrug, and scarf with this maroon dress (but), to my (consternation), none of them (seem) right for the casual yet put-together look I desire. No Error</p></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>he is wrong… pronoun shift… </p></li>
<li><p>No error…</p></li>
</ol>
<p>that’s what I thought but…</p>
<ol>
<li>the answer is contrive -> diction</li>
<li>answer is seem-> explanation is that none is singular but silverturtle says none depends on the object of the preposition in this case none of (them) is plural…</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>It is HE. You cannot change pronouns (pronoun shift). “One” should be changed, or “he”. Since “he” is underlined, he is wrong. Contrive cannot be wrong due to diction, the word fits in the sentence well.</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>I don’t know. It is tricky.</li>
</ol>
<p>Them is plural, so the verb also has to be plural. But if them isn’t the subject, then “seem” cannot be in relation to “none” which is singular.</p>
<p>It comes down to WHAT is the SUBJECT? In this subject-verb agreement question, a verb has to agree with the subject.</p>
<p>The second question is a slippery slope in my opinion.</p>
<p>Contrive is not the word…the explanation says the right word is conceive</p>
<p>Even though conceive is the right word to use, the sentence is still wrong in the fact he used pronoun shifts. </p>
<p>The SAT tests only one grammatical mistake, not two. So silverturtle made a mistake here.</p>
<p>There’s no problem with one —> he. They’re both 3rd person singular pronouns.</p>
<p>But contrive is an error, particularly since one doesn’t “contrive of” something.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Only if you want to create one! Is this a SAT question even worth discussing? See at the bottom:</p>
<p>Try this:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I (have) tried every shawl, shrug, and scarf with this maroon dress (but), to my (consternation), **not a single one of them<a href=“seem”>/B</a> right for the casual yet put-together look I desire. No Error </p></li>
<li><p>I (have) tried every shawl, shrug, and scarf with this maroon dress (but), to my (consternation), **not one of them<a href=“seem”>/B</a> right for the casual yet put-together look I desire. No Error </p></li>
<li><p>I (have) tried every shawl, shrug, and scarf with this maroon dress (but), to my (consternation), **none of them<a href=“seem”>/B</a> right for the casual yet put-together look I desire. No Error </p></li>
</ol>
<p>All of them (haha) are better served with … seems. In addition, you can look at the entire phrase for direction. Nobody would wear more than ONE of the various shawl, shrug, and scarf … this means that the possibilities are either ONE of the items or NONE … so never needing a plural to define the subject.</p>
<p> By the way, you should NOT draw conclusions from the above questions. They are typical of the garbage questions proposed by amateurs. Even if they write for Barrons! This could be exhibit 207 of a poor question." </p>
<p>
Oh yeah facepalm.jpg. Sorry. The writing book I am currently reading so far doesn’t distinguish between third person and first person pronouns (they just said “becareful with pronouns referring to the same atacedent”, but silverturtles guide did specifically, I remember. </p>
<p>
That makes sense. But does changing these words come with practice or am I missing something here? What if I change these words but I make a grammatical mistake and just confuse myself?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>As has been stated, “contrive of” needs to be changed, most reasonably to “conceive of.” The shift from “one” to “he” makes logical sense: Both are singular and in the third person. In the interest of respecting gender neutrality, however, “he or she” would be preferable (though not necessary).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Regardless of the contrary information put forth by some prep books, on the SAT – in keeping with the majority grammatical convention these days – none can be singular or plural, depending respectively on the singularity or plurality of the object of the prepositional phrase that intervenes between none and the verb. For example:</p>
<p>None of the items are ready for destruction.</p>
<p>None of the house is able to withstand a hurricane.</p>
<p>Substituting not one for none is generally considered a grammatically false equivalence and is therefore unhelpful for determining the appropriate agreement. The logic that xiggi applied regarding the practicalities of the clothing combination would apply similarly to the pronoun any, which follows the same convention as none: The logical analysis results in nonstandard subject-verb agreement. </p>
<h1>27 contains no error.</h1>
<p>Silver, this is one of those discussions that do NOT have a clear answer. It is very much similar to the “accepted use” of an expression such as “comprised of.” This use is entirely illogical, but it has become so used in daily conversations that it HAD to become an acceptable use. The use of none as a plural falls in the same category. It has been used erroneously by so many that it has become acceptable. </p>
<p>Fwiw, I do believe that the proper use of none is directly influenced by the context of the sentence. My conclusion is that the singular use of none is ALWAYS correct, and its plural use is sometimes correct. </p>
<p>In the end, although I could be mistake, I do not think that ETS will be silly enough to test such a concept on the SAT. This question is typical Barron’s garbage! As far as regular use, I do not see why anyone should use the plural form when the singular form works. You never know … the reader of the letter might be a grammar pedant! </p>
<p>By the way, it seems that Princeton has followed the same approach here:</p>
<p>[Princeton</a> University - Princeton to ban freshman affiliation with fraternities, sororities as of fall 2012](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S31/40/49Q43/index.xml?section=topstories]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S31/40/49Q43/index.xml?section=topstories)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Princeton was right with their* decision and the grammar! </p>
<ul>
<li>Their or its? :)</li>
</ul>
<p>*its because Princeton is a singular entity</p>