Writing questions on Blue Book

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1

<p>Hi, I'm preparing for SAT and I'm using the Blue Book, and since the book doesn't contain explanations for the practice tests I'm having some trouble comprehending the answers. It'd be great if you could provide some insight into my questions. Thanks!</p>

<p>WRITING (GRAMMAR)</p>

<p>On pg. 470 Question number 8:</p>

<ol>
<li>In the 100-yard relay our team impressed the crowd, with each OF THE MEMBERS SHAVING several seconds off her own best time."
(A) of the members shaving
(B) of the members had shaved
(C) of the members was shaving</li>
</ol>

<p>I chose (B), because I thought that, since the action of the members 'shaving several seconds' logically comes before the impression made upon the crowd, the underlined portion (in here it's capitalized because there's no underline function in college confidential's forum) should be past participle and should be changed into "had shaved." why is it (A), not (B)? I really cannot understand.</p>

<p>On pg. 472 Question number 29:</p>

<ol>
<li>An amateur potter HERSELF, the accountant offered TO HELP the artist with his business accounts, complicated AS THEY WERE BY his unusual system of record keeping. NO ERROR</li>
</ol>

<p>The choices were:
(A) herself
(B) to help
(C) as they were
(D) by
(E) No error</p>

<p>The answer was (E). But I thought that the choice (C), "as they were," was ambiguous because "they" might be referring to either (a) the artist's business accounts, or (b) the accountant and the artist. Why is it not ambiguous?</p>

<p>It'd be much appreciated if you give me a detailed explanation. Thanks! :)</p>

2

<p>For #8, A just sounds more logical. Also, the events take place in the present. The crowd was impressed BECAUSE each team member shaved… “With” implies more of a cause/effect relationship as opposed to a before/after one.
Not sure if my explanation helped LOL. </p>

<p>For #29, this is a bit more tricky, but I think you are overthinking it. The sentence does not imply that either the accountant or the artist might be “complicated” (which is when the ambiguity might come into play). Rather, the accountant is helping the artist, suggesting that the artist has a problem - the complexity of his business accounts.
You should always take into account meaning as well as what you perceive to be the rigid rules of English (which can be a hellish language to study, esp. the grammar).</p>

<p>Not even sure if I helped at all, but good luck!</p>

3

<p>Thanks! Your comment was very helpful. I hope you look at some of the other discussions/questions that I posted! :slight_smile: </p>