Writing Questions

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>Hi, I will really appreciate it if you help me out with these questions.</p>

<p>1- The A(oldest) examples of alphabetic writing discovered so far B(are) almost 4,000 years old, but, because C(they are) written in an obscure alphabet, D(it) cannot be translated completely. No error</p>

<p>I understand why the answer is D, but isn't C supposed to be (they were) instead of (they are)? </p>

<p>2- Evidence discovered in regions that A(were once) part of the Roman Empire B( suggest that) the Romans used a covering C(called) a hipposandal D(to protect) their horses' hooves. No error</p>

<p>The answer is B but why? What's wrong with B?</p>

2

<p>For (2) the noun “evidence” is singular … so (creatively) stripping the sentence to its essence …</p>

<p>Evidence suggests that the Romans loved horses.</p>

3

<p>Thank you @Fogcity, but evidence does not have a plural form so how do I know whether it is singular or plural? Am I wrong?</p>

4

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<p>Clearly as you note D is wrong.</p>

<p>Is C wrong? I would write “they were”.</p>

<p>Perhaps the test writer will argue that the “examples are written in an obscure language” is a “fact” and therefore the present tense applies. In any case this is much too subtle for the actual SAT. I wouldn’t spend much time worrying about this use.</p>

5

<p>In most dictionaries “Evidence” is uncountable and is always singular. This is one of the quirks of English that you “need” to know. </p>

<p>This said if you google “evidences” you’ll get quite a few hits. Language is a dynamic beast. Personally I would stick to the singular/uncountable form in my speech and writing.</p>

<p>I doubt that the real SAT tests this level of English subtlety.</p>

<p>What is the source of the two questions that you posed?</p>

6

<p>They are from May 2012. Actually I was thinking that the answer should be (suggested that) because the sentence says " Evidence (discovered) …", which means that the evidence that were discovered in the past suggested that … etc. is this reasoning right?</p>

7

<p>no. discovered in regions that A(were once) part of the Roman Empire—> this is a participle phrase which functions as an adj and describes ‘evidence’.<br>
example: people interested in learning are prone to be smarter.</p>