Writing Section June 4th SAT... question w/ "the greater amount"

<p>Did you circle that phrase, or put "no error".</p>

<p>I found it to be either an incorrect idiom or a counting error. Think about it:</p>

<p>When one usually says something like that, they say "a greater amount". The only time people usually insert "the" in to it is when there are three or more objects being compared... and even so, that's the wrong form of the word "great":</p>

<p>"The greatEST of the three"</p>

<p>I might (and probably am) wrong though.</p>

<p>So my question is, what did you put and what's the reasoning behind it?</p>

<p>Is this the Kangaroo problem where it goes " one of the Kangaroos needs little water... while the other Kangaroo need a greater amount of water. In this case, greater amount is wrong because it needs to be parallel in context with "little water", so you wouldn't need the comparing word "greater".</p>

<p>i thought this was E...actually im pretty sure it was E (because if it weren't, there would be only one E for the whole writing section...which is VERY unusual...plus, u use greater when u r comparing two things...) i think its E...anyone else???</p>

<p>No it was "greater amount" positive. That's not correct at all.</p>

<p>i believe u pitcher...but its weird cuz in another forum i think we concluded the answer was E</p>

<p>Yea I've taken a lot of practice tests with that sort of thing, deceptive explains it well.</p>

<p>EDIT: Actually, zening explains it better, haha.</p>

<p>I don't remember the test very well, but I seem to recall that I answered that "greater amount" was an error. It was just incredibly clumsy within the context of the sentence, so clumsy (and I believe even incorrect) that I didn't think "no error" could be the correct choice.</p>

<p>i think a lot of ppl put E as an answer...</p>

<p>what else was E though...the only thing i can remember besides this was "shana had had..." everything else in that section had an error...</p>

<p>hmmm... I don't really remember the section, but I'm pretty sure that I marked "no error" for one other question. zeningchen explains it perfectly - "while" generally implies parallel structure, and "greater amount" doesn't go with "little".</p>

<p>what were the answers to the following questions:</p>

<p>After the expedition discovered land, very little attention has been paid to the explorers. (i put has been)</p>

<p>the director will release the final design after the judges had approved the plan. (i put had approved)</p>

<p>if the "greater amount" is right, then there is only one E...which does not seem right...</p>

<p>It was has been, it was had approved. I think there were other Es (don't quote me on that though), but not a lot. Maybe two.</p>

<p>im pretty sure that there was only shana had had was E...i could find an error with everything after that...i also put the kangaroo question as E...come on ppl who put E...speak your mind...</p>

<p>I put E for "the greater amount." Initially, it seemed ackward. Yet, gramatically it was correct because only 2 things were being compared. I doubt the SAT was looking for an idiomatic error. Instead, i think they were trying to see whethere you understood that "greater" was correct instead of perhaps, "greatest."</p>

<p>grumpybear...MSH...i call on you to defend my choice...u both put no error</p>

<p>EXACTLY MY REASONING n1bigdude.... also, u guys have to remember that this question was like number 17...which means it is supposed to by easy to medium...the explanation u guys are offering seems to complicated for number 17...i stick with no error.</p>

<p>After the expedition discovered land, very little attention has been paid to the explorers.</p>

<p>Whats wrong with has been? The action of "very little ateention" can be still going on...thus present tense should work?</p>

<p>No, it's incorrect comparison. It did not say the first required the smaller amount and the second required the greater amoutn. The first required little water, so the second should require "more" water or " a lot" of water.</p>

<p>vehement...what did u put for the greater amount...???</p>

<p>also...i am 100% sure the answer to 29 (the last one, supposedly the hardest, which started with "That it is ...") was B (or C) because it had faulty parallelism...</p>

<p>No, not after. It should be "since the expedition discovered land," not after. After implies a completed action, a specific time period.</p>