SAT writing essentials part 2 doc

The Day Before It’s the day before the SAT. Here are some dos and don’ts: DO: ■ relax! ■ find something amusing to do the night before— watch a good movie, have dinner with a friend, read a good book. ■ get some light exercise. ■ get together everything you need for the test: admission ticket, ID, number two pencils, watch, bottle of water, and snacks (see the box on page 4 for some guidelines). ■ go to bed early. Get a good night’s sleep. DON’T: ■ study; you’ve prepared, now relax. ■ party; keep it low key. ■ eat anything unusual or adventurous—save it! ■ try any unusual or adventurous activity—save it! ■ allow yourself to get into an emotional exchange with anyone; postpone any such discussion so you can focus on the exam. Test Day On the day of the test, get up early enough to allow yourself extra time to get ready. Set your alarm and have a back-up system in case it doesn’t go off. Ask a family member or friend to make sure you are up. Eat a light, healthy breakfast, even if you usually don’t eat in the morning. If you normally have coffee, don’t overdo it. Too much caffeine can interfere with concentration. Give yourself plenty of time to get to the test site and avoid a last-minute rush. Plan to get to the test room ten to fifteen minutes early. Once the exam begins, keep an eye on the time. Remember not to spend too long on questions you don’t understand. Mark them (in your test book- let, not your answer sheet) so you can come back if there’s time. Check periodically (every five to ten ques- tions) to make sure you are transposing correctly. Look at the question number, and then check your answer sheet to see that you are marking the oval by that ques- tion number. If you find yourself getting anxious during the test, remember to breathe. You have worked hard to prepare for this day. You are ready.  Commit to Memory These are the most important points to remember from Chapter 1: ■ The new SAT has three sections instead of two; the top score is 2,400 rather than 1,600. ■ The test is now three hours and 45 minutes long. ■ The Writing section is new; it’s comprised of the essay (25 minutes) and two multiple-choice groups (25 and 10 minutes). ■ Multiple-choice questions are: Identifying Sen- tence Errors, Improving Sentences, and Improv- ing Paragraphs. ■ The SAT is a coachable test, meaning study and practice can improve your score. ■ Multiple-choice questions are presented in order of difficulty, with the easiest questions first. ■ Do all of the easiest Identifying Sentence Errors and Improving Sentences questions first. Then, complete the harder questions of those types. Finally, tackle the Improving Paragraphs questions. ■ Study the directions for each question type; you’ll save many minutes during test time if you don’t have to read them (official directions are at www.collegeboard.com). ■ If you can’t eliminate at least one answer choice, skip the question. ■ If you can eliminate one or more answer choices, guess. –GETTING TO KNOW THE WRITING SECTION OF THE NEW SAT– 8 ■ Use your test booklet: Mark off answer choices you know are wrong, circle questions you’ve skipped in case there’s time to come back to them, and take notes for your essay. ■ You’re not expected to turn in a final draft essay; aim for a “polished rough draft.” ■ Graders give your writing a total score of 2–12 based on a holistic reading that takes into account development of a point of view in response to the topic, supporting examples and details, and use of language. ■ Take a practice test before you begin studying to identify strengths and weaknesses. ■ Create a study schedule, and use this book to work through each type of question. ■ Ease up on studying the week before the test. –GETTING TO KNOW THE WRITING SECTION OF THE NEW SAT– 9 [...]... THE MULTIPLE-CHOICE SECTION – PRESENT PAST PAST PARTICIPLE hide hid hidden ride rode ridden write wrote written freeze froze frozen steal stole stolen SAME PRESENT AND PAST PARTICIPLE FORMS: come came come overcome overcame overcome run ran run In English, as in many other languages, the essential verb to be is highly irregular: SUBJECT PRESENT PAST PAST PARTICIPLE I am was have been you are were have... from, (2) difficulty in should be difficulty with, (3) typical for should be typical of If the subject of prepositions is confusing, you’ll need to do some memorizing Idioms are idiosyncratic—there are no easy rules for remembering them! Following is a list of idiomatic preposition uses that often appear on the SAT The subject of the American Dream never got stale for (he/him) Obviously, him is correct 20 ... pretend quit promise recall refuse recollect say resent tend resist try risk wait suggest want tolerate wish understand 22 – THE MULTIPLE-CHOICE SECTION – Word Choice Many students breathed a sigh of relief when the College Board announced that it was dropping Analogy questions from the SAT These questions appraised vocabulary, and were thought to be among the hardest on the test However, they’ve been... should have heard: (1) practicing to swim should be practicing swimming, (2) pretending being should be pretending to be, and (3) resents to be should be resents being As with prepositions, if you’re confused about when to use gerunds and infinitives, you’ll need to do some memorizing 1 I spend two hours each day practicing to swim 2 We had fun pretending being rock stars 3 My father resents to be asked... the plays of Arthur Miller, b for who the subject of the American Dream, and its c achievability for ordinary Americans, never got stale d No error e 1 This year’s model is different than last year’s 2 She has difficulty in the Advanced Placement History class 3 The color choices are typical for that artist Who is the object of the preposition for, but it is in the subjective case Correct it by changing... used to express something that is wished for or that is untrue It is formed with the past tense or past perfect tense (using the helping verb were) But we often forget to use it, both in speech and in writing When a sentence starts with if, I wish, or It would have been, it’s probably in the subjunctive mood me you Has been is the present perfect form of the verb is However, the first phrase, From 1947... he and him for who or whom If he is correct, you need who (both subjective case) and if him is correct, you need whom (both objective case) Here’s an example: Idiom Idioms are expressions peculiar to a particular language, whose meanings cannot be discerned by defining them word for word What downward movement, for example, happens when one “falls in love”? On what is one perched on when “sitting pretty”?... THAT TAKE INFINITIVES VERBS THAT TAKE GERUNDS VERBS THAT TAKE EITHER INFINITIVES OR GERUNDS afford admit attempt agree adore begin aim appreciate bother ask avoid cannot bear appear consider cannot stand 21 – THE MULTIPLE-CHOICE SECTION – VERBS THAT TAKE INFINITIVES VERBS THAT TAKE GERUNDS VERBS THAT TAKE EITHER INFINITIVES OR GERUNDS be determined deny cease beg detest continue care discuss hate claim... are those involving prepositional pairs (e.g., take care of, according to) and the use of infinitives and gerunds (e.g., want to meet, practice swimming) Since idioms are typically learned through conversation, you’ll probably be able to hear idiom errors in the Identifying Sentence Errors multiple-choice questions Listen carefully to each sentence as you read it, and identify the error The physical and... effect (verb) to bring about all ready (adj.) completely prepared already (adv.) by or before a specified or implied time all together (adj.) in a group; in unison altogether (adv.) completely or thoroughly 23 – THE MULTIPLE-CHOICE SECTION – CONFUSED WORDS WORD DEFINITION allude (verb) to refer to something not specifically mentioned elude (verb) to escape notice or detection ascent (noun) the act of climbing . the test. –GETTING TO KNOW THE WRITING SECTION OF THE NEW SAT 9