The appointmenht sat 4 ppt

Correct: Because Esteban can do advanced math in his head, he doesn’t need a calculator. Correct: Esteban can do advanced math in his head, so he doesn’t need a calculator. Correct: Esteban doesn’t need a calculator, f or he can do advanced math in his head. Because there are often several conjunctions that express the same idea, be careful that the version you choose fits the 3 C’s. There might be two versions that express the right relationship, but only one will be correct, clear, and concise. Fragments and Run-Ons Two of the most common errors made in writing are sentence fragments and run-ons. Sentence fragments are incomplete thoughts, while run-ons are two or more complete thoughts running together without proper punctuation. Here are some examples: Fragments Incorrect: Harper Lee, who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. Incorrect: Some people still do not believe in global warming. Even though the polar icecaps are melting at an alarming rate. If you suspect a group of words is a fragment, look for the version that expresses a complete thought. Correcting the fragment might require adding a subject or a verb, deleting a subordinating conjunction (because, while), deleting a relative pronoun (who, that, which), or connecting a dependent clause to an independent clause. The fragments above can be corrected as follows: Correct: Harper Lee wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. Correct: Some people still do not believe in global warming even though the polar icecaps are melting at an alarming rate. Run-Ons Incorrect: The polar icecaps are melting at an alarming rate, some people still do not believe in global warming. Incorrect: The American Revolution was modeled after the French Revolu- tion, it was one of the most important events in the history of Europe. If you suspect a test item is a run-on sentence, try to determine if there are two independent ideas that can stand alone. Check the answer choices for one of the following fixes for run-on sentences: 1. Separate the clauses with a period. We are here. You are not. 2. Connect the clauses with a comma and a coordinating conjunction (and, or, nor, for, but, so, yet). Make sure the coordinating conjunction expresses the right relationship between the two ideas. We are here, but you are not. 3. Connect the clauses with a semicolon (and pos- sibly a conjunctive adverb such as however, therefore,or otherwise, making sure it expresses the right relationship between the two ideas). We are here; you are not. 4. Make one sentence dependent upon the other by using a subordinating conjunction such as although, because, since, or while. Again, make sure the subordinating conjunction expresses the right relationship between the two ideas. Although we are here, you are not. The best correction is best determined by context. If a relationship between the clauses needs to be –THE SAT WRITING SECTION– 207 5658 SAT2006[05](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:45 PM Page 207 expressed, then the run-on needs a conjunction of some sort. The previous run-ons can be corrected as follows: Correct: The polar icecaps are melting at an alarming rate, yet some people still do not believe in global warming. Correct: The American Revolution was modeled after the French Revolu- tion, which was one of the most important events in the history of Europe. Faulty Comparisons A faulty comparison is an error in sentence logic, one that’s often tough to catch because we speak in faulty comparisons all the time. Here’s an example: Incorrect: I’ve seen every film by Stanley Kubrick, and they’re better than any other director. You probably understood the sentence to mean that the films by Kubrick are better than films by any other director, but that’s not what the sentence says.If you read carefully, you will see that the author is actu- ally comparing the films of Kubrick to any other director, not to any other director’s films, which is the intended meaning. Fortunately, faulty comparisons are easy to fix: You just have to make the comparison one of apples to apples (films to films) rather than apples to oranges (films to directors): Correct: I’ve seen every film by Stanley Kubrick, and they’re better than any other director’s. Correct: I’ve seen every film by Stanley Kubrick, and they’re better than films by any other director. Here’s another example: Incorrect: I’m more interested in the criminal justice program at Kensington College than in Taylor University. This sentence compares the criminal justice program to Taylor University rather than to a program at Taylor. Here’s the kind of fix to look for: Correct: I’m more interested in the criminal justice program at Kensington College than in the pre-law program at Taylor University. Correct: I’m more interested in Kensington College’s criminal justice program than in Taylor University’s. Misplaced Modifiers A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that describes another part of a sentence. A misplaced modifier is simply a modifier that’s in the wrong place, as in the following example: Incorrect: Worn and tattered, Uncle Joe took down the flag and put up a new one. Now, Uncle Joe may be old and tired, but he’s not likely to be worn and tattered. It’s the flag, of course, that is worn and tattered. However, because the mod- ifying phrase is next to Uncle Joe, the sentence is confusing. The rule regarding modifiers is simple: Any modifier should be placed as closely as possible to the word or phrase it modifies. This makes correcting a misplaced modifier rather easy: Correct: Uncle Joe took down the worn and tattered flag and put up a new one. –THE SAT WRITING SECTION– 208 5658 SAT2006[05](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:45 PM Page 208 Here’s another example, this one from the pretest: Incorrect: Held in 1927, President Calvin Coolidge presided over the ceremony to officially commence the carving of Mount Rushmore. Clearly, it was the ceremony that was held in 1927, not President Coolidge. Thus, the best choice is the sentence that places 1927 closest to ceremony and that con- forms to the 3 C’s: Correct: President Calvin Coolidge presided over the 1927 ceremony that officially commenced the carving of Mount Rushmore. Wordiness Whether it’s the main mistake in the original prompt or a flaw in one or more of the distracters, unnecessary wordiness is a common error in Improving Sentences. As a general rule, the more concise, the better. Wordiness has many causes, including: ■ “clutter” phrases such as because of the fact that ■ that, which, and who phrases (turn them into adjectives: the manual that is helpful becomes the helpful manual) ■ unnecessary repetition (e.g., the meeting is at 4:00 P.M. in the afternoon— 4:00 P.M. is in the afternoon) ■ inexact phrases (I am not in agreement vs. I dis- agree; she was very upset vs. she was devastated) Notice how choices a, b, d, and e in the following example all suffer from wordiness because they use unnecessary which clauses while the correct answer, choice c, uses concise adjectives: First-generation Chinese American Maxine Hong Kingston blends fact and fiction, history, and speculation in The Woman Warrior, a memoir which was both award winning and a best-sel ler. a. The Woman Warrior, a memoir which was both award winning and a best-seller. b. The Woman Warrior, which was a best-seller memoir and for which she won awards. c. her award-winning and best-selling memoir, The Woman Warrior. d. her memoir, The Woman Warrior, which was a best-seller and which won many awards. e. her memoir The Woman Warrior, which won many awards and it was also a best-seller. Passive vs. Active Voice Finally, you may find one or more items or answer choices that use the passive instead of active voice. In a passive construction, the subject of the sentence receives the action: Passive: The top-secret mission was compromised. In an active sentence, the subject directly per- forms the action: Active: A d ouble agent compromised the top-secret mission. Notice the two sentences have different subjects: the thing (the mission) in the passive sentence, the doer (the double agent) in the active sentence. Active sentences are usually more powerful, precise, and less wordy than passive sentences and, with few exceptions, will be the most effective version of a sentence. –THE SAT WRITING SECTION– 209 5658 SAT2006[05](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:45 PM Page 209 Punctuation There are dozens of rules about the many different punctuation marks in the English language. Fortu- nately, the punctuation errors on the SAT tend to stick to only a few key categories. Here are some common comma and apostrophe errors. Comma Errors There are many rules about when to use and when not to use commas. Here are the four comma errors you are most likely to see on the exam: 1. Comma between subject and verb. When a subject is immediately followed by its verb, nothing should come between them: Incorrect:M ary, decided to relax with a good book. Correct:M ary d ecided to relax with a good book. 2. No comma after introductory phrase or clause. Introductory phrases and clauses should be followed by a comma: Incorrect:B y lunchtime Aidan had already finished his project. Correct:B y l unchtime, A idan had already finished his project. Incorrect: After a long day at w ork Mary decided to relax with a good book. Correct: After a long day at w ork, Mary decided to relax with a good book. 3. No comma between multiple modifiers. When two or more words one of equal rank and modify the same word, they need to be separated by commas. Otherwise, it will be unclear which words are being modified: Incorrect: After a lo ng tiring day, Mary decided to relax with a good book. Correct: After a lo ng, tiring day, Mary decided to relax with a good book. Because both long and tiring modify the same word (day), they need to be separated by a comma. Without the comma, it seems as if long modifies tiring instead of day. –THE SAT WRITING SECTION– 210 5658 SAT2006[05](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:45 PM Page 210 4. No comma around “interrupters.” Words, phrases, and clauses that interrupt the sentence (and are not essential to the meaning of that sentence) should be set off by commas: Incorrect: Mary a pediatrician really enjoys her work. Correct: Mary, a pediatrician, really enjoys her work. The phrase a pediatrician is an “inter- rupter” that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. We could take it out and the sentence would still be a complete, grammatically correct idea. Thus, it needs to be set off with commas. Here’s another example: Incorrect: Eva who always loved animals enjoys being a veterinarian. Correct: Eva, who always loved animals, enjoys being a veterinarian. In the following example, the who clause IS essential to the sentence and SHOULD NOT be set off with commas: Incorrect: Eva is the one, who wrote the prescription. Correct: Eva is the one who wrote the prescription. Here, the purpose of the sentence is to explain who wrote the prescription, so that clause is essential. The context of the sentence will help you determine whether information is essential to the meaning and therefore whether commas are needed. Apostrophe Errors Apostrophes are used to show possession (Adam’s, the general’s) and contraction (don’t, you’ve). Most often, an apostrophe error will be a missing apostrophe or confusing possessive pronouns with contractions: Incorrect:The r egions open space continues to disappear as a result of urban sprawl. Correct:The r egion’s open space continues to disappear as a result of urban sprawl. Incorrect:W ere planning to attend the hear- ing to voice our objection to the proposal. Correct:W e’re planning to attend the hear- ing to voice our objection to the proposal.  Part 3: Improving Paragraphs Finally, we arrive at the third multiple-choice question type, Improving Paragraphs. In this section, you will be presented with a short passage that requires revision— a rough draft of some sort about a general interest topic. Don’t worry so much about what the passage says; your job is to choose the best ways to improve how it says it. The draft will be followed by questions that cover a range of writing issues, from the sentence level (gram- mar and usage, sentence structure, word choice, etc.), to the paragraph level (paragraph divisions, transitions, paragraph unity), to the essay level (overall organization, development, support). The questions are designed to measure your ability to identify weak- nesses and improve the writing in a text. This lesson describes the question format, the kinds of questions to expect, and strategies to help you determine the best answer for each question. –THE SAT WRITING SECTION– 211 5658 SAT2006[05](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:45 PM Page 211 Question Structure The Improving Paragraph section begins with a short passage (typically two to four paragraphs long). The passage may be a draft of an essay, a letter to the editor, an excerpt from a memo—some kind of general writing task. Because it is a draft, it will need improvement on many levels. There will be a series of questions following the passage that make improvements on it. These questions can be divided into three general categories: revising individual sentences, revising sentence pairs, and revising the big picture. Revising Individual Sentences These questions refer to a specific sentence within the passage and ask you to determine the most effective revision of that sentence. These questions are essentially the same as those in Improving Sentences, with the exception that you will often need to consider the context of the passage to determine the correct answer. For example, the alternate versions of the sentence in question may offer different transitions from the previous sentence in the passage, but only one will be correct, concise, and the most appropriate way to move from one idea to another. Revising Sentence Pairs These questions refer to two specific sentences within the passage and ask you to determine the most effective revision and/or combination of those sentences. These questions are also quite similar to Improving Sentences, and they often focus on establishing the right relationship (coordination/subordination) and proper bound- aries between the two sentences. Here’s a sample of this type of question: Which of the following is the most effective combination of sentences 13 and 14 (reprinted below)? (13) Insomnia does not usually begin as a physical problem. (14) It can affect one’s physical health. a. Insomnia is not usually a physical problem; therefore, it can affect one’s physical health. b. Insomnia is not usually a physical problem, yet it can affect one’s physical health. c. Insomnia not usually a physical problem can affect one’s physical health. d. Insomnia is not usually a physical problem, so it can affect one’s physical health. e. Insomnia can affect one’s physical health; furthermore, it is not a physical problem. The correct answer is b. The conjunction yet prepares the reader for a contrast: is not usually (yet) it can. Revising the Big Picture “Big picture” questions ask about paragraph-level and essay-level issues such as organization and writing strategies. Thus, the format and writing issues can vary greatly. Here’s a sample big picture question: Which of the following is the most logical order of the paragraphs? a. 1, 2, 3, 4 b. 1, 3, 2, 4 c. 2, 3, 4, 1 d. 4, 3, 2, 1 e. 1, 4, 2, 3 –THE SAT WRITING SECTION– Caution: Question Formats Vary! Unlike Sentence Errors and Improving Sentences, the questions and answer choices for Improving Paragraphs will vary, so please be sure to read each question carefully. All will offer five choices (a–e), and choice a will not always repeat the original text. 212 5658 SAT2006[05](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:45 PM Page 212 . relationship between the clauses needs to be THE SAT WRITING SECTION– 207 5658 SAT2 006[05](fin).qx 11/21/05 6 :45 PM Page 207 expressed, then the run-on needs a conjunction of some sort. The previous. per- forms the action: Active: A d ouble agent compromised the top-secret mission. Notice the two sentences have different subjects: the thing (the mission) in the passive sentence, the doer (the double. such as however, therefore,or otherwise, making sure it expresses the right relationship between the two ideas). We are here; you are not. 4. Make one sentence dependent upon the other by using