SAT Writing : Recognizing Sentences That Contain No Errors
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT Writing
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Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Correcting Other Errors And Recognizing No Errors
More recently, the trend reversed itself to come back to the original position.
reverses themselves
reversing itself
reversed itself
reversed themselves
reverses itself
reversed itself
The underlined portion is correct as is. While the sentence is somewhat awkwardly worded, the underlined portion is gramatically correct, and there is little that other answer choices do to improve the sentence.
Example Question #1 : Correcting Other Errors And Recognizing No Errors
The identity of the killer remained a mystery for the next fifty years.
for the next fifty years.
until the next fifty years.
until fifty years.
and fifty years.
in fifty years.
for the next fifty years.
The "identity of the killer" was unknown a while, so the use of the preposition "for" is correct, as it indicates the length of time was fully taken by the mystery of the killer's identity. The sentence is correct as written.
Example Question #1 : Correcting Other Errors And Recognizing No Errors
Forcing the issue, the students brought up the teacher's overly long assignments.
Issue forcing,
Forcing the issue,
Force the issue,
Forcing issues,
Issue being forced,
Forcing the issue,
The underlined section of the sentence is a dependent clause, meaning it defines the rest of the sentence, but is not able to stand alone. The phrase "Forcing the issue" is correct in its usage.
Example Question #1 : Correcting Other Errors And Recognizing No Errors
Hungry and tired, the group stopped under the tree by the river bank for the night.
under the tree, the river bank
under the tree by bank of river
under the tree by the rivers banks
under tree by river bank
under the tree by the river bank
under the tree by the river bank
The underlined phrase, although slightly awkward and over worded, is actually perfectly grammatically correct. As none of the "corrected" answer choices are grammatically correct, the unchanged form of the underlined portion is the correct answer.
Example Question #2 : Correcting Other Errors And Recognizing No Errors
No one will come to our defense but ourselves in our time of need.
ourselves
ourself
ours
our own
our self
ourselves
The use of "ourselves" is actually correct in the sentence, as it refers to the previous use of "our" in the phrase "our defense;" therefore, the correct answer is to keep the word as "ourselves."
Example Question #1 : Recognizing Sentences That Contain No Errors
Trying to understand her students' issues, the teacher found ways to ask about their problems indirectly.
Trying to understand her students' issues, the teacher found ways to ask about their problems indirectly.
Trying to understand her student's issues, the teacher found ways to ask about their problems indirectly.
Trying to understand her students' issues, the teacher found ways to ask about their problems in an indirectly fashion.
Try to understand her students' issues, the teacher found ways to ask about their problems indirectly.
Trying to understand her students' issues, the teacher found ways to asks about their problems indirectly.
Trying to understand her students' issues, the teacher found ways to ask about their problems indirectly.
The sentence is absolutely correct as written, and needs no improvement. The various corrections all make the sentence incorrect, as "asks" does not work in an infinitive, "student's" refers to one student and contradicts "their" as mentioned later, "indirectly" is an adverb and not an adjective, and writing "try" makes the sentence unclear and a fragment.
Example Question #11 : Recognizing Sentences That Contain No Errors
Choose the best way to rephrase the underlined portion of the sentence. One of the answer choices repeats the original phrasing.
Since she arrived home from work, Rachel has been locked in her room, watching television and refusing to speak to anyone.
is locked in her room, watching television and refusing
is watching television locked in her room, refusing
locked in her room, is watching television and refusing
has been locked in her room, watching television and refusing
has been locked in her room, watched television, and refused
has been locked in her room, watching television and refusing
This sentence is phrased nicely. The other options confuse the verb tense or otherwise complicate the coordination of events.
Example Question #1582 : Sentence Correction
The young boy, tired from the long trip, immediately went to sleep when he arrived at his grandparent's house.
The young boy tired from the long trip immediately
The young boy tired, from the long trip, immediately
The young boy tired from the long trip, immediately
The young boy, tired from the long trip immediately
The young boy, tired from the long trip, immediately
The young boy, tired from the long trip, immediately
The phrase "tired from the long trip" is an interrupting phrase, a clause that is unnecessary to the structure of the sentence but gives crucial information. All such clauses need to be set off by commas, making the sentence correct as written.
Example Question #1 : Recognizing Sentences That Contain No Errors
In the sentence below, select the phrasing of the underlined portion that produces the best sentence.
Tom Hanks is undoubtedly one of the great leading men of our time, but he cannot compare to Humphrey Bogart.
but he cannot compare to the work of Humphrey Bogart.
although his work is not comparable to Humphrey Bogart.
but he cannot compare to Humphrey Bogart.
but his movies cannot compare to Humphrey Bogart.
and yet he cannot compare to Humphrey Bogart's movies.
but he cannot compare to Humphrey Bogart.
Whenever making a comparison, be sure to compare like things. This sentence is correct as written, as you are comparing an actor (Hanks) to an actor (Bogart). In the incorrect options the comparison is between one actor and the other's work or movies.
Example Question #2 : Correcting Other Errors And Recognizing No Errors
The ability to whistle is not a universal among all people.
not universal all people.
not universal for people who are all.
not a universal for people in all.
not a universal toward all people.
not a universal among all people.
not a universal among all people.
The sentence is perfectly correct as written and needs no changes to it. Additionally, the other answer choices are all either grammatically incorrect, confusingly worded, or both.
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