SAT Writing section techniques, strategies & approaches: Difference between revisions
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** Here the participial phrase "practicing all season" and the prepositional phrase, "as a backup" modify the subject "players" | ** Here the participial phrase "practicing all season" and the prepositional phrase, "as a backup" modify the subject "players" | ||
*** therefore we match the plural "players" with the plural present perfect verb "have never had" (as opposed to the singular "has never had") | *** therefore we match the plural "players" with the plural present perfect verb "have never had" (as opposed to the singular "has never had") | ||
Click EXPAND for an example from CB Test 6, Writing question no. 7, on identifying the subject of a sentence for matching with the verb: | |||
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From [https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/pdf/sat-practice-test-6.pdf College Board practice test 6, Writing question no. 21 (test page 24)] | |||
** see CB Test 6, Writing question no. 7 | ** see CB Test 6, Writing question no. 7 | ||
<pre>The experiment confirmed their suspicions when the half of the lake containing the phosphates [7] was teeming with blue-green algae. </pre> | |||
A) was teeming | |||
B) were teeming | |||
C) are teeming | |||
D) teems | |||
* we see that the subordinate clause starting with "when" is what the question is about | |||
** therefore we can ignore the main clause, "The experiment confirmed their suspicions" | |||
* identify the preposition "of" and the prepositional phrase it creates, "of the lake" | |||
** nouns in prepositional phrases ARE NEVER the subject of the sentence | |||
* identify the participle "containing" and the participial phrase it creates, "containing the phosphates" | |||
** nouns in participial phrases ARE NEVER the subject of the sentence | |||
* therefore our subject is "the half" | |||
** which thereby matches to the singular, past tense A) was teeming | |||
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* see: | * see: | ||
** [https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/mechanics/dangling_modifiers_and_how_to_correct_them.htm dangling modifiers (owl.purdue.edu)] | ** [https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/mechanics/dangling_modifiers_and_how_to_correct_them.htm dangling modifiers (owl.purdue.edu)] | ||
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* for SAT Writing identify prepositions in order to: | * for SAT Writing identify prepositions in order to: | ||
** to distinguish the subject of a sentence from other words that might be confused with the subject in wrong possible answers | ** to distinguish the subject of a sentence from other words that might be confused with the subject in wrong possible answers | ||
*** see example below from CB Test 6 question no. 7 in the section on participial phrases | |||
** to get rid of unimportant information in order to better read the sentence and answer the question | ** to get rid of unimportant information in order to better read the sentence and answer the question | ||
click EXPAND for an example of ignoring prepositional phrases from [https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/pdf/sat-practice-test-9.pdf Practice Test 9 Writing question 5]: | click EXPAND for an example of ignoring prepositional phrases from [https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/pdf/sat-practice-test-9.pdf Practice Test 9 Writing question 5]: | ||
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Click EXPAND for an example from CB Test 6, Writing question no. 21, on how to eliminate idiomatic possible answers using grammar rules: | Click EXPAND for an example from CB Test 6, Writing question no. 21, on how to eliminate idiomatic possible answers using grammar rules: | ||
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From [https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/pdf/sat-practice-test-6.pdf | From [https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/pdf/sat-practice-test-6.pdf College Board practice test 6, Writing question no. 21 (test page 30)] | ||
<pre>Burland [21] advocated using soil extraction: removing small amounts of soil from under the tower’s north side, opposite its tilt, to enable gravity to straighten the tower.</pre> | <pre>Burland [21] advocated using soil extraction: removing small amounts of soil from under the tower’s north side, opposite its tilt, to enable gravity to straighten the tower.</pre> | ||
A) advocated using | A) advocated using | ||