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SAT Writing Section - Sentence-Improvement Questions
USINFO | 2014-01-02 14:34
The SAT writing section consists of three primary types of multiple-choice questions, including sentence-improvement questions, sentence-error-identification questions, and paragraph-improvement questions.
The SAT writing section includes 25 sentence-improvement questions. The sentence-improvement questions are designed to assess an individual's ability to identify and correct problems with the way that a sentence is structured or the way that words or punctuation are used within the sentence. Each of these questions will present the exam-taker with a sentence that has all or part of the sentence underlined, and the individual will have to choose the phrasing that makes the sentence as clear and concise as possible from the choices available.
For example, a question might present an individual with the following sentence:
I was concerned about the test beforehand; but now I ampretty sure that I did well.
In this case, the individual will have to identify the choice that corrects the structure or usage problem in the underlined portion of the sentence (if there is a problem). The choices for correcting the sentence in this particular example might include:
1.about the test beforehand; but now I am
2.about the test beforehand, but now I am
3.with the test beforehand; but now I am
4.about the test beforehand, however now I am
5.that the test was beforehand; but now I am
The answer for this example would be (B), as the problem in this sentence is that a semicolon cannot be used with a coordinating conjunction such as the word "but." As a result, replacing the semicolon with a comma will correct the sentence. It may appear that (D) is also correct, as it replaces the semicolon with a comma. However, (D) is incorrect because the word however is not a coordinating conjunction, and so the comma alone is not enough. The other choices are also incorrect. (A) simply repeats the form that the sentence already had, (C) ignores the problem by simply changing the word "about" to "with," and (E) not only ignores the problem within the sentence, but also changes the meaning of the phrase so that the sentence no longer makes sense.
The SAT writing section includes 25 sentence-improvement questions. The sentence-improvement questions are designed to assess an individual's ability to identify and correct problems with the way that a sentence is structured or the way that words or punctuation are used within the sentence. Each of these questions will present the exam-taker with a sentence that has all or part of the sentence underlined, and the individual will have to choose the phrasing that makes the sentence as clear and concise as possible from the choices available.
For example, a question might present an individual with the following sentence:
I was concerned about the test beforehand; but now I ampretty sure that I did well.
In this case, the individual will have to identify the choice that corrects the structure or usage problem in the underlined portion of the sentence (if there is a problem). The choices for correcting the sentence in this particular example might include:
1.about the test beforehand; but now I am
2.about the test beforehand, but now I am
3.with the test beforehand; but now I am
4.about the test beforehand, however now I am
5.that the test was beforehand; but now I am
The answer for this example would be (B), as the problem in this sentence is that a semicolon cannot be used with a coordinating conjunction such as the word "but." As a result, replacing the semicolon with a comma will correct the sentence. It may appear that (D) is also correct, as it replaces the semicolon with a comma. However, (D) is incorrect because the word however is not a coordinating conjunction, and so the comma alone is not enough. The other choices are also incorrect. (A) simply repeats the form that the sentence already had, (C) ignores the problem by simply changing the word "about" to "with," and (E) not only ignores the problem within the sentence, but also changes the meaning of the phrase so that the sentence no longer makes sense.
