SAT Writing Multiple Choice Improving Paragraphs

1. Practice and Explanations SAT Writing Multiple Choice Improving Paragraphs

2. Directions • Print out (Download) • Complete in 22 mins.

3. (1) Until recently, I never thought much about my name,or names in general, for the most part. (2) We’re given our names when we’re too young to say them (never mind think about them), so they’re pretty easy to take for granted. (3) We understand that your “first name” is your personal name, but our “last names” are our family names. (4) But that changed for me when I met my friend Anny’s mother. (5) Anny is Korean. (6) Her last name is Lee. (7) Of course, her mother’s last name is also Lee. (8) But in the point in time when I met Ms. Lee, I realized how subjective the “first” and “last” distinction is. (9) She introduced herself to me as “Lee Eun-Hye,” and I was a bit confused. (10) On the one hand, I had already known hat Asian names can be reversed. On the other, I had expected her to use the western style, since she has lived in the United States for so long. (11) That made me wonder whether or not I would feel comfort-able changing the order of  my name.

4. Practice Questions – Set 1 In context, which is the best way to phrase the underlined section of sentence 1? Until recently, I never thought much about my name, or names in general, for the most part. • (As it is now) • I have never thought much before about my name, or names in general, for the most part. • I never thought much about my name; and I didn’t think much about names in general. • I never thought much about my name or about names in general. • I have never thought much before about names, generally.

5. Practice Questions – Set 1 Which of the following is the best version of sentence 3? We understand that your “first name” is your personal name, but our “last names” are our family names. • You understand that your “first name” is your personal name, but your “last name” is the one of your family. • We understand that our “first names” are our personal names while our “last names” are our family names. C. We understand that, although our “first names” are our personal names, your “last name” is your family name. D. One would understand one’s personal name is a “first name” but one’s family name is one’s “last name.” E. Your “first name,” you understand, is your personal name; nonetheless, your “last name” is your family name.

6. Practice Questions – Set 1 In context, which is the best way to revise and combine sentences 5, 6, and 7? Anny is Korean. Her last name is Lee. Of course, her mother’s last name is also Lee. • Anny, who is Korean, is named Lee as her last name, so, of course, her mother is named Lee as well. • Anny is Korean, her last name is Lee, and so is her mother. • Anny is Korean, but her last name is Lee; of course, her mother’s last name is also Lee. • Anny, because she is Korean, has the last name Lee, which, of course, is shared by her mother. E.Anny, who is Korean, has the last name Lee; of course, her mother’s last name is also Lee.

7. Practice Questions – Set 1 Which of the following best replaces the phrase “in the point in time when” in sentence 8? • at the moment • until at the point in time • when • after • during

8. I recently revisited the city which I was born in, which is a place well known for a castle built on a rock overlooking the surrounding plains, and even better known for a legendary figure who robbed the rich to give to the poor. (2) As I toured the castle and its museum, visited the town center, and roamed around old haunts, I reflected on how the buildings that people of different eras build reflect their central preoccupations.(3)The castle was originally built in the eleventh century, and remained important for several centuries. (4)Throughout the medieval period castles and fortified houses were built.(5) The powerful landowners surveyed and dominated the surrounding lands, the source of their wealth and prestige. (6)Once the industrial era began, castles were sidelined. (7)The merchants and factory owners built town halls, churches, factories and imposing office buildings. (8)The town center reflects this era. (9)An imposing town hall, complete with massive pillars and monumental lions, overlooks the town square. (10)Most people who enter the city today never visit the castle or the old market square, they head for the two shopping malls situated at either end of the city center. (11)Here the visitor can shop to their hearts content in an environment of glass and polished chrome. (12)Modern man is no longer a warrior defending his land, or a builder of churches, or a governor of people: he is primarily a consumer. (13)The buildings our generation leaves to posterity will reflect our predominant interest – shopping. 

9. Practice Questions - Set 3 1. The author's approach to the topic can best be described as: • rhetorical  • a reminiscence  • a specific example to illustrate a general point  • personal narrative  • several examples used to contradict a viewpoint

10. Practice Questions - Set 3 2. The sentence (or sentences) which most clearly expresses the author's primary purpose is • (1)  • (2)  • (12)  • (13)  • (1) and (13)

11. Practice Questions - Set 3 3. Which is the best version of the underlined portion of sentence (1)?  I recently revisited the city which I was born in, which is a place well known for a castle built on a rock overlooking the surrounding plains, and even better known for a legendary figure who robbed the rich to give to the poor. • I recently revisited the city which I was born in, which is a place  • I recently revisited the city in which I was born in, which is  • I recently revisited the city in which I was born, a city  • Recently I revisited the place which I was born in, which is a city  • Recently I revisited the city which I was born in, which is

12. Practice Questions - Set 3 4. The best way to rewrite the underlined parts of sentences 4 and 5 in order to combine the sentences is:  Throughout the medieval period castles and fortified houses were built. The powerful landowners surveyed and dominated the surrounding lands, the source of their wealth and prestige. • Throughout the medieval period castles and fortified houses were built from which powerful landowners surveyed and dominated  • Castles and fortified houses were built throughout the medieval period, from which powerful landowners surveyed and dominated  • Castles and fortified houses were built throughout the medieval period, when powerful land- owners surveyed and dominated • Throughout the medieval period, powerful landowners built castles and fortified houses from which to survey and dominate • Throughout the medieval period, powerful landowners built castles and fortified houses from which they would have surveyed and dominated

13. Practice Questions - Set 3 5. The change most needed in sentence 10 is • change or to nor  • change “either end” to “both ends”  • change the comma to a semicolon • avoid the repetition of the word “city”  • change people to persons

14. Practice Questions - Set 3 6. Sentence 11 has faulty • pronoun usage  • parallelism  • verb tenses  • diction  • verb agreement

15. (1)The study of ecology has taught us that diversity is important to stability in the natural world. (2)Modern agricultural practices and other human interventions in the environment reduces the number of interacting species making the ecosystem vulnerable and unstable. (3)Similarly, human society in its progress toward the clichéd “global village” is liable to make the world less stable not more stable. (4)We are eliminating languages, traditional diets, and eroding cultural practices at an alarming rate. (5)The whole world wants to speak the same language, eat the same food and wear the same clothes. (6)But will this homogeneity be good for the human species? (7) Biologists would tend to say no.(8)Certainly a world where we can all understand each other and share common interests is appealing on one level. (9)But how infinitely poorer we will all be if we travel 5000 miles from home only to find no new people, no new places, no new ways of living, just a copy of what you experience back home.

16. Practice Questions - Set 4 1. One weakness of the writing style of this essay is • Reliance on general statements  • Incorrect paragraphing  • Inappropriate vocabulary  • Poor punctuation  • Poor choice of verb tenses

17. Practice Questions - Set 4 2. The author makes his point about human society mainly by use of • personal experience  • scientific facts  • parallel construction  • an analogy  • hyperbole

18. Practice Questions - Set 4 3. Sentence 2 could be best improved by • insert a comma after “environment”  • remove the word “other”  • remove the word “interacting”  • change “interventions” to “intervention”  • change “reduces” to “reduce”

19. Practice Questions - Set 4 4. Which is the best version of the underlined part of sentence 3? Similarly, human society in its progress toward the clichéd “global village” is liable to make the world less stable not more stable. • is likely to make the world less stable not  • is likely to make the world not less stable but  • is likely to make the world less and not • are liable to make the world less stable not  • are likely to make the world less stable not

20. Practice Questions - Set 4 5.The best version of sentence four : We are eliminating languages, traditional diets, and eroding cultural practices at an alarming rate. • We are eliminating languages, traditional diets, and eroding cultural practices at an alarming rate.  B. We are eliminating languages, changing traditional diets, and cultural practices at an alarming rate.  C. We are eliminating languages, changing traditional diets, and eroding cultural practices at an alarming rate.  D. Languages, traditional diets, and cultural practices are being eroded at an alarming rate.  E. Languages, traditional diets, and cultural practices are being eliminated alarmingly fast.

21. Practice Questions - Set 4 6. The change most needed in sentence 9 is to replace • will with would • you with we • just with only • infinitely with much • experience to experienced

22. Final Tips • If it asks you to look at Sentence 5, look at 4, 5, and 6. • Watch our for Pronouns!! • This is IS -> we have CONTEXT here, so antecedents may be found in the previous sentence.

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