SAT Improving Sentences: Test 2

The correct answer is (D). Pronouns with missing antecedents should always be eliminated or replaced. The antecedent of the pronoun “they” is unclear; the only plural noun that precedes it is “hours,” which would not be a logical antecedent here. Both (C) and (D) replace the ambiguous pronoun with the noun “trainees,” but (C) is unnecessarily wordy. None of the other answer choices address the ambiguity error and (B) and (E) contain transition words which do not correctly relate the idea of the sentence.

The correct answer is (D). This sentence tells us that “a party” got the good news about the test results. Remember, an introductory modifying phrase or clause will generally modify the first noun or pronoun that follows it. (C) introduces the passive voice needlessly and (E) creates a sentence fragment.

The correct answer is (B). The pronoun “whom” can only refer to people; use “that” or “which” to refer to other things. We cannot use “whom” to refer to a breed of cats, and the meaning of the second clause is left incomplete in the original sentence. (B) corrects both errors.

The correct answer is (E). The –ing verb form can’t function as a predicate verb. As written, this is a sentence fragment. (E) adds the necessary predicate verb to correct the error.

The correct answer is (E). Most comparisons require the items compared to be parallel. The idiom “as…as” tells us this is a comparison. “Skillful a dancer” and “he was at choreography” are not in parallel form – only (E) corrects the issue without introducing a new one.

The correct answer is (C). Make sure all pronouns in a sentence refer to clear, unambiguous antecedents. Here the pronoun “they” makes it unclear who is doing the “disregarding,” and the sentence is awkwardly structured. (C) corrects both errors.

The correct answer is (D). If you cannot spot an error in grammar or usage, look for errors in style. While grammatically correct, the original sentence is unnecessarily wordy. (D) is more concise without introducing new errors or losing any of the sentence’s meaning.

The correct answer is (D). Passive constructions will nearly always be wordier than active ones; (D) makes the sentence active without introducing new errors.

The correct answer is (A). Remember that on the SAT Writing section, between 5-8 questions will have no error. The other choices violate the rules of parallel structure.

The correct answer is (C). Make sure sentences are constructed so that modifiers refer to logical things – here the introductory phrase incorrectly modifies “cyclists” instead of their “special bikes.” (C) places the correct noun after the modifying phrase. (D) is overly wordy and “as engineered” is idiomatically incorrect, while (E) creates a sentence fragment.