by Erica L. Meltzer | Feb 28, 2011 | ACT English/SAT Writing
One of the most common grammatical errors on the ACT English Test and, to a slightly lesser extent, the SAT Writing Test is the use of a comma before or after a preposition (a “time” or “location” word).
Common prepositions:
Of, To, For, From, In, On, By, Between, About, With, Around, Across, Through, Over, Under
This construction is virtually always incorrect, and any answer that contains it should automatically be eliminated. Note that even if the original version in the passage doesn’t contain it, one or more of the other answers might include it.
Incorrect: The gentle rustling of leaves in the breeze, the crunch of twigs underfoot, and the eclectic mix of birdsong are the sounds one typically expects to hear while walking, through the forest.
Incorrect: The gentle rustling of leaves in the breeze, the crunch of twigs underfoot, and the eclectic mix of birdsong are the sounds one typically expects to hear while walking through, the forest.
Correct: The gentle rustling of leaves in the breeze, the crunch of twigs underfoot, and the eclectic mix of birdsong are the sounds one typically expects to hear while walking through the forest.
Many wrong answers on ACT English involve this error; you can very often get down to two answers and occasionally down to one just by crossing options that contain it.
by Erica L. Meltzer | Feb 27, 2011 | SAT Grammar (Old Test)
Collective nouns are one of the SATs favorite ways to trick you — even though they refer to groups made up of multiple people, they are always singular.
Common examples of collective nouns: Jury, Team, City, Country, Agency, Company, Committee, School, University
Whenever one of these words appears in a sentence, you need to check both the verbs and the pronouns that it corresponds to. If either of these is plural, you’ve found your error.
Subject-Verb Disagreement
Correct: The jury has finally returned a verdict after many days of deliberation.
Incorrect: The jury have finally returned a verdict after many days of deliberation.
Pronoun Disagreement
Correct: The jury finally returned its verdict after many days of deliberation.
Incorrect: The jury finally returned their verdict after many days of deliberation.
If, on the other hand, a group noun appears in a sentence in which all verbs and pronouns are correct, the answer is likely to be “No Error.”
by Erica L. Meltzer | Feb 23, 2011 | ACT Reading
The single biggest problem that I have observed among ACT-takers is that they never have enough time to finish the entire Reading section. 40 questions in 35 minutes is a lot, and if you’re a slow reader, then it can be a disaster.
One possible way of handling that problem: skip one of the passages.
If you know you generally hate Prose Fiction, plan to skip that passage; if Science is usually awful, skip Science, etc. If you don’t have a preference, skim through the four when you first get the test and see which one looks least interesting.
Now I realize what you’re thinking: how can I possibly get a decent score if I omit a quarter of the section?
Here’s how: first, you’re not going to omit it completely. You’re going to pick a letter pair (A/F, B/G, etc.) and fill it in for every single answer for that passage. Statistically, you are almost guaranteed to get at least two questions right, usually three, and sometimes even four (although I wouldn’t bet on the last one).
You now have approximately 11 minutes and 30 seconds to spend on the remaining three passages. If you can use that extra time to get, say, 9/10 questions correct on each one, that already gives you 27 points. Add three more points from the omitted section, and that gives you a raw score of 30, which is usually equivalent to about a scaled score of 27 — not bad if you’ve been stuck at 23 or 24.
Now, let’s say you have a fantastic test and get 10/10 right on the other three passages. That’s a raw score of 30. Plus three points from the omitted test = raw score of 33 = scaled score of 30.
That’s right, a 30.
I will admit that this strategy can be risky. If it backfires, you can end up with a much lower score than what you started with, and sometimes that does happen initially. It also only works if your comprehension is generally very strong. But if that is truly the case, it’s important to stick with it because eventually it will pay off. If you’re a slow enough reader that there’s just no way you’ll ever get through all four passages, it might be the best chance you have to seriously increase your score.
by Erica L. Meltzer | Feb 22, 2011 | Blog, SAT Critical Reading (Old Test)
The kind of reading the SAT asks you to do is probably unlike any other kind of reading you’ve ever been asked to do. It’s almost certainly different from the kind of interpretive reading you’re asked to do in English class.
For starters, the SAT is a test about arguments, not a test about literature, and your own personal interpretation of the texts you are asked to read matters not one little bit. In fact, the only thing that matters is the author’s intention: what point she/he is attempting to make in a given piece of writing and, just as importantly, how she/he conveys that point by using specific words, argument structures, and rhetorical strategies (such as metaphor, analogy, anecdote, repetition, etc.)
The skill that the SAT requires is therefore something I like to call “rhetorical reading.” Rhetoric is the art of persuasion, and reading rhetorically simply means that you are reading primarily to determine the point of the passage and the function that various words, phrases, and pieces of information play within it (Do they support the point, or do they contradict it? Do they emphasize an idea or question it? Strengthen it or cast doubt on it?) Everything else is more or less irrelevant.
And contrary to what the College Board would have you think, reading this way is an acquirable skill, not an innate ability. It just takes some getting used to.
