SAT Writing Test - 8

Identifying Sentence Errors Read each sentence carefully. If you find an error, choose the letter of underlined part where the error occurs. Some sentences contain no error, in which case choose answer E.

1. If we visit (A) the zoo, my sister wants to see the bears (B) and me and my brother (C) plan to feed (D) the sea lions.
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) No Error

2. The fans, wildly cheering (A) the championship winning (B), ran out (C) onto the field (D).
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) No Error

3. Tom wanted (A) to go (B) to the Halloween party, and (C) he had to work (D) that night.
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) No Error

4. There exists (A) many beasts in the forest (B) that I'd rather (C) not meet (D).
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) No Error

5. The roadhouse was ransacked (A) in the middle (B) of the moonless night (C) by unknown (D) vandals.
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) No Error

Improving Sentences Part of the given sentence is underlined. Choose the answer that is the best version of the underlined part. Choice A is always unchanged. Select the wording that is the most effective expression --- correct grammar with clear and unambiguous meaning.

6. Many corporations have treatment programs for their employees in the case that they test positive for drug use.
A) in the case that they test positive for drug use.
B) who have tested positive for drug use.
C) who abuse drugs.
D) in case they test positive on drug use tests.
E) when tested positive for drug use.

7. Because the youth of today take after their parents, it is not surprising to see that they will grow up to be just as impatient and frantic.
A) to see that they will grow up to be just as impatient and frantic.
B) that they may grow up to be just like them, impatient and frantic.
C) if they grow up impatient and frantic just like them.
D) when they grow up to be just impatient and frantic.
E) to see them grow up to be just as impatient and frantic

8. The low amount of time spent on physical education shows how important many school boards view physical education.
A) The low amount of time spent on physical education shows how important many school boards view physical education.
B) The low amount of time spent on physical education shows how little many school boards value physical education.
C) The low amount of school time allotted to physical education shows how unimportant many school boards view it.
D) The little amount of physical education time shows how many school boards don't value it.
E) The low amount of time allotted to physical education shows how little many school boards value it.

9. The family establishes the basic knowledge, a foundation, for the child: basis for the values and ideals to develop. The family teaches the child religion, traditional customs, manners, and "right from wrong".
A) The family establishes the basic knowledge, a foundation, for the child: basis for the values and ideals to develop.
B) The family provides the child's basic knowledge, the foundation or basis from which values and ideals will develop.
C) The family establishes the basic knowledge, a foundation for the child; it is the basis for the values and ideals to develop.
D) The family gives the child basic knowledge, a foundation; values and ideals will develop from this.
E) The family establishes the basis for values and ideals to develop by providing the child with basic knowledge.

10. Women back in the 17th-19th centuries were raised in a manner that is very shocking to how females are raised in the present day.
A) Women back in the 17th-19th centuries were raised in a manner that is very shocking to how females are raised in the present day.
B) Females raised in the present day are shocked by the manner women back in the 17th-19th centuries were raised.
C) Women back in the 17th -19th centuries were raised in a manner that seems very shocking to those who have grown up in more modern times.
D) Women in the past were raised very shockingly compared to females in the present day.
E) 17th to 19th century females were raised in a very shocking manner for women raised in the present day.

Improving Paragraphs The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask you to consider organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

(1) One factor that helped Stephen King to choose a writer's path in life was the discovery of his long-absent father's collection of fantasy-horror paperbacks. (2) Also King was surprised that his father wrote horror stories and submitted them, but without success.

(3) Stephen King graduated from Lisbon Falls High School in Maine where he was a rhythm guitarist in a rock band in 1966, after that he attended University of Maine at Orono on a scholarship. (4) While he was a student at the University, he worked as a dishwasher and gas station attendant; he also wrote for the school's newspaper and had a job in student government. (5) During his little free time, King wrote horror stories and he published his first one, which appeared in Startbury Mystery Stories, in 1970. (6) Stephen King graduated from the University of Maine with a B. A. in English. (7) He wanted to work as a teacher, but his efforts to find such job were fruitless, so he had to take a job at a laundry for $60 a week. (8) Anyways this work had a positive side--- King had enough free time for writing his horror stories.

11. In context, what is the best revision of sentence 2, reproduced below?
Also King was surprised that his father wrote horror stories and submitted them, but without success.
A) King was also surprised that his father had written horror stories and submitted them, but without success.
B) King was also surprised to discover that his father had written and submitted horror stories but without success.
C) King's father wrote and submitted horror stories without success, which surprised King.
D) Without success, King was also surprised, his father has written and submitted horror stories.
E) His father, King was surprised to learn, wrote and submitted horror stories without success.

12. Which is the best revision of the underlined part of sentence (3), reproduced below?
Stephen King graduated from Lisbon Falls High School in Maine where he was a rhythm guitarist in a rock band in 1966, after that he attended University of Maine at Orono on a scholarship.
A) Stephen King graduated from Lisbon Falls High School in Maine where he was a rhythm guitarist in a rock band in 1966; after that he attended University of Maine at Orono on a scholarship.
B) Stephen King graduated from Lisbon Falls High School in Maine in 1966 where he was a rhythm guitarist in a rock band, after that on a scholarship he attended University of Maine at Orono.
C) In 1966 Stephen King graduated from Lisbon Falls High School in Maine where he was a rhythm guitarist in a rock band, after that he attended University of Maine at Orono on a scholarship.
D) In 1966 Stephen King graduated from Lisbon Falls High School in Maine, where he had been a rhythm guitarist in a rock band; after that, he attended University of Maine at Orono on a scholarship.
E) Stephen King, a rhythm guitarist in a rock band in 1966, graduated from Lisbon Falls High School in Maine; after that he attended University of Maine at Orono on a scholarship.

13. What is the best revision of sentence (8), reproduced below?
Anyways this work had a positive side--- King had enough free time for writing his horror stories.
A) Anyways this work had a positive side--- King was left with free time for writing his horror stories.
B) Anyway, this work had a positive side; King had enough free time for writing his horror stories.
C) This work had a positive side, however--- King still had enough free time to write his horror stories.
D) This work had a positive side, however; King still had enough free time to write his horror stories.
E) This work had a positive side, anyways--- enough free time was left for King to write his horror stories.

14. Which sentence is the best one to insert after sentence 2?
A) Maybe he would have better luck than his father.
B) King hadn't known his father was a writer because his mother never told him.
C) It seemed like an omen; he could follow the same path as his father and find the success that his father had never found.
D) Many people write in secret---not even their families know about it until they find the manuscripts years later.
E) It was eerie that he shared an interest in horror fiction with his father and had never known about it

15. What is the best to add to the beginning of sentence 6?
A) In the same year,
B) In 1970,
C) At the same time,
D) After that happened,
E) In spite of that,

SAT Writing Test - 8

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