Today’s SAT question of the day is a writing question; the format is like the “old” test, but the content is helpful for the “new” SAT, too!
Do you hear the error? Continue reading
Tag Archives: verbs
SAT Question of the Day Explained – October 27, 2014 – Writing, Identifying Sentence Errors
Today’s SAT question of the day is an identifying sentence error question about one of the most commonly tested subjects in the SAT writing multiple choice sections: verbs!
As you read the sentence, you get some clues about the verbs that relate to Galileo: the telescopes “were”, and we modeled on instruments “built by”…these verbs are in the past and their actions are completed.
SAT Question of the Day Explained – October 15, 2014 – Writing, Identifying Sentence Errors
Today’s SAT Question of the Day is an identifying sentence errors question with a verb error. Let’s focus in:
Beluga whales […] are the only animals known mimicking the sounds of human speech spontaneously.
Do you hear the error in this shortened version of the sentence? Continue reading
ACT Question of the Day – October 4, 2014 – English, Verbs
I don’t often get to explain ACT questions anymore because they recycle so frequently! Be sure to check the archives (using the links at the top or right) to find ACT tips and strategies.
Today’s question is about the underlined part of sentence 4:
[1] Then a vice president of Westinghouse,
looking for a way to make the transmission of radio
signals more profitable, decided on a two-fold
strategy. […] [4] The plan succeeded
beyond anyone’s expectations.
Is there anything wrong with this sentence? Let’s take a look.
SAT Question of the Day Explained – October 3, 2014 – Writing, Identifying Sentence Errors
Today’s SAT Question of the Day is a writing multiple choice question about bicycle helmets…and verbs. Take a look and you should hear the error right away….
The law requires them to _____ helmets. Did you hear it?
SAT Question of the Day Explained – April 21, 2014 – Identifying Sentence Errors
Today’s identifying sentence errors question has a verb problem. Verb issues (tense, number) are one of the most commonly tested topics in the SAT writing section.
The question:
Aside from Shakespeare, perhaps no writer in English have engaged the public’s imagination more thoroughly than Charles Dickens.
What is the subject of this sentence? Continue reading
SAT Question of the Day Explained – March 25, 2014 – Improving Sentences
Today’s SAT question of the day is an improving sentences question about chocolate chip cookies. The original sentence that we need to improve:
All of the ingredients for Pablo’s secret chocolate chip cookie recipe, which included the special dark chocolate, was available in his mother’s pantry.
SAT Question of the Day Explained – February 20, 2014 – Improving Sentences
Jean Piaget c. 1968
Today’s SAT question of the day is an improving sentences question about Jean Piaget. You may appreciate him for this quote:
The principal goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done.
Back to the sentence we have to improve…it’s missing a verb, which makes it a sentence fragment as it is given to us. Continue reading
SAT Question of the Day Explained – February 2, 2014 – Improving Sentences
Elgin Botanic Garden
Today’s SAT question of the day is an improving sentences question about one of our favorite topics: verbs!
The given sentence says, roughly: The first public botanical garden in the United States was established to provide plant materials for studying by medical students.
Let’s think for a moment: the garden was provided for…. Continue reading
Today’s ACT Question of the Day Explained – January 25, 2014 – English, Verb Tenses
Mickey Mantle (credit: flickr user brokentaco)
Today’s ACT question of the day is an English question designed to prove me right when I say that verbs are the most frequently tested subject on the ACT English section (as well as on the SAT writing section).
The passage about Mickey Mantle is written in past tense and, indeed, the very sentence we are asked to fix is in the past tense (“…when glints of the afternoon sun shone…”). We need to put “there will have to be seen for one brief, stirring moment the glimmer of jewels…” into a tense that is compatible with the past tense. Continue reading