Week of November 4-7
- 1. SAT QUESTION & WORD OF THE DAY – 11/04/13 Part or all of the following sentence is underlined; beneath the sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Select the option that produces the best sentence. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice A. Unlike her sister Heather, who would always put spiders safely outside if she found them in the house, Joanne’s fear kept her from going anywhere near the creatures. (A) Joanne’s fear kept her from going anywhere near the creatures (B) Joanne’s fear is what kept her from going anywhere near the creatures (C) fear is why Joanne had not gone anywhere near them (D) Joanne was too afraid to go anywhere near the creatures (E) they scared Joanne too much to go anywhere near them
- 2. SAT QUESTION & WORD OF THE DAY – 11/05/13 Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole. Although Paul Bowles wrote many musical pieces during his prolific career, his work as a composer was ultimately ------- his writing, for which he received the most acclaim. (A) demolished by (B) paramount to (C) overshadowed by (D) adjacent to (E) precluded by
- 3. SAT QUESTION & WORD OF THE DAY – 11/06/13 Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole. Scientists are studying the birth and growth of thunderstorms to discover what causes the difference between showers that enable crops to ------- and ------- storms that cause floods and erosions. (A) flourish . . violent (B) wither . . damaging (C) grow . . harmless (D) parch . . severe (E) multiply . . essential
- 4. SAT QUESTION & WORD OF THE DAY – 11/07/13 Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole. The novel's protagonist, a pearl diver, naïvely expects that the buyers will compete among themselves to pay him the best price for his pearl, but instead they ----- -- to ------- him. (A) venture . . reward (B) pretend . . praise (C) conspire . . reimburse (D) refuse . . cheat (E) collude . . swindle
Editor's Notes
- #2: Choice (D) is correct. It avoids the error of the original by logically comparing a person, “Heather,” to another person, “Joanne,” instead of to a possessive noun, “Joanne’s fear.”
- #3: Answer: C - The sentence indicates that Paul Bowles had a “prolific,” or very productive, career as a music composer but “received the most acclaim” for his writing. If Bowles received more praise for his writing than for his “many musical pieces,” it seems clear that his writing “overshadowed,” or was more prominent and considered more important than, “his work as a composer.”
- #4: Answer: A. A shower is gentle rain that waters crops, making them “flourish.” In contrast, the deluge of rain in a “violent” storm may damage crops and soil.
- #5: Choice (D) is correct. It avoids the error of the original by logically comparing a person, “Heather,” to another person, “Joanne,” instead of to a possessive noun, “Joanne’s fear.”