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Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<ol>
<li>Millions of dollars are spent each year to get rid of lleas on dogs and cats causing a variety of diseases.
(A) to get rid of fleas on dogs and cats causing a a variety of diseases
(C) to rid dogs and cats of fleas, which can cause a variety of diseases</li>
</ol>

<p>Why is A wrong and C right?</p>

<ol>
<li>[Only] by the afterglow of the sunset [could] the hikers find [their] path to the campsite at [so late] an hour</li>
</ol>

<p>I picked the error (could) because I thought it was a verb shirt from present tense (find) to past tense (could)</p>

<p>WHY IS THIS SENTENCE CORRECT AS IT IS?</p>

2

<p>In question 3 it says that the cats and dogs cause variety of diseases in A whereas in C its the fleas, makes more sense</p>

<p>and for 29, it sounds funny around the [so late] but its just correct, maybe some one else can explain how is that not wrong.</p>

3

<p>“Find” isn’t present tense; it’s an infinitive.</p>

4

<p>How can you tell when a verb is an infinitive and when it is an verb?</p>

5

<p>It is a verb, but it doesn’t have a tense.</p>

<p>Present: He says he can go.
Past: He said he could go.</p>

<p>The “go” doesn’t change, just like the “find” in the sentence above. It’s “could find” (past) as opposed to “can find” (present).</p>

6

<p>Oh</p>

<p>I get it!</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

7

<p>“could” is a HELPING VERB, like “have” or “has,” that modifies “find.”’</p>

<p>I have slept for five hours.</p>

<p>the campers could find their way back.</p>

8

<p>No, it isn’t an infinitive, “could” is just a helping verb.</p>

9

<p>Pretty sure it is an infinitive, minus the “to.”</p>

<p>And I don’t think “has” and “have” are analogous, unless you mean something like, “I had him find me a taxi,” in which case I believe the “find” is still an infinitive.</p>

<p>If it were, “I told him to find me a taxi,” you wouldn’t dispute that “to find” was an infinitive, would you?</p>

10

<p>Wait actually, yes. “Find” is used as an infinitive that doesn’t have a “to” before it.</p>

<p>[Infinitive</a> | Define Infinitive at Dictionary.com](<a href=“Infinitive]Infinitive Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com”>Infinitive Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com)</p>

<p>Still, infinitives and whatnot complicate this. Just know that “could” is a helping verb.</p>

11

<p>

</p>

<p>Here "causing a variety … " is a participial phrase. It functions as an adjective and it modifies the subject “millions”. That can’t be correct since “millions” can’t cause anything. The “noun” that "causing … " modifies is missing.</p>

<p>The second choice … "which can cause … " is a non-restrictive relative clause which applies to fleas. It’s correct.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>The use of “could” in this sentence is a simple example of the first conditional (a future event that is possible but not necessarily probable). Here “could” is a modal verb indicating likelihood/ability.</p>

12

<p>It’s not “a future event that is possible but not necessarily probable”; it’s the past of “can.”</p>

<p>“Only by the afterglow of the sunset could the hikers find their path to the campsite at so late an hour”</p>

<p>means</p>

<p>“Only by the afterglow of the sunset were the hikers able to find their path to the campsite at so late an hour.”</p>

13

<p>^^^</p>

<p>Practically speaking (from the SAT perspective) we’re both right. We both would get the right answer.</p>

<p>But in fact there is a subtle difference between your sentence:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>and the original.</p>

<p>Take a minute to research the first conditional and the modal verbs “can”, “may”, “shall” and “will”.</p>