My SAT prep/test taking advice and tip

ipam45
Thu, 16 Oct 2008 19:17:38 +0000

damn, sorry for the last one being so long, didn’t realize.

writing is one of my favorite sections just becasue there are a lot of tricks to it.

Major points of testing:
Singular and plural. Noun (N)1 + N2+ verb these kinds of forms.
parallel structure
Adjective, adverd…their differences and usage
logic subject-S+V+O+Ving/Ved or S + V+ O, Ving/Ved S=subject V=verb O= object
Pronoun, Pronoun, pronoun

types of questions on the writing.
improving sentences
find the error, the underlined kind,
imporving paragraph

that’s about it i believe.

Improving sentences-------i will just introduce some commonly tested problem that people make mistake on…this list is not exhaustive. make only about 2 mistakes here on the whole test

don’t just go with what sounds the best. look for grammar mistakes.

if any of the choices contains the word Having or Being, it is WRONG…99% of the time.
UNLESS having of being appears at the begining of the sentence. Blue Book P 537 #8 and the unless exampl: P536 #1

if the part after the comma is underline, look at the first word, make sure it matches the first word of after the comma. that was not clear in the way i worded it.
ex: having (its the first word so it’s okay) polited blah…, (person) was experinced blah blah.
the fist part, if performed by a person, it has to be a name after the comma or the subject. p 557 #12 persuading, it has to be the book or essay…not the effects.

pronoun, one and you…easy

not tested very often but made sure there is a conjuction that joins two clauses. (as you can see i’m very bad at grammar and these are just hard facts i remember)

process of elimanation.

look at all the options. majority rules…if there are a lot of choice that is similar, the form is most likely correct. look for the one that doesn’t really change the words just the order. so pick one that is alike with the original. if a b c are eradically different, choices will be D or E and pick the one that is most alike, if both are alike…pick the shortest choice. so majority, word choice, and length. but sometimes the answer is hidden in the minority. if one major mistake is made in 3 or more choices…most likely A C and E will make these mistakes, your choice will obviously be D or B…pick the one most alike or by shorter length.

let’s move on to the underline…fix the mistake. -----these are easy, you should only miss a most one of these on the whole test…only one section

if a verb is underline…look for the noun. and make sure it matches up singular or plural. it is almost never the closest noun that it’s refering to. ex: 539 #20 the verb is refering to a noun almost 3 lines above it. actually you can even say that if the underlined verb does not match up with the closest noun, then it’s rightly placed, if it does match up, it;s probably wrong.

two people…jane and tom want to a scientist when they grow up…commonly tested…they want to be sciencetists. make sure you check the plurual even when it;s refering to two seperate objecst.

pronoun…make sure it matches up…this one can’t be helpped, just have to be aware. and use the right pronoun…we or us…this is when your ears might help you.

adverbs…again becareful

alike appears alot and is often underlined…leave it alone, it;s always right.

i know you learned a lot of choices but don’t get too trigger happy, this is when No error fools you.

improving paragraph------part of the long writing section…that section should be done sentence first, then paragraph and then the underline. the test is designed so that 5 mintues is called just when you start the paragraph and you get stressed out and make a lot of mistakes…so avoid it and do it earlier.

paragraphs is tricky, not much you can do…one thing is important, most of them you don;t need to read the passage. just go right to the questions. if it give you a line number, it’s porbably asking you to correct to fit the context and not just for mistakes. if you have written any essay or read and good writing, you should be fine here. not much to it.

i know i have been really quick and not very comprehensive, so if you have question PM me. and is not a system and won’t improve your scores automatcally. use this with other advice…like xiggi’s. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE…then you’ll have a feel of how it works.

have fun and i hope it helps.