@RHSclassof16 oh yeah that may have been the difference. oh well doesn’t matter that much lol still might shoot CB a call or email when I have some free time. Well good luck if you or anyone else here is taking the Nov one. Time to fail physics oh yeah lol
I have a quick writing question I need help with guys…it would be awesome if you could help out.
- Legendary 19th century endurance rider Frank T. hopkins, who rode an American mustang to victory in a 3,000-mile race across the Arabian Desert, and the hero of the Disney movie Hidalgo. a. and b. and who has become c. also has become d. is e. having been
I immediately crossed out A,B, and E, but I was stuck between C and D. I know the answer is D, but I can’t seem to find anything grammatically wrong with C, other then the fact that “also” doesn’t logically make sense when you cross out the non-essential relative clause and read the whole sentence. The official SAT solution says "Choice © results in a coordination error. There is no main verb preceding the conjunction “also,” only the relative clause that begins with “who.” Could someone please translate that into normal, understandable English (lol). I would greatly appreciate it…ty!
If you ignore the non-essential clause then the answer becomes obvious.“The legendary 19th century endurance rider Frank T. Hopkins also has become the hero of the Disney movie Hidalgo” That doesn’t sound right but “The legendary 19th century endurance rider Frank T. Hopkins is the hero of the Disney movie Hidalgo” sounds perfect.
You can ignore “the legendary 19th century endurance rider” and just start at Frank if it makes it clearer.
@JuicyMango For me, if I am down to two answers, I pick the more concise choice. For example, if I was in your position choosing between © and (D), I would go with (D) because it is shorter and works. Frank T. Hopkins is the hero of the Disney movie Hidalgo, and still is, so choice (D) is correct.
As for why choice © is wrong, the word “also” just does not work. It assumes as if Hopkins was not alone in becoming the hero of the Disney movie Hidalgo. If he has “also become” the hero, who else was the hero before him?
To put it in more simpler terms, consider the sentence “Jonathan is a person who won the lottery.” This statement states that Jonathan was the person who won the lottery. Change it to “Jonathan also has become a person who won the lottery,” however, and the sentence becomes a lot more confusing. If he also won the lottery, who else won it? There is no context; that’s why the sentence is incorrect. This sentence would be a lot better: “After Nathan won the million-dollar jackpot just a week ago, Jonathan has also become a person who won the lottery.”
Hopefully this helps! 
Has anyone who ordered the QAS service received it yet? I’m still waiting.
@IneffableMind and @azwu331: Thank you guys, it makes a lot more sense to me now!
@concreteolives: I didn’t receive it yet…hopefully it comes soon because I need it to study for the December test :/.
Also, does anyone have any tips about idioms on the SAT? I took several practice tests and I keep getting -1 (assuming a 10 essay) which is risky because its not always an 800…and ALL of the errors were idiom-based questions. So do you think it would be worth my time to memorize idioms? I really want an 800 in writing, and this seems to be the only concept holding me back because I know every other grammar rule (I’ve read Meltzer’s grammar book three times over). Btw the recent idiom I missed was thinking “arrived to” was idiomatic, when “arrived in” is actually the correct form…
@juicymango how did you study for writing?
@JuicyMango I never really focused much on idioms. The SAT doesn’t really test idioms often, but if you do want to do better with idioms, memorizing common ones is probably the only way to go in my opinion. When in doubt, however, just assume that the assumed “idiom” isn’t the problem (unless it’s glaringly incorrect). That’s how I did it and I got an 800 on writing.
@truculent Do you have a copy of Erica Meltzer’s Grammar Book? It’s really helpful if you’re aiming for an 800.
i tried the cr book by meltzer and not only did i fail to finish on time for the cr sections, but my score went down 100 points.
@JuicyMango
Did you recieve your QAS service yet?? I thought it should be here by now.
@concreteolives: Unfortunately, I still haven’t received the QAS service…I really do hope it arrives soon because the December SAT is approaching and I need time to thoroughly review the October test.
@truculent: Hey, sorry for the super late reply, I’ve been really busy. I would first start off with the “Official SAT Study Guide Second Edition” otherwise known as the Blue Book. Go through all ten practice tests, and check up any unfamiliar problems. I also strongly recommend you buy Erica Meltzer’s “The Ultimate SAT Grammar Book”…it’s an invaluable resource that has helped me get 800’s on practice writing tests (I haven’t had a chance to take an actual exam after having read this book). And for the essay, just pre-plan examples and practice writing quickly under time-pressure. If you can fill up two pages on test day, you can be sure you’ll be receiving one of the higher-end scores (I got a 10 that way because I know it isn’t due to my writing quality since I’m a poor writer lol). Good Luck!
Holy when is that QAS going to arrive??
The Collegeboard website says currently unavailable for me. Could that mean that it’s being updated with my QAS? Or is the QAS a physical copy sent to mailboxes?
The SAT Website is currently down :/.
@ambitionsquared: I think the QAS is a physical copy sent to your mailbox, but I’m not 100% sure. This is my first time trying out the service.
@ambitionsquared The QAS is a physical copy that will be sent to your mailbox. They are mailed two to three weeks after scores are released.
Has anybody gotten theirs? It seems like the waiting time is abnormally long. Also, is there a separate service if somebody wants their test to be hand-checked? I thought that service was included with the QAS, but I’m not certain.
still havent gotten mine yet, whats wrong with CB!
@facsimilecoterie: CB should give all of us 2400’s to make up for this :).
Can anyone provide me a list of all of the redundancies you have encountered on OFFICIAL SAT tests? For example, “Sufficiently enough” from the October one…I know there are a lot from the Blue Book but I forgot them.
I also know “Most Unique”, “More preferable”, “Reiterate again”, “Annually every year”, “Equally as…as”, “Simultaneously at the same time”, “Seldom rarely”, “reason why/because/since”…but that’s it.
Would something like “Absolutely correct” be considered a redundancy? Since something can’t be “more correct”?
@JuicyMango Did you get that QAS yet?