SAT Writing Questions Thread

<p>Feel free to discuss any challenging writing questions here!</p>

<p>To start off…</p>

<p>1) Brought to the United States at the age of thirteen to receive a Western education, <his first=“” book=“” discusses=“” lee=“” yan=“” phou’s=“” childhood=“” in=“” china=“”>.</his></p>

<p>(A) his first book discusses Lee Yan Phou’s childhood in China
(B) Lee Yan Phou’s childhood in China is the subject of his first book
(C) the subject of his first book is Lee Yan Phou’s childhood in China
(D) Lee Yan Phou discusses his childhood in China in his first book
(E) Lee Yan Phou, whose childhood was in China, discusses this in his first book</p>

<p>2) <the eerie=“” songs=“” of=“” humpback=“” whales,=“” often=“” lower=“” in=“” pitch=“” and=“” longer=“” than=“” birds,=“”> are intriguing to scientists partly because whales have no functional vocal cords.</the></p>

<p>(A) The eerie songs of humpback whales, often lower in pitch and longer than birds,
(B) The eerie songs of humpback whales, which are often lower in pitch and last longer than birds,
(C) Humpback whales’ eerie songs, often pitched lower and longer than that of birds
(D) The eerie songs of humpback whales, often lower in pitch and lasting longer than those of birds,
(E) Often being lower in pitch and lasting longer than birds, the eerie songs of humpback whales</p>

<p>Also, can someone please let me know where on collegeboard.com the answers to the practice tests are? That would be VERY helpful.</p>

<p>The first one is D… the error is in that the one who was “brought” to the united states was Lee Yan Phou, not “first book”, “childhood”, or the “subject”. E is incorrect because “this” is ambiguous.
the other one is also D… 'eerie songs" are referred to as “those or these” not “that” in case you chose C, other choices are just illogical comparisons.</p>

<p>^ So if the sentence has an introductory phrase, the noun right after the comma should ALWAYS be what the introductory phrase was referring to?</p>