Silverturtle's Guide to SAT and Admissions Success

[silverturtle]

<p>

1. Overfishing and water pollution “has rendered” natural pearls even more rare than they were before
   A) has rendered
   b) have rendered

</p>

<p>If we accept antonioray’s argument, then we clearly choose the plural verb “have.” Even with my tenative mentality, though, we would arrive at “have,” because each of those factors likely contributed.</p>

[belly]

<p>I’m confused. What I think is Overfishing and watter pollution both are uncountable nouns, so how can we use “have”?</p>

[silverturtle]

<p>

2. revising sentence:
   “If they do not know a shy person, many people will jump to conclusions as to why that person is acting in this manner”</p>

<p>a) As it is
e) many people misinterpret the behavior of shy people when they do not know them

</p>

<p>I would go with (E). (A) unclearly refers to “that person” and “this manner.” “shy” is a mere descriptor of a person, not a behavior in itself. And “a shy person” is general and does not warrant the reference of “that person.”</p>

[silverturtle]

<p>

I’m confused. What I think is Overfishing and watter pollution both are uncountable nouns, so how can we use “have”?

</p>

<p>A singular mass noun will be singular. Two mass nouns will be plural.</p>

[belly]

<p>really?
It doesn;t quite make sense to me. If one uncountable plus another uncountable, how can the sum be countable?
as to 2) E contains “They” and “them,” ambiguous pronouns?</p>

[silverturtle]

<p>

The only thing I found in my copies of Webster’s and The Elements of Style is that a compound subject should be treated as a unit only if the two discrete components refer to the same thing, idea, state, etc.</p>

<p>For example, “Ham and cheese is my favorite kind of sandwich,” or (pb and j is…, if you prefer that)</p>

<p>However, in “Ham and cheese make a great sandwich” two different parts combine to form one entity. </p>

<p>In The Elements of Style, E.B. White writes most compounds that take singular verbs are cliches, like the aforementioned “ham and cheese,” or “the long and short of it IS.”</p>

<p>It can hardly be argued that housing and food are traditionally considered as a unit. They sound more like 2 discrete entities coming together to me.

</p>

<p>The typical examples of compound nouns are indeed of that flavor. In my guide, I used “macaroni and cheese” as an example. I am inclined to agree with you: the alternative coordinating conjunction “or” should probably be used when the intention is to convey that there need not be a cumuluative effect.</p>

[antonioray]

<p>

Two mass nouns will be plural.

</p>

<p>Aha! Plural unconditionally. If the sentence had read “Overfishing and water pollution are essential to the existence of marine life,” (obviously not true but) the subjectS are clearly 2 discrete, isolated entities that both contribute regardless of whether one of the two could, without the other, bring sustainability levels high enough for the existence of marine life.</p>

<p>

It doesn;t quite make sense to me. If one uncountable plus another uncountable, how can the sum be countable?
as to 2) E contains “They” and “them,” ambiguous pronouns?

</p>

<p>“Knowledge and wisdom are important.” Two uncountable nouns need not form a countable noun when used in conjunction.</p>

<p>Yea I didn’t notice that; they and them leaves us unclear whether it is the shy people who don’t know the people people, or the other way around.</p>

<p>“that person” refers to “a shy person,” but I agree with silverturtle that “in this manner” is a little weird.</p>

[silverturtle]

<p>

Aha! Plural unconditionally.

</p>

<p>Yes, I figured that you would pick up on that.</p>

[belly]

<p>so there’s not really a rule to the mass noun but the context will decide?
In this case- 2 become one?</p>

[silverturtle]

<p>

It doesn;t quite make sense to me. If one uncountable plus another uncountable, how can the sum be countable?

</p>

<p>The sum isn’t countable; that is not a concept that applies to phrasal subjects of that sort. A mass noun is singular; that singularity is all that is relevant. Two singular nouns connected conjunctively by “and” almost always yield a plural verb.</p>

[belly]

<p>I guess American English is different from the British then. Because when I was younger that was how my teachers taught me. Likewise, my uncle who graduated from U of Alabama with an MA got that question wrong.
So, then, would: A house and money ARE what I need?
So how about the 2?</p>

[silverturtle]

<p>

for the 2nd one, it’s correct as it stands because e. unnecessarily repeats “shy people” (which is also inconsistent with “a shy person” in the correct portion), and is missing either “will” or “would” to complete the conditional statement created by “if”

</p>

<p>The “if”-clause is not part of choice (E). </p>

<p>

as to 2) E contains “They” and “them,” ambiguous pronouns?

</p>

<p>I don’t find them ambiguous. Logically, we can infer the intended message. Moreover, the syntactic parallelism makes it even clearer: “shy people” (explicitly and then referentially) is the object, and “many people” (again, explicitly and then referentially) is the subject.</p>

[antonioray]

<p>

The “if”-clause is not part of choice (E).

right, the if clause is part of the non-underlined, correct portion of the sentence.
e would have to contain a “will” or “would” to follow the if clause.</p>

[silverturtle]

<p>

right, the if clause is part of the non-underlined, correct portion of the sentence.

</p>

<p>How do you know?</p>

[antonioray]

<p>oh he didn’t underline anything
my mistake; for all I know, the entire thing could be underlined.
I just assumed that choice e would replace the clause after the comma because they both start with “many people”; if that were the case, I think A would be correct as it stands simply because E does not match up with the clause before the comma (if it is indeed non-underlined).</p>

<p>if not, E is the way to go.</p>

[belly]

<p>the entire thing was underlined</p>

[silverturtle]

<p>The new Common Application is up now.</p>

<p>

if not, E is the way to go.

</p>

<p>Sounds good.</p>

[WongTongTong]

<p>^^^^^^^ Yay! Common app time.</p>

[belly]

<p>hey silverturtle,
these are from PSAT 2005:</p>

<p>Find error: The weather in Arizona and New Mexico is like some parts of California, but despite this similarity there are important climatic differences within these regions</p>

<p>Infants have demonstrated that they are capable of attaching to fathers “in very much the same way as mothers”
A) stay the same
e) in very much the same way as they attach to mothers</p>

[belly]

<p>Revising passage:
French Togoland became present day Togo when it gained its independence in 1960. “Even after this”, the official language continues to be French
a) therefore
b) in spite of this independence</p>