Some Confusing CR & Writing Questions

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

Writing:

[ A small island forming part of ] the Scottish Hebrides, Luing has only about 200 inhabitants.
(A) A small island forming part of
(E) Forming part of, also it is a small island in
ANS: A

The appeal of spices in medieval Europe arose from a combination of [ them having mysterious and distant origins, high prices ] and value as status symbols, and their mystical connotations.
(B) their mysterious and distant origins, their high prices.
© its mysterious and distant origins, a high price
(E) mysterious and distant origins, as well as its high
ANS: B
**Why is the answer B? How come “their” after the comma is acceptable? Isn’t that a comma splice error?

A military coup, [(A) the country’s first], finally removed [(B) out of] power the political party that [© had ruled] the country [(D) with increasing] heavy -handedness for decades. [No error]
ANS: B
** Since the answer is B, what is the idiomatic word?

Adopted in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol [is what was the international agreement] to reduce the greenhouse has emissions of industrialized nations over a five-year period.
(B) was when it was internationally agreed
© was where the international agreement was
(E) is the international agreement
ANS: E
** Wordiness?

CR:

(From section 2)
[35] Well yes, but Carroll Byrd feels that there is a special quality to the light here in Virginia that she just has to capture on canvas. So now Norman Estep is building frames, huge frames, for canvases. And now he’s going all around to junkyards for pieces of iron, and now he’s buying welding tools at Southern States Supply. For her sculptures- turns out she’s a sculptor, too. [40] Newly elevated to a position of importance by his privileged relationship with Carroll Byrd, Norman Estep is grilled mercilessly by {all the women in town}, and clams up. Now he won’t tell anybody anything. Neither what she’s painting, nor what she wears, not what in the world she does out there all day long by herself. Norman Estep buys groceries for her in the Piggly Wiggly, consulting a list penned in a stark angular hand. He won’t even tell anybody what she eats! He is completely loyal Carroll Byrd.

The passage suggests that “all the women in town” are particularly irritated by Norman Estep’s
(A) lately assume air of self- importance
(B) reticence regarding Carroll Byrd’s activities
© unprecedented display of industriousness
(D) servile surrender of personal autonomy
(E) refusal to introduce them to Carroll Byrd
Ans: (B)
** I choose (E)

(Section 5)
[26] Several different kinds of migration are going on in the Arctic at the same time, not all of them keyed to Earth’s annual cycle. Animals are still adjusting to the retreat of the Pleistocene glaciers, which began about 20,000 years ago. [30] Some temperate- zone species are moving gradually but steadily northward, altering their behavior or, like [the collared lemming and the arctic fox], growing heavier coats of fur as required.

Which does the author imply about " the collared lemming and the arctic fox" (lines 31-32)?
(A) They became extinct in the Pleistocene epoch.
(B) They migrate annually to temperate- zone areas.
© They have remained fundamentally unchanged for thousands of years.
(D) Their movement northward is not associated with seasonal cycles.
(E) Their coats thicken independently of local circumstances.
ANS: D
**Choice E literally restated the lines, how come it’s not correct?

2

I’m not the best at grammar, but:

1: E) is excessively wordy and awkward to me.
2: B) is correct - the commas are separating items in a list.

3

A is fine–it’s just an appositive, like “A native of Ukraine, Gyorgy loves eating tacos.”

No, it’s a simple parallelism question. There only one independent clause in the sentence, so there’s no comma splice. Note that “their” in this sentence is fulfilling the requirement that nouns/pronouns that precede gerunds must be genitive (possessive). (C) and (E) both violate pronoun agreement (the plural noun “spices” can’t be later replaced by the singular pronoun “its”).

“Removed from power.”

Can’t be (B) because The Kyoto Protocol isn’t a time so it can’t be replaced by the pronoun “when” or (C) because The Kyoto Protocol isn’t a place so it can’t be replaced by the pronoun “where.” The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement, so only (E) is permissible.

@SpaceX

4

quote
[35] Well yes, but Carroll Byrd feels that there is a special quality to the light here in Virginia that she just has to capture on canvas. So now Norman Estep is building frames, huge frames, for canvases. And now he’s going all around to junkyards for pieces of iron, and now he’s buying welding tools at Southern States Supply. For her sculptures- turns out she’s a sculptor, too. [40] Newly elevated to a position of importance by his privileged relationship with Carroll Byrd, Norman Estep is grilled mercilessly by {all the women in town}, and clams up. Now he won’t tell anybody anything. Neither what she’s painting, nor what she wears, not what in the world she does out there all day long by herself. Norman Estep buys groceries for her in the Piggly Wiggly, consulting a list penned in a stark angular hand. He won’t even tell anybody what she eats! He is completely loyal Carroll Byrd.

The passage suggests that “all the women in town” are particularly irritated by Norman Estep’s
(A) lately assume air of self- importance
(B) reticence regarding Carroll Byrd’s activities
© unprecedented display of industriousness
(D) servile surrender of personal autonomy
(E) refusal to introduce them to Carroll Byrd
Ans: (B)
** I choose (E)

[/quote]

(E) is pure inference, a classic no-no on the CR test. The passage gives several examples of what Norman “won’t tell anybody” but doesn’t at all mention that the women in town have asked him to introduce them to Carroll. (B) is the answer because “reticence” means “not talking” and all the examples after the phrase “clams up” are about Carroll Byrd’s activities.

quote
[26] Several different kinds of migration are going on in the Arctic at the same time, not all of them keyed to Earth’s annual cycle. Animals are still adjusting to the retreat of the Pleistocene glaciers, which began about 20,000 years ago. [30] Some temperate- zone species are moving gradually but steadily northward, altering their behavior or, like [the collared lemming and the arctic fox], growing heavier coats of fur as required.

Which does the author imply about " the collared lemming and the arctic fox" (lines 31-32)?
(A) They became extinct in the Pleistocene epoch.
(B) They migrate annually to temperate- zone areas.
© They have remained fundamentally unchanged for thousands of years.
(D) Their movement northward is not associated with seasonal cycles.
(E) Their coats thicken independently of local circumstances.
ANS: D
**Choice E literally restated the lines, how come it’s not correct?

[/quote]

(E) does not “literally [restate]” the lines. The passage says NOTHING about their northward migration or heavier coats being somehow “independent of local circumstances.” On the other hand, the passage states quite explicitly that their heavier coats are the result of “moving…northward,” and the entire example starting in line [30] is supporting the initial claim that “not all” migrations are “keyed to Earth’s annual cycle.” So (D) is the only verifiable answer.

@SpaceX