Writing- What was wrong with my answer?

CaptainAmerican · June 25, 2014, 4:52pm

Please help me reason why the correct answers are… correct. And if you will, please point out why my answers were wrong and what types of errors they belong to. The __ means underlined in real test.

<ol>
<li>No two of the specimens was sufficiently alike to warrant them being called members of a single species.</li>
</ol>

My answer: was sufficiently alike to warrant their being called (wrong)
Correct: were sufficiently alike to warrant calling them

<ol>
<li>Because the owl is usually nocturnal plus being virtually noiseless in flight, it is seldom seen by the casual observer. No error</li>
</ol>

My answer: No error
Correct answer: plus being

<ol>
<li>An economical and efficient recycling center is accessible to the public, responsive to community needs, and comply with current federal regulations governing waste disposal. No error</li>
</ol>

My answer: economical and efficient
Correct answer: comply with

<ol>
<li>As we rely more and more on the Internet, your need for effective security planning and design to safeguard data has increased. No error</li>
</ol>

My answer: has increased
Correct answer: your

<ol>
<li>The book is essentially a detailed and very well document record of what happened to each of the protestors. No error</li>
</ol>

My answer: is essentially
Correct answer: no error

<ol>
<li>To understand twentieth-century economic practices, we must be sufficiently familiar with Keynesian theories, whether one agrees with them or not. No error</li>
</ol>

My answer: no error
Correct answer: with them

Thanks a lot. :x

CaptainAmerican · June 25, 2014, 4:55pm

By the way, anyone knows how to write italic in CC? It is kinda messy to use *…

tau628 · June 25, 2014, 5:36pm

1) Notice that the sentence is “no two of the specimens” which is plural. That means you would need were, since the sentence talks about the specimen.

tau628 · June 25, 2014, 5:40pm

2) I think the error is here: 
“Is nocturnal” and “is noiseless” is what you want to convey. By saying “plus being” it does 2 things.

a) it’s introducing a redundancy of a non parallel “to be” verb ( as in is, are, were, etc)
b) “and” would be perfectly acceptable – plus being is too wordy

tau628 · June 25, 2014, 5:45pm

3) An economical and efficient recycling center is accessible to the public, responsive to community needs, and comply with current federal regulations governing waste disposal. No error

Ok, this is a classic parallel structure problem on the SAT.
The current sentence is that
The recycling center is accessible, is responsive, and is comply.
Separating it like this will help you realize that it is:

Accessible, responsive, and COMPLIANT.

There is no error in economical and efficient-- these are two adjectives describing the noun, center.

tau628 · June 25, 2014, 5:48pm

4) The subject in this sentence is “we”

“We are concerned about our exams” as opposed to “You are concerned about your exam” as opposed to “I am concerned about my exam.”

Do you see the difference now?

tau628 · June 25, 2014, 5:51pm

5) You said that “is essentially” is incorrect.

However, in this case, the word “essentially” functions as an adverb. Now an adverb describes another verb (mostly), but also adjectives and other adverbs.
“Is” is a conjugation of the verb “to be” so essentially modifies it as an adverb.

tau628 · June 25, 2014, 5:58pm

6) To understand twentieth-century economic practices, we must be sufficiently familiar with Keynesian theories, whether one agrees with them or not. No error

This is a classic pronoun confusion. “Them” refers is a pronoun that refers to a plural subject such as “they” , “the bananas” , “the dogs”

In this case, “them” does not have a clear antecedent—or noun replacement. The two plural nouns we have are
a) economic practices

b) Keynesian theories

It is unclear if the sentence wants us to understand the economic practices or the Keynesian theories. That is why “them” is wrong.

Hopefully this helps!

marvin100 · June 26, 2014, 2:35am

6) has a pronoun shift. The answer must be “we must”–>“one must.”

CaptainAmerican · June 26, 2014, 6:14am

@tau628‌ @marvin100‌ Guys, thanks a lot. I am super appreciated…
Just a small note: I have posted my answer with the CORRECT one , so …@marvin100‌ number 6, the correct answer is “with them”…

marvin100 · June 26, 2014, 7:47am

Then the question is bad and is not from the College Board. That kind of pronoun shift is frequently tested and is a clear no-no on the exam.

Writing- What was wrong with my answer?

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