THE SAT: WRITING

The Writing Section 2. Examples

The Writing section is a new addition to the SAT. The Writing Two things make the examples in an excellent SAT essay stand out:
section, which replaces the SAT II Writing test, measures basic
• Specific examples: Mention specific dates, people,
writing and grammar skills.
locations, and so on.
Time allowed 60 minutes • Variety of examples: Select a broad range of examples
from different areas (history, current events, personal
experience, and so on). Make sure that all examples work
Concepts covered grammar usage, word choice, writing process
to prove your argument.
Question types essay, multiple-choice
3. Organization
Score 200–800
• The organization of SAT essays should always be the same.
The SAT Writing section has two major parts: • A good SAT essay is a lot like a triple-decker burger:
• Essay question: The essay section gives you 25 minutes to
take a position on a broad topic and back it up with
examples.
• Multiple-choice questions: The multiple-choice section is
comprised of 35 minutes of questions on basic rules of
proper grammar and language usage. The multiple-choice
questions are broken down into three types:
o Identifying Sentence Errors
o Improving Sentences
o Improving Paragraphs

Scoring the Writing Section

Scores on the Writing section range from 200–800. This score
consists of two subscores:
• Essay score: Graded on a scale of 2–12 (each essay is
graded by two graders, each of whom assigns a grade of 1–
6)
• Multiple-choice score: Graded on a scale of 20–80 The Top Bun: The Introduction
• Your introduction must:
The Essay Question o Contain 3–4 sentences
Writing a strong SAT essay is a lot like preparing fast food: It has to o Introduce a thesis statement that states your
be both quick and consistent. Just as fast-food restaurants use the position on the topic
same ingredients and preparation methods at every location, you o Explain your position on the topic clearly and
should always adhere to the same essay-writing procedure on the
concisely
SAT.
o Transition the grader smoothly into your three
examples
The Four SAT Essay Ingredients The Meat: Three Example Paragraphs
SAT essay scores (1–6) are based on:
• Each of the three example paragraphs should:
• Positioning: The strength and clarity of your position on the o Contain 4–5 sentences
given topic o Begin with a topic sentence that explains your
• Examples: The relevance and development of the examples example and places it within the context of your
you use to support your argument argument. Your topic sentence serves as the
• Organization: The organization of each of your paragraphs thesis statement of each paragraph.
and of your essay overall o Develop your example in the next 3–4 sentences.
• Command of language: Sentence construction, grammar, You must show, through specific, concrete
and word choice discussion of facts, how your example supports
your thesis statement.
The Bottom Bun: The Conclusion
1. Positioning • The conclusion of your essay should:
o Contain 3-4 sentences
• Typical SAT essay topics address broad ideas or themes,
o Recap your argument while broadening it to
such as “the concept of justice,” “the definition of success,”
“the importance of learning from mistakes,” and so on. wider fields like politics, business, and art
o Push a little further. Look to the future and think
• A solid position on an SAT topic:
about your position being applied on a broader
o Is simple.
scale.
o Redefines the broad topic in slightly less broad The Universal SAT Essay Template
terms. To achieve this, rephrase the topic in your
own words and agree with it or disagree.
Paragraph Contents Length Purpose
THE SAT: WRITING
Your command of language is your fast food essay’s “special
sauce”—the sprinkling of perfect word choice, grammar, sentence
Describe your structure, and spelling that oozes through your entire essay.
1
Thesis Statement argument clearly and To impress the SAT grader with your command of language, pay
sentence
concisely. close attention to these three facets of your essay:
1.
• Variation in sentence structure
Introduction Lay out the three
3 examples you will use • Word choice
Essay Summary • Grammar and spelling
sentences to support your thesis
statement. Vary sentence length and sentence structure.
• Too many short sentences in a row will make your writing
Describe your choppy.
Topic Sentence
1 example and fit it into • Too many long sentences in a row will make your writing
sentence the context of your tedious and hard to follow.
overall thesis. Transitions are helpful in varying sentence structure. Transitions are
2. First
Example used to:
Use specific facts to • Show contrast (e.g., In contrast, However, Nevertheless,
Paragraph
show how your But, Yet, or Despite)
Example 3–4
example supports your
Development sentences
argument. Be as • Elaborate (e.g., Moreover, Furthermore, Also, or In
specific as possible. addition)
• Provide an example (e.g., For example, For instance, Such
Describe your as, or Specifically)
example and fit it into • Show results (e.g., As a result, Consequently, For this
the context of your reason, Accordingly, Therefore, or Hence)
1
Topic Sentence
sentence
overall thesis. Provide • Show sequence (e.g., Soon after, Next, or Then)
a transition from the Be certain that your word choice reflects words that you are able to
3. Second previous example use appropriately and effectively.
Example paragraph. • Don’t go for the big word every time. Instead, you should
Paragraph go for the proper word, the best word, the word that makes
Use specific facts to your essay as clear as possible
show how your
Example 3–4 • If you’re straining to put a fancy word into your essay,
example supports your
Development sentences you’re likely to misuse it—and misusing a sophisticated
argument. Be as
word is worse than not using one at all.
specific as possible.
Occasional grammar and spelling errors will not destroy your score.
Graders are instructed to look out for patterns of grammar and
Describe your
spelling errors.
example and fit it into
Here are some examples of commonly misused words:
1 the context of your
Topic Sentence Affect/effect: Affect is a verb meaning “to cause something to
sentence overall thesis. Provide
change.” Effect is a noun meaning “a result brought about by a
a transition from the
4. Third cause.”
previous paragraph.
Example • He tried to affect the outcome.
Paragraph • He had an effect on the outcome.
Use specific facts to
show how your All ready/already: All ready means “prepared.” Already means
Example 3–4 “previously.”
example supports your
Development sentences
argument. Be as • The dancer was all ready to go on stage.
specific as possible. • The dancer’s performance is over already.
And also: And also is redundant. Use either “and” or “also,” not both
1 Between/among: Between is used when something is shared by only
Recap Predict the Future
sentence two people or things. Among is used when something is shared by
more than two people or things.
Broaden your
Summarize your • This secret will remain between you and me.
argument even further
5.
argument and
by contemplating what • Among the four brothers, Aaron was the tallest.
examples and link Different from/different than: In most cases, different from is
Conclusion would happen in the
the examples to 2–3 preferred over different than.
world if people (or
broader fields like sentences Further/farther: Further refers to time or degree. Farther refers to
nations, businesses)
politics, history, physical distance.
followed the argument
art, business, and • After further thought, he chose to surrender.
you make in your
so on.
essay. • He moved the desks farther apart to avoid crowding.
Good/well: Good is an adjective; well is an adverb.
• The good man donated half of his estate to charity.
• I don’t feel well; my stomach hurts.
4. Command of Language Its/it’s: Its is the possessive form of “it.” It’s is a contraction meaning
“it is.”
• Its main use is as a spice grinder.
THE SAT: WRITING
• It’s used mainly for grinding spices.
Than/then: Than is a comparative term. Then refers to chronological committment commitment
sequence.
• Cornelius was smarter than Rocky. definately definitely
• I slept, and then I woke up.
That/which: That is used to provide information that is necessary to desparate desperate
identify a specific item. Which is used to add extra information about
an item already identified. develope develop
• The ticket that John bought was nonrefundable.
• John paid for the ticket, which cost fifty dollars. dispair despair
They’re/there/their: They’re is a conjunction of “they are.” There
usually serves as an adverb indicating place or as a helping word that dissappoint disappoint
introduces a clause or sentence. Their is a possessive adjective.
• Bill and Jane can’t come because they’re out of town. embarassed embarrassed
• There are ten sheep over there in that pasture.
• Those kids have blue eyes just like their mother. excede exceed
Who/whom: Who is a subject; whom is an object.
• Tim saw Cheryl, who was wearing a red coat. existance existence
• Tim saw Cheryl, whom he loves like a sister.
Dangling modifier: A modifying word or phrase that is not properly fasinate fascinate
matched with the word it modifies. Dangling modifiers often occur at
the beginnings of sentences. inadvertant inadvertent
• Incorrect: Traveling north, the trees get smaller.
• Correct: Traveling north, I notice that the trees get smaller. irrelavent irrelevant
Squinting modifier: A modifier that is placed ambiguously, so that it
is unclear whether it modifies the word before it or the word after it. independant independent
• Incorrect: People who travel in Europe often prefer to stay
in affordable hotels. judgement judgment
• Correct: Often, people who travel in Europe prefer to stay
in affordable hotels. mideval medieval
Pronoun confusion: Pronouns that do not have clear antecedents
make sentences confusing. millenium millennium
• Incorrect: Jacob called Jason to ask about his car.
• Correct: Jacob called Jason to ask about Jason’s car. miniscule minuscule
Split infinitives: If possible, no words should come between to and
the main verb in the infinitive form of a verb (e.g., to drive, to eat, to mischevous mischievous
live).
• Incorrect: He decided to boldly go where no man had gone necesary necessary
before.
• Correct: He decided to go boldly where no man had gone noticable noticeable
before.
Comma splicing: Joining two independent clauses with a comma occured occurred
instead of a semicolon or period creates a run-on sentence.
• Incorrect: Many people think I’m tall, they don’t realize I payed paid
wear platform shoes.
• Correct: Many people think I’m tall; they don’t realize I perseverence perseverance
wear platform shoes.
Double negatives: When applied to the same word or phrase, two preceed precede
negative modifiers confuse the meaning of the sentence.
• Incorrect: I haven’t hardly begun to think about the test. priviledge privilege
• Correct: I have hardly begun to think about the test.
Here are some examples of commonly misspelled words: publically publicly

Incorrect Correct recieve receive

alot a lot reccomend recommend

arguement argument repitition repetition

calender calendar seperate separate

committee committee succesion succession

THE SAT: WRITING
tyrrany tyranny Rod Johnson (your uncle) realized the need for
Personal
a placement agency in South Carolina after
Experience
wierd weird getting laid off.

withold withhold Google watched the failures of its competitors

Business and learned to improve its Internet business
model and technology.
yeild yield

Step 3: Create an outline (3–4 minutes)

• When thinking about your essay, it’s crucial that you
Writing Your SAT Essay organize your ideas in outline form and then stick to that
You will have 25 minutes to write your SAT essay. To use this outline.
limited time effectively, spend it as follows: • Your outline should contain all the essential raw material of
your essay.
STEP 1 Understand the topic and take a position 1 MINUTE
• Put your strongest example first, followed by the second
strongest and then the least strong.
2–3
STEP 2 Brainstorm examples
MINUTES • Once your outline is complete, writing the essay requires
only that you polish your language and ideas.
3–4
STEP 3 Create an outline Paragraph 1
MINUTES

STEP 4 Write the essay 15 MINUTES
STEP 5 Proof the essay 2 MINUTES
Step 1: Understand the topic and take a position (1 minute)
• Sample topic:
o Topic: Consider the following statement and
assignment. Then write an essay as directed.
“There’s no success like failure.”
Assignment: Write an essay in which you agree
or disagree with the statement above. Remember
to back up your position with specific examples
from personal experience, current events, history,
literature, or any other discipline. Your essay
should be specific.
• Brainstorm a list by category.
• Choose your top three examples based on:
o Which examples can you be most specific about?
o Which examples will give your essay the
broadest range?
o Which examples are not controversial?
Step 2: Brainstorm examples (2–3 minutes)
Sample list brainstormed for the topic “There’s no success like
failure”:
Current Failure of 9/11 security led to overhaul of
Events Homeland Security
Babies learn to walk only after trying and
Science
failing time and time again.
Failure can lead to success, teaching
lessons, learning from mistakes. Three
examples:
1. Constitution and Articles failure
INTRODUCTION 2. Failed dot-coms lead to better,
more successful online businesses
3. Guy who started successful
recruiting business after getting laid
off
Paragraph 2
US Constitution developed by studying the
EXAMPLE 1 failures of previous document, Articles of
(BEST) Confederation. By studying failures, US
became true revolutionary democracy.
Paragraph 3
Google studied competitors’ struggles, came
up with better technological solution and
EXAMPLE 2 better business model. Since failure is good
(NEXT BEST) teacher, intelligent companies look for failure
everywhere, even in rivals, to learn and
evolve.
Paragraph 4
Johnson founded job placement agency based
EXAMPLE 3 on difficulties finding a new job after getting
(NEXT BEST) laid off. Studied his failure, found problems
lie with system, not with him.

History Can’t think of one Paragraph 5

US Constitution was written only after the Failure often seen as embarrassing. People try
Politics
failure of the Articles of Confederation. to hide it. But if you or society take
CONCLUSION
responsibility for it, study it, history shows
Art Can’t think of one failure leads to success for everyone

James Joyce became a writer only after failing

Literature Step 4: Write the essay (15 minutes)
as a singer
THE SAT: WRITING
• As you expand your outline into an essay, keep
organization, development, and clarity foremost in your
mind.
• If you run out of time, drop one of your example
paragraphs.
• Be sure to include an introduction and a conclusion in
every SAT essay.
Step 5: Proof the essay (2 minutes)
• Proofing your essay means reading through your finished
essay to correct rough writing, bad transitions, grammatical
errors, repetitive sentence structure, and all other errors.
• Be careful to look for places in which bad handwriting
makes it look as if you’ve made an error in grammar or
spelling.
• If you don’t have two minutes after you’ve finished writing
the essay, spend whatever time you do have left proofing.
However, if you must skip a step, proofing is the step to
drop.
THESIS Learning the lessons taught by failure is a
STATEMENT sure route to success. The United States of
BEST SUPPORTING
EXAMPLE (1)
strong enough to face and study its failure,
then that failure can become a powerful
teacher. The examples of history and
FURTHER
business demonstrate that failure can be
the best catalyst of success, but only if
people have the courage to face it head-on.
Reasons this SAT essay would receive a score of 5 or 6:
• It takes a strong and clear stance on the topic in the first
sentence and sticks to it from start to finish.
• It uses three examples from an array of disciplines.
• The organization of the essay follows the Universal
SATEssay Template perfectly.
• Command of language remains solid throughout.
• Sentence structure is varied, making the entire essay more
interesting and engaging to the grader.
• There are no significant grammatical errors.
Multiple-Choice Questions:
Identifying Sentence Errors
Identifying Sentence Errors questions ask you to identify and fix
problems (grammar, word choice, diction, and so on) in individual
sentences. Nearly every error in Identifying Sentence Errors
questions will stem from one of seven major grammatical mistakes:

NEXT BEST 1. Pronouns

SUPPORTING
• Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns (words for
EXAMPLE (2)
people, places, and things). Common pronouns include she,
her, hers, he, him, his, they, their, it, its, that, and which.
NEXT BEST
SUPPORTING • Every pronoun you use must agree in number with the noun
EXAMPLE (3) for which it stands:
o Incorrect: Every girl at the party tried to look
TOPIC SENTENCE The United States, the first great their best.
FOR EXAMPLE 1 democracy of the modern world, is also o Correct: Every girl at the party tried to look her
one of the best examples of a success best.
FOUR
DEVELOPMENT 2. Subject-Verb Agreement
SENTENCES TO • If a sentence has a singular subject, it must have a singular
SUPPORT EXAMPLE verb; if it has a plural subject, it must have a plural verb.
1 This rule is fundamental to all subject-verb relationships.
o Incorrect: Of all the students in my class, nobody
TOPIC SENTENCE Unlike the United States, which has had its
—not even me—are excited about the new
FOR EXAMPLE 2 fair share of ups and downs over the years,
teacher.
the Internet search engine company Google
THREE
o Correct: Of all the students in my class, nobody
DEVELOPMENT —not even me—is excited about the new teacher.
SENTENCES TO
SUPPORT EXAMPLE 3. Tenses
2 • Illogical tense switches: Tense must always remain
consistent. It may shift over the course of a sentence, but
TOPIC SENTENCE The example of Rod Johnson’s success as only if it does so in a logical manner.
FOR EXAMPLE 3 an entrepreneur in the recruiting field also o Incorrect: Last summer, the heat will have
shows how effective learning from brought hundreds of people to the ocean.
THREE o Correct: Last summer, the heat brought hundreds
DEVELOPMENT of people to the ocean.
SENTENCES TO
SUPPORT EXAMPLE
• Conditional tense: Sentences that feature the conditional
tense often contain the words “if” or “would.” You can
3
always be sure to conjugate verbs correctly if you
memorize the simple formula “If . . . were . . . would.”
THESIS Failure is often seen as embarrassing,
STATEMENT something to be denied and hidden. But as
o Incorrect: If I was to see a movie with Mom and
REPHRASED IN the examples of the U.S. Constitution, Dad, I would risk my reputation.
BROADER WAY Google, and Rod Johnson prove, if an o Correct: If I were to see a movie with Mom and
THAT PUSHES IT individual, organization, or even a nation is Dad, I would risk my reputation.
THE SAT: WRITING
4. Parallelism
• The components of a sentence should remain parallel, or
consistent, throughout. In other words, every sentence
should start, continue, and end in the same way.
o Incorrect: Jack never liked bathing the dog,
feeding the llamas, or to ride the roller coaster.
o Correct: Jack never liked bathing the dog, feeding
the llamas, or riding the roller coaster.
5. Adverb-Adjective Confusion
• Adverbs are words used to describe verbs or other adverbs.
Adverbs often end in the letters –ly: “I ate lunch quickly.”
• Adjectives are words used to describe nouns: “I ate my
delicious lunch.”
• Many grammatical errors stem from confusion of adverbs
and adjectives:
o Because the verb ate is being modified, it needs
an adverb like quickly:
 Incorrect: I ate my dinner quick.
 Correct: I ate my dinner quickly.
o Well is an adverb; good is an adjective. In order
to describe the verb going, you need to use the
adverb well:
 Incorrect: This paper’s going pretty
good.
 Correct: This paper’s going pretty well.
o In this sentence, the adjective careful is used
improperly to describe the verb drive. Because a
verb is being described, careful should be the
adverb carefully:
 Incorrect: No matter how careful you
drive, you still may have an accident.
 Correct: No matter how carefully you
drive, you still may have an accident.
6. Gerunds
• A gerund is a verb form that ends in –ing, such as prancing,
divulging, or stuffing.
• The Identifying Sentence Errors section may test your
understanding of gerunds through questions that use the
infinitive (“to __________”) form of a verb, such as to
prance, to divulge, or to stuff.
o Incorrect: In my family, Thanksgiving dinner
usually causes two or more family members to
engage in a screaming match, thus preventing the
meal to be completed.
o Correct: In my family, Thanksgiving dinner
usually causes two or more family members to
engage in a screaming match, thus preventing the
meal from being completed.
7. Idioms
• An idiom is a specific expression or structural or
grammatical form that is peculiar to a certain language.
• Some questions require you to rely on your familiarity with
standard idioms in American English. For example, the
sentence below does not contain a grammatical error but is
incorrect because it does not follow standard usage:
o Incorrect: Emily moved to a new house in 12th
Street.
o Correct: Emily moved to a new house on 12th
Street.
Strategies
• To identify sentence errors:
o Read the sentence and try to hear the error.
o Eliminate underlined choices that you know are
correct.
o Check for errors among the remaining answer
choices
o If all else fails, go with answer E, No error.
Sample Identifying Sentence Error Questions
• Even though the sentence mentions two people (Jason and
Sandra) who don’t measure up to Carrie, both of those
people are singular nouns, and they are linked by the word
nor, not and. Therefore, the verb must be singular—
measures rather than measure. The answer is C.
• This sample has a compound subject: her and her friend.
You know her and her friend must be the subject because
they are the ones who perform the action of the sentence—
like. Whenever you have a compound subject, separate out
each individual subject and try it out with the rest of the
sentence. Doing so in this case gives you the sentences:
Her likes to stay. . .
Her friend likes to stay . . .
You should immediately be able to hear that the first of
these new sentences is wrong. Suddenly it seems clear that
the first part of the original sentence should read She and
her friend like to stay. The answer is A.
Multiple-Choice Questions:
Improving Paragraphs
Improving Paragraphs questions ask you to make changes to sample
paragraphs in order to make them clearer and more effective.
Types of Questions
1. Sentence revision questions:
o Require you to change and improve an entire
sentence, or a portion of one
o Ask you to pick a word that should be added to
clarify the meaning of a particular sentence
o Ask you to choose a multiple-choice answer that
would most effectively revise a flawed phrase
2. Sentence addition questions:
o Ask you which sentences or phrases should be
added to the passage in order to create a smoother
transition or to clarify meaning
o Require you to take into account the meaning of
the overall passage and how the paragraphs
transition into or relate to one another
3. Sentence combination questions:
o Present you with two sentences and ask you to
pick the best way to join them
THE SAT: WRITING
4. Essay analysis questions:
o Ask you to take a deeper, more critical look at the
essay
o Ask you to pick the sentence that best sums up
the essay or to identify how a particular sentence
functions within the essay as a whole
Strategies
Use the following five steps to tackle Improving Paragraphs
questions:
1. Read and outline the entire passage quickly.
2. Read the question.
3. Reread the context sentences.
4. Make your own revision.
5. Read every answer and pick the one that comes closest to
your answer.
Sample Improving Paragraphs Questions
(1) In one scene in a short story I recently read, the main character
goes back in time and happens to bring a few gold pieces back to the
present with him. (2) The gold pieces turn out to be incredibly
valuable. (3) This short story reminded me of the baseball card
collecting craze, it being an interesting facet of American pop culture.
(4) Buying and saving baseball cards means spending very little
money on something that might turn out to be worth big bucks in the
future.
(5) My dad collected baseball cards when he was a kid, and no one
back then thought they’d be worth anything. (6) Kids like my dad
used up their allowances every week just because they wanted to
collect all their favorite players—Roy Campanella, in my dad’s case.
(7) By dedicating the bulk of his weekly income to adding player
after player to his collection, my father declared his dedication to the
players.
(8) Baseball is a highly profitable sport, and so baseball card
collecting has become one. (9) Everyone has heard of one baseball
card in its original wrapping commanding an absurdly high price, and
now everyone is positive that his or her shoebox filled with old
baseball cards contains at least one card worth millions. (10) But if
my dad had that one card, he won’t know it. (11) Long before he
became aware of it, his mother had gotten rid of all his cards.
1. Which sentence best summarizes the main idea of the passage?
1. sentence 1
2. sentence 2
3. sentence 3
4. sentence 4
5. sentence 7
2. In context, which revision does sentence 3 most need?
1. Add “In point of fact” at the beginning.
2. Delete the phrase “short story.”
3. Delete the words “it being.”
4. Replace the comma with a dash.
5. Replace “reminded” with “reminds,”
3. Which of the following sentences should be added before
sentence 5, at the beginning of the second paragraph?
1. “But there were people who didn’t collect baseball cards
with money in mind.”
2. “Clearly, early capitalism is a good idea.”
3. “In the collecting world, everyone has a different story.”
4. “Let me relate to you my own father’s plan to make
money.”
5. “Some pastimes have benefits you can’t discern at first.”
4. Which of the following best revises sentence 8, which is
reproduced below? “Baseball is a highly profitable sport, and so
baseball card collecting has become one.”
1. (as it is now)
2. “Growing to be more and more like the sport that makes its
existence possible has been baseball card collecting.”
3. “They say that baseball is now a highly profitable industry,
as is this other pastime.”
4. “Like the sport itself, baseball card collecting has become a
highly profitable industry.”
5. “At last, like the highly profitable industry of baseball,
baseball card collecting is wholly changed.”
5. Of the following, which best revises the underlined part of
sentence 10, which is reproduced below? “But if my dad had that
one card, he won’t know it.”
1. “card, they would never realize it.”
2. “card; he would never realize it.”
3. “card, how could he realize it?”
4. “card, he won’t ever realize it.”
5. “card—he never realized.”
Answers and Explanations
1. The correct answer is D.
o A, B, and E all are too specific to qualify as main
ideas.
o C is a transition between an anecdote and the
main idea of the essay—it is not the main idea
itself.
o Among the answer choices, D is the sentence that
generally provides the most accurate summary of
the paragraph.
2. The correct answer is C.
o The phrase “in point of fact” would imply that
the writer is about to elaborate on a point that he
or she started to make in the last sentence.
However, sentence 3 actually is a departure from
sentence 2, not an elaboration on it. So A is
incorrect.
o If you make the changes suggested by B, you get
“This reminded me of the baseball card collecting
craze, it being an interesting facet of American
pop culture.” Removing the phrase “short story”
only makes the word “this” vague. It does not
improve the sentence.
o C removes the phrase “it being,” which is the
ungrammatical and unnecessary part of the
sentence. C also makes the sentence sound the
most clear and concise.
o D gives you “This reminded me of the baseball
card collecting craze—an interesting facet of
American pop culture.” A dash usually is used to
signal an abrupt transition or a new thought.
Here, the phrase that comes after the comma is an
elaboration on the baseball card collecting phase,
not a transition or a new thought, so a dash is
inappropriate.
o The changes recommended in E give you “This
reminds me of the baseball card collecting craze,
it being an interesting facet of American pop
culture.” This revision doesn’t really help the
sentence.
3. The correct answer is A.
o The correct answer to Sentence Addition
questions is almost always the one that smooths
out a rough transition. A provides the most
appropriate segue to paragraph 2.
o B fails to tie together the two sentences, as A
does.
THE SAT: WRITING
o C is far too vague to serve as an acceptable
addition to this passage.
o D implies that the writer’s father collected
baseball cards primarily as a means to make
money. This is untrue, as the writer makes it clear
in the second paragraph that although some
people collected cards as an investment, the
writer’s father was not one of them—he collected
cards out of a love of baseball and an adoration of
certain baseball players. Therefore, D is
misleading and incorrect.
o E relates almost entirely to sentence 5 without
referring back to sentence 4 at all, whereas the
correct answer refers to both 4 and 5 equally.
4. The correct answer is D.
o The sentence needs improvement, so you can
eliminate A.
o B is grammatically incorrect. It contains a
misplaced modifyer, “baseball collecting,” and
also suffers from awkward inconsistent use of
tenses (“growing to be” vs. “has been”).
o C starts and ends with unacceptably vague
language. “They say” is a weak, muddled phrase.
The clause after the comma, “as is this pastime,”
is even more vague and unclear. The correct
answer must be much clearer and more direct
than C.
o The main problem in this sentence is the vague
phrase “has become one,” which disrupts the
logical clarity of the sentence. D is the most
appropriate replacement for the awkward phrase.
o E sounds strangely overblown. The original
sentence does not claim that baseball card
collecting is “wholly changed,” as if a vast
transformation has taken place, so neither should
the revised version.
5. The correct answer is D.
o Tenses are inconsistent in this sentence. Of the
answers, only A, B, and D solve this problem;
however, A introduces a new problem by creating
a mismatched pronoun, and B has incorrect
punctuation—a semicolon instead of a comma.