Sample PSAT Questions-Writing Skills2-Improving Se

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Improving Sentences questions ask you to choose the best, most effective form of an underlined portion of a given sentence.

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Here are some general hints for Improving Sentences.

Read the entire sentence carefully but quickly. Note the underlined portion because that is the portion that may have to be revised.


Remember that the portion with no underline stays the same.


Mark choice (A) if the underlined portion seems correct. Check the other choices quickly to make sure that (A) is really the best choice.


Think of how you would revise the underlined portion if it seems wrong. Look for your revision among the choices given.


Replace the underlined portion of the sentence with choices (B) through (E) if you don't find your revision. Concentrate on the choices that seem clear and exact when you read them.

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In each of the following sentences, some part or all of the sentence is underlined. Below each sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. Select the answer that produces the most effective sentence, one that is clear and exact, without awkwardness or ambiguity. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English. Choose the answer that best expresses the meaning of the original sentence.
Answer (A) is always the same as the underlined part. Choose answer (A) if you think the original sentence needs no revision.

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question 1 of 13

[NOTE: Boldface replaces underlining in the sample question below.]
The Dutch had been trading with Asia since the sixteenth century, their ships have visited Persia and Japan.

(A) century, their ships have visited
(B) century, while their ships had visited
(C) century, but their ships had been visiting
(D) century, when their ships visited
(E) century, where their ships were visiting


(from the October 1996 test)

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Correct Answer: D
Explanation: There are two problems with this sentence. First, two independent statements are joined by a comma, with no indication of the relationship between them. Second, the tense of the verb "have visited" is inconsistent with the verb "had been trading" earlier in the sentence. The version in (B) may seem acceptable, but the use of "while" makes the sentence illogical. The (C) version also seems plausible, but the contrast implied by "but" is inappropriate. The (D) version corrects the sentence: The Dutch had been trading with Asia since the sixteenth century, when their ships visited Persia and Japan. Version (E) is incorrect. Because the word "century" pertains to time rather than place, "where" is not appropriate. Neither is the phrase "were visiting," which indicates visits over a period of time.

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question 2 of 13

[NOTE: Boldface replaces underlining in the sample question below.]
Although gale force winds often pass through the Eiffel Tower, causing it to sway no more than four inches.

(A) causing it to sway no more
(B) and yet it sways no more
(C) they do not cause it to sway more
(D) and they do not cause it to sway
(E) yet causing it to sway no more


(from the October 14, 1997 test)

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Correct Answer: C
Explanation: This sentence is not grammatically complete because it does not contain an independent clause (with a subject and predicate). The opening dependent clause, which begins with conjunction "Although," must be followed by an independent clause that does not begin with a conjunction. The version in choice (C) corrects the sentence: Although gale force winds often pass through the Eiffel Tower, they do not cause it to sway more than four inches.

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question 3 of 13

[NOTE: Boldface replaces underlining in the sample question below.]
Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium but refused to patent the process they used nor otherwise profiting from the commercial exploitation of radium.

(A) used nor otherwise profiting
(B) had used nor otherwise did they profit
(C) have used or otherwise to have profited
(D) used or otherwise profited
(E) had used or otherwise to profit


(from the October 14, 1997 test)

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Correct Answer: E
Explanation: There are three problems with this sentence. First, the action "the process they used" occurred before the action "refused to patent." Therefore, the past perfect form of the verb "use" is required. Second, the phrase "nor otherwise profiting" is not parallel to the earlier phrase "to patent." Finally, "nor" is incorrect in this sentence. The version in choice (E) corrects the sentence: Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium but refused to patent the process they had used or otherwise to profit from the commercial exploitation of radium.

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question 4 of 13

[NOTE: Boldface replaces underlining in the sample question below.]
Gordon Parks is almost as skillful a writer as he is a director.

(A) almost as skillful a writer as he is a director
(B) almost equally skilled, whether a writer or a director
(C) of the same skill as a writer and as a director, almost
(D) a skillful director, with almost as much skill in writing
(E) skilled as a director and almost so skilled in writing


(from the October 18, 1997 test)

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Correct Answer: A
Explanation: This sentence is correct as written. Therefore, the correct answer is choice (A).

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question 5 of 13

[NOTE: Boldface replaces underlining in the sample question below.]
Looking at the context of the editorial, the words "abrupt" and "blitz" are meant to place the redevelopment program in an unfavorable light.

(A) Looking at the context of the editorial
(B) In the context of the editorial
(C) When the editorial's context is looked at
(D) Considering its context
(E) Examining the editorial's context


(from the October 18, 1997 test)

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Correct Answer: B
Explanation: The problem with this sentence is that there is no noun that the underlined phrase modifies. Versions (A), (C), (D), and (E) also produce sentences with the same problem. The prepositional phrase in version (B) avoids this problem. The correct sentence reads: In the context of the editorial, the words "abrupt" and "blitz" are meant to place the redevelopment program in an unfavorable light.

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question 6 of 13

[NOTE: Boldface replaces underlining in the sample question below.]
Underestimating its value, breakfast is a meal many people skip.

(A) Underestimating its value, breakfast is a meal many people skip.
(B) Breakfast is skipped by many people because of their underestimating its value.
(C) Many people, underestimating the value of breakfast, and skipping it.
(D) Many people skip breakfast because they underestimate its value.
(E) A meal skipped by many people underestimating its value is breakfast.


(from the October 17, 1998 test)

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Correct Answer: D
Explanation: The problem with this sentence is that the opening phrase "underestimating its value" modifies "people," not "breakfast." The order of the words in the sentence in choice (D) does not have this problem of a misplaced modifying phrase. Choice D also clarifies the causal relationship between the two clauses in the sentence. None of the other choices conveys the information presented in the sentence as effectively and directly as choice (D).