1. SAT QUESTION OF THE DAY & GLADIATOR WORD OF THE DAY
February 18,2014
Part or all of the following sentence is underlined;
beneath the sentence are five ways of phrasing the
underlined material. Select the option that produces the
best sentence. If you think the original phrasing
produces a better sentence than any of the
alternatives, select choice A.
Concerned that people will click to borrow an e-book
from a library rather than click to buy it, library access
to the e-book forms of most U.S. publishers' titles is
blocked.
(A) library access to the e-book forms of most major
U.S. publishers' titles is blocked
(B) it is important to block library access to the e-book
forms of most major U.S. publishers' titles
(C) the e-book forms of most major U.S. publishers'
titles are blocked from library access
(D) most major U.S. publishers block library access to
the e-book forms of their titles
(E) most major U.S. publishers blocking library access
to the e-book forms of their titles
2. SAT QUESTION OF THE DAY & GLADIATOR WORD OF THE DAY
February 19,2014
The following sentence contains either a
single error or no error at all. If the sentence
contains an error, select the one underlined
part that must be changed to make the
sentence correct. If the sentence contains no
error, select choice E.
The German choreographer Pina Bausch
created dances that incorporated
A
B
everyday human gestures
and alternating between highly stylized,
C
precise movements and more flowing,
D
expressive ones. No error.
E
•(A)
•(B)
•(C)
•(D)
•(E)
3. SAT QUESTION OF THE DAY & GLADIATOR WORD OF THE DAY
February 20, 2014
Choose the word or set of words that,
when inserted in the sentence, best fits
the meaning of the sentence as a whole.
The party guests were enthralled by the
host's ------- anecdotes, which were full
of engaging and provocative details.
(A) piquant
(B) obtrusive
(C) insipid
(D) discursive
(E) forthright
4. SAT QUESTION OF THE DAY & GLADIATOR WORD OF THE DAY
February 21,2014
The following sentence contains either a
single error or no error at all. If the
sentence contains an error, select the one
underlined part that must be changed to
make the sentence correct. If the sentence
contains no error, select choice E.
Most states have various levels of
(A)
football competition in their high
(B)
schools so that schools with similar
(C)
numbers of students compete only
against them. No error
(D) (E)
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
Editor's Notes
Answer: DFirst, there is subject/verb agreement between “library” and “is.” Therefore, we can eliminate C. THE REAL ISSUE, HOWEVER, IS PASSIVE/ACTIVE VOICE. The underlined portion of the sentence is in passive voice, which eliminates choices A (and C again students missed the subject/verb agreement). Choice E is not acceptable, as it would be “block” instead of “blocking.” Choice B is too wordy. Choice D is perfect!
Answer: CThe correct format is “alternated.” The compound verb must maintain the same tense as the previous verb, “incorporated.”
The sentence suggests that the host's "anecdotes," or stories, were enthralling because they were full of "engaging and provocative details." In other words, the anecdotes were "piquant," or engagingly provocative and charming.
The error in this sentence occurs at (D), where there is illogical pronoun use. It doesn’t make sense to say that schools competed against “them” when “them” could refer to “high schools,” “schools,” or even “students.” Instead, “one another” or “each other” is needed.
