12.Practice.Tests.for.the.SAT_2015-2016_1128p

12 Practice Tests for the SAT
102 Practice Test One Answers and Explanations
4 Score Essay
My Mom's favorite expression is "The grass is always
greener on the other side." She says this if I ask for
something new because she wants me to be content with
what I do have instead of always wanting something else.
In my opinion, though, its hard to be happy with what you
have because there are always more things to acquire or
other goals to reach, and each new thing you want seems
to be the most important for being happy.
Look at the Boston Red Sox, they have a long rivalry with
the New York Yankees but were able to beat them with an
amazing come-from-behind victory in the ALCS. What they
did was historic, but they weren't happy with that upset
victory because they still had to deal with the World Series.
They wanted more than an ALCS title, they wanted a World
Series championship. And for the first time in almost a
century, they won the World Series and rejoiced for days.
But then the moment and the emotions started to fade, so
their happiness didn't last. Now they have to figure out what
else to pursue in order to regain that happiness.
A similar thing happened to me last year when I wanted to
be exempt from my final exams. All I needed was less than
5 absences and an A-average in each class. I worked really
hard all year to achieve this goal and I was really happy
during exam week when most of my friends were still in
school but I wasn't. This happiness didn't last long, though,
because the event that inspired it didn't last long. So after
a week or so, my focus turned to my summer job and my
happiness died out because my job as a sales clerk was so
miserable. At that point, all I wanted was to find something
else so that I could be happy again.
It's pretty clear that happiness can be achieved but its
usually fleeting. What makes you happy at one moment
doesn't last forever, and you start to wonder what other
activities or goals might make you happy again. We all hope
the grass will be greener on the other side, and sometimes
it is.
4 Score Critique
All essays are evaluated on four basic criteria: Topic,
Support, Organization, and Language. The author begins
this essay with another common phrase that relates to the
quotation provided in the prompt. By explaining this phrase,
the author shows that he understood the prompt. The
introductory paragraph ends with a clear statement of the
author's opinion but does not mention what examples the
author will use and lacks a transition to the next paragraph.
The two examples provided are fairly well developed and
provide adequate support for the author's argument. The
organization of the essay, however, could be improved
with transitional words or phrases between paragraphs
to help the reader navigate the essay. Although the essay
is structured appropriately, with a clear introduction and
conclusion surrounding two body paragraphs, the different
parts of the essay are not strongly linked in a logical manner,
suggesting that the author didn't spend enough time
planning his essay before he began to write.
Another weakness of this essay is the author's language.
Vague vocabulary ("something," "thing," "things"),
unclear pronouns ("they" in the second paragraph), a few
grammatical errors ("its" instead of "it's" in the first and
fourth paragraphs; sentences beginning with "But," "So,"
"And" in the second and third paragraphs; "less" instead
of "fewer" in the third paragraph), and run-on sentences
(second paragraph) indicate that the author needs to leave
time to proofread to correct any basic errors that detract
from the overall message of his essay.
2 Score Essay
I used to think that being happy was the easiest thing in
the world because I was always happy when I was little.
Everything I wanted was given to me, since my parents
took care of everything. But then when I got older, I realized
that life wasn't so simple and being happy doesn't always
happen easily. The main thing that made me realize this
was when my parents got divorced. I know now that
divorce is a pretty common thing since lots of my friends
have parents who are divorced. But when it happened to
my family I couldn't believe it. I didn't understand how my
parents could have seemed so happy when actually they
were both pretty miserable. At the time they couldn't really
explain it to my sister and brother and me so we were all
pretty confused about what was going on. But then I got
older and talked to my mom and dad more about what
happened, and they were able to explain that they just
didn't make each other happy any more so they decided it
was better for them to separate than to try to make things
work out in an unhappy situation. Luckily for both of them,
they've found more happiness apart with new partners than
when they were together.