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

134
12 Practice Tests for the SAT
Practice Test One Answers and Explanations
SECTION 9
1. c
Difficulty: Low
Make sure that sentences use conjunctions to connect ideas
and avoid run-ans.The two parts of this sentence describe
the same subject, the mule. Choice (C) is the only answer
choice that fixes the run-on without resorting to the passive
voice. Choice (B) is grammatically incorrect. Both (D) and
(E) change the subject of the sentence from the mule to the
oats. This leads both to use the passive voice unnecessarily.
2. E
Difficulty: Low
Any time a word refers to the subject, it needs to agree
with the subject. In this sentence, where is referring to
the subject of the sentence, an industrial spy. This is
incorrect because where can only refer to places, while an
industrial spy is a person. Choice (E) correctly refers to the
subject as someone. Choice (B) is idiomatically incorrect.
Choices (C) and (D) are wrong for the same reason as
(A): They mischaracterize the subject, using when and how
respectively.
3. B
Difficulty: Low
Certain idioms appear regularly on the SAT; learn their
proper structure. This question tests your knowledge of
the idiom that compares two nouns using as; the correct
construction is "as (adjective) as." Only (B) correctly
completes the construction. Choice (C) is grammatically
incorrect, (D) is unnecessarily wordy, and (E) does not
correct the error.
4. E
Difficulty: Low
If the original sentence seems unnecessarily wordy, look for
an answer choice that says the same thing more concisely.
The opening of this sentence uses far too many words to
get its point across. Choice (E) is a concise and accurate
way to say the same thing. Choices (B) and (D) phrase the
opening differently, but both are still wordier than they need
to be. Less weightier in (C) is grammatically incorrect.
5. B
Difficulty: Medium
When you have a set of objects in a list, series, or
compound structure, they should all be parallel in
structure. Here, the object of the preposition throughout
is the compound childhood and . .. adolescence; adding
additional words violates the necessary parallel structure.
Choice (B) makes the correction. None of the other answer
choices correct the error; additionally, (C) introduces an
inappropriate verb tense in context, (D) unnecessarily uses
the passive voice, and (E) is overly wordy.
6. c
Difficulty: Medium
Descriptive phrases, just like adjectives, have to refer to a
noun. Make sure that they refer to the right noun and that
they agree with that noun. The opening of this sentence
describes something that is constrained by gravity, but then
it incorrectly applies that description to an idea. Choice (C)
correctly applies the description to the astronauts. Choice
(B) is wordy and still applies the description to the idea.
Choices (D) and (E) fix the original problem, but (D) is
awkward and (E) is grammatically incorrect.
7. D
Difficulty: Medium
When two clauses refer to the same subject, a second
pronoun subject is unnecessary. The sentence as written is
grammatically incorrect; the pronoun this is an unnecessary
restatement of the subject. Choice (D) eliminates the
unnecessary pronoun. Choice (B) is awkwardly structured.
Choice (C) is wordy and changes the tense of the verb
unnecessarily. Choice (E) is unnecessarily wordy and
introduces the passive voice unnecessarily.
8. E
Difficulty: Medium
When you describe an object, make sure the object and the
description agree in number. Because the first part of this
sentence discusses the plural bodies, the second part must
also be plural. Choice (E) does exactly this, replacing a highly
efficient machine with highly efficient machines. Choice (B)
is incorrect because, although it replaces the singular
machine with the plural form, it also changes bodies to body,