SAT Grammar Questions

SAT Grammar Questions

Let's do it!

Writing & Language Testing Strategies:

1. Read the whole passage actively to yourself. Act as if you are "reading aloud" in your head to yourself. This way you can see how the writing would sound and if any of it feels unnatural.

2. Eliminate answers that you know are wrong right away to leave yourself with fewer options.

3. There is always a correct answer and a "distractor" -- a question that looks right but has a minor flaw. Anticipate any possible flaws in the answer.

5. With grammar questions, identify the subject and verb in each sentence first and then check to make sure all pronouns and verbs are appropriate.

6. Keep in mind that not all questions are grammar errors. Some questions will be related to conceptual organization or even the reading of graphs.

Passage #1

A 1954 documentary about renowned watercolor painter Dong Kingman shows the artist sitting on a stool on Mott Street in New York City’s Chinatown. A crowd of admiring spectators 1 watched as Kingman squeezes dollops of paint from several tubes into a tin watercolor 2 box, from just a few primary colors, Kingman creates dozens of beautiful hues as he layers the translucent paint onto the paper on his easel. Each stroke of the brush and dab of the sponge transforms thinly sketched outlines into buildings, shop signs, and streetlamps. The street scene Kingman begins composing in this short film is very much in keeping with the urban landscapes for which he is best known.

Multiple Choice

1. What is the best revision for the underlined word “watched”?

A 1954 documentary about renowned watercolor painter Dong Kingman shows the artist sitting on a stool on Mott Street in New York City’s Chinatown. A crowd of admiring spectators 1 watched as Kingman squeezes dollops of paint from several tubes into a tin watercolor 2 box, from just a few primary colors, Kingman creates dozens of beautiful hues as he layers the translucent paint onto the paper on his easel. Each stroke of the brush and dab of the sponge transforms thinly sketched outlines into buildings, shop signs, and streetlamps. The street scene Kingman begins composing in this short film is very much in keeping with the urban landscapes for which he is best known.

• no change

• had watched

• would watch

• watches

Multiple Choice

2. What is the best revision for the underlined phrase?

A 1954 documentary about renowned watercolor painter Dong Kingman shows the artist sitting on a stool on Mott Street in New York City’s Chinatown. A crowd of admiring spectators 1 watched as Kingman squeezes dollops of paint from several tubes into a tin watercolor 2 box, from just a few primary colors, Kingman creates dozens of beautiful hues as he layers the translucent paint onto the paper on his easel. Each stroke of the brush and dab of the sponge transforms thinly sketched outlines into buildings, shop signs, and streetlamps. The street scene Kingman begins composing in this short film is very much in keeping with the urban landscapes for which he is best known.

• box: from just a few primary

• box. From just a few primary colors

• box from just a few primary colors

• box, from just a few primary colors

Passage #2

A Life in Traffic 

A subway system is expanded to provide service to a growing suburb. A bike-sharing program is adopted to encourage nonmotorized transportation. 3 To alleviate rush hour traffic jams in a congested downtown area, stoplight timing is coordinated. When any one of these changes 4 occur, it is likely the result of careful analysis conducted by transportation planners.

Multiple Choice

3. Which choice best maintains the sentence pattern already established in the paragraph?

A Life in Traffic

A subway system is expanded to provide service to a growing suburb. A bike-sharing program is adopted to encourage nonmotorized transportation. 3 To alleviate rush hour traffic jams in a congested downtown area, stoplight timing is coordinated. When any one of these changes 4 occur, it is likely the result of careful analysis conducted by transportation planners.

• NO CHANGE

• Coordinating stoplight timing can help alleviate rush hour traffic jams in a congested downtown area.

• Stoplight timing is coordinated to alleviate rush hour traffic jams in a congested downtown area

• In a congested downtown area, stoplight timing is coordinated to alleviate rush hour traffic jams.

Multiple Choice

4.

(NOTE: When a question has no additional directions, such as this one, assume that you’re to choose the option that’s the most effective or correct.)

A subway system is expanded to provide service to a growing suburb. A bike-sharing program is adopted to encourage nonmotorized transportation. 3 To alleviate rush hour traffic jams in a congested downtown area, stoplight timing is coordinated. When any one of these changes 4 occur, it is likely the result of careful analysis conducted by transportation planners.

• NO CHANGE

• occur, they are

• occurs, they are

• occurs, it is

Passage #3:

The work of transportation planners generally includes evaluating current transportation needs, assessing the effectiveness of existing facilities, and improving those facilities or 5 they design new ones. Most transportation planners work in or near cities, 6 but some are employed in rural areas. Say, for example, a large factory is built on the outskirts of a small town. Traffic to and from that location would increase at the beginning and end of work shifts. The transportation 7 planner’s job, might involve conducting a traffic count to determine the daily number of vehicles traveling on the road to the new factory. If analysis of the traffic count indicates that there is more traffic than the 8 current road as it is designed at this time can efficiently accommodate, the transportation planner might recommend widening the road to add another lane.

Multiple Choice

5.

The work of transportation planners generally includes evaluating current transportation needs, assessing the effectiveness of existing facilities, and improving those facilities or 5 they design new ones.

• NO CHANGE

• to design

• designing

• design

Multiple Choice

6. Which choice results in the most effective transition to the information that follows in the paragraph?

Most transportation planners work in or near cities, 6 but some are employed in rural areas. Say, for example, a large factory is built on the outskirts of a small town. Traffic to and from that location would increase at the beginning and end of work shifts. The transportation 7 planner’s job, might involve conducting a traffic count to determine the daily number of vehicles traveling on the road to the new factory.

• NO CHANGE

• where job opportunities are more plentiful

• and the majority are employed by government agencies

• DELETE the underlined portion and end the sentence with a period.

Multiple Choice

7.

The transportation 7 planner’s job, might involve conducting a traffic count to determine the daily number of vehicles traveling on the road to the new factory.

• NO CHANGE

• planner's job

• planners job,

• planners job

Multiple Choice

8.

If analysis of the traffic count indicates that there is more traffic than the 8 current road as it is designed at this time can efficiently accommodate, the transportation planner might recommend widening the road to add another lane.

• NO CHANGE

• current design of the road right now

• road as it is now currently designed

• current design of the road

Passage #4

Transportation planners work closely with a number of community stakeholders, such as government officials and other interested organizations and individuals. 9 Next, representatives from the local public health department might provide input in designing a network of trails and sidewalks to encourage people to walk more. 10 According to the American Heart Association, walking provides numerous benefits related to health and well-being. Members of the Chamber of Commerce might share suggestions about designing transportation and parking facilities to support local businesses.

Multiple Choice

9.

Transportation planners work closely with a number of community stakeholders, such as government officials and other interested organizations and individuals. 9 Next, representatives from the local public health department might provide input in designing a network of trails and sidewalks to encourage people to walk more.

• NO CHANGE

• For instance,

• Furthermore,

• Similarly,

Multiple Choice

10. The writer is considering deleting the underlined sentence. Should it be kept or deleted?

Transportation planners work closely with a number of community stakeholders, such as government officials and other interested organizations and individuals. 9 Next, representatives from the local public health department might provide input in designing a network of trails and sidewalks to encourage people to walk more. 10 According to the American Heart Association, walking provides numerous benefits related to health and well-being. Members of the Chamber of Commerce might share suggestions about designing transportation and parking facilities to support local businesses.

• Kept. because it provides support about the benefits of walking.

• Kept, because it provides an additional example of a community stakeholder with whom planners work.

• Deleted, because it blurs the paragraph's focus on the community stakeholders with whom transportation planners work.

• Deleted, because it doesn’t provide specific examples of what the numerous benefits of walking are.

Passage #5

11. People who pursue careers in transportation planning have a wide variety of educational backgrounds. A two-year degree in transportation technology may be sufficient for some entry-level jobs in the field. Most jobs, however, require at least a bachelor’s degree; majors of transportation planners are 12 varied, including fields such as urban studies, civil engineering, geography, or transportation and logistics. For many positions in the field, a master’s degree is required. Transportation planners perform critical work within the broader field of urban and regional planning. As of 2010, there were approximately 40,300 urban and regional planners employed in the United States. 

Multiple Choice

11. People who pursue careers in transportation planning have a wide variety of educational backgrounds.

• NO CHANGE

• People, who pursue careers in transportation planning,

• People who pursue careers, in transportation planning,

• People who pursue careers in transportation planning,

Multiple Choice

12.

Most jobs, however, require at least a bachelor’s degree; majors of transportation planners are 12 varied, including fields such as urban studies, civil engineering, geography, or transportation and logistics. For many positions in the field, a master’s degree is required. Transportation planners perform critical work within the broader field of urban and regional planning.

• NO CHANGE

• varied, and including

• varied and which include

• varied, which include

Passage #6:

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts steady job growth in this field, 13. projecting that 16 percent of new jobs in all occupations will be related to urban and regional planning. Population growth and concerns about environmental sustainability are expected to spur the need for transportation planning professionals.

Multiple Choice

13. Which choice completes the sentence with accurate data based on the graph?

• NO CHANGE

• warning, however, that job growth in urban and regional planning will slow to 14 percent by 2020.

• predicting that employment of urban and regional planners will increase 16 percent between 2010 and 2020.

• indicating that 14 to 18 percent of urban and regional planning positions will remain unfilled.