Q set ("The formal tradition...")

Passage III corrections..

31. D – No separation needed, so no punctuation

32. H – Again, so separation needed. “That” is restrictive, meaning it’s defining the thing it’s attached to; “which” is non-essential (it adds additional information, just like this parenthetical does, so it will have a comma in front of it).

33. A

34. New sentence (new complete thought), so a comma won’t quite do it. You need a period or semicolon.

35. C - The only conjunction that reflects the relationship between the clauses (that his works are important because he was the first...) is and. You can tell they're looking for understanding of the text and not punctuation because all of the punctuation options are the same.

36. H - Use the -er (comparative) form when comparing two things, -est (superlative) form when comparing more than two. "She is the taller of the twins."

37. D - The comma has to be there to close the phrase; only began makes a complete sentence.

38. G 

39. A

40. G - It starts a new sentence.

41. C - It keeps the focus on the early century and the work of the poets.

42. G - J is grammatically ok, but it's wordy. 

43. A

44. J - Have agrees with the plural subjects. 

45. C - This kind of question can be a time killer. Look at the topic sentences first. In this case, it's obvious that 1 and 2 need to be switched. 

Q set ("Comic Books...")

46 - J  (Keep it simple.)
47 - B
48 - J  (Still keeping it simple. The other words don't add info or they repeat the meaning.)
49 - D (No punctuation needed as there's no separation between words.)
50 - J (The other choices confuse the sentence's meaning.)
51 - C ("It's" is a contraction.)
52 - G
53 - A
54 - J (Did you notice they got the year wrong for Superman? It was 38 not 83.)
55 - D (Obviously, right?)
56 - J (Keep it parallel.)
57 - A
58 - J (Agreement with singular subject "value" and no comma.)
59 - A
60 - G

Corrections and Review Practice Test A

Passage II (Jane Austen's reputation...)

16. G - ...grown so steadily that.... There's no break or separation between steadily and that, right? So no comma. The comma's job is to separate (a softer separation than a period or semicolon).

17. D - The -ly makes it an adverb telling us how her novels were published. This one probably just sounded correct (but you can't totally rely on how it sounds for the ACT; they test around that).

18. J - F is almost correct, but that comma is in the wrong place. G creates a run-on. H uses Although, which makes no sense.

19. B 

20. J - All choices are grammatically ok, but J is the clearest and least awkward.

21. B - What two things are being contrasted? The contributions, so only B and D are possibilities, and only "those" work. (We haven't seen Sir Walter Scott's contributions yet, so there are no "these.")  

22. G - Everything else in this passage has been past tense, so we stick with became.

23. B - Subject / verb agreement. "Was" is working with "term."

24. G - Dangling Modifier!  "Noted...society," is a modifying phrase. How do we know? Because it's a participial (a phrase based on something that looks like a verb, usually ending in -ing or -ed, in this case noted). Whatever comes right after the phrase has to be described by the phrase. Obviously it's describing her, so we would look for "Jane" or "Austen" or in this "Miss Austen."

25. B - You probably were deciding between putting before or after sentence 2. Both sentences would see to flow ok after sentence one, but only sentence 2 fits right before sentence 3. One strategy for this kind of question is to look at those transitions, the words that join the sentences. 

26. H

27. A - No separation

28. H - Parallel structure. We need both parts (to be personally inadequate ... to lack breeding) to be the same kind of thing, in this case infinitive phrases (both begin with "to" and a verb).

29. B - Simple conjunction: "not only [solely]...but also"

30. F - You could read these as verbs: Does the passage primarily inform, sensationalize, confess, or accuse?






Passage I (Many people think of the desert...)

1. C - We want the choice that suggests negating the opinion. Disposes is close, but the meaning is too strong. 

2. J - Past tense

3. B - The sentence begins with "Situated in Southern California..." This is a phrase that needs to modify whatever comes right after it, so what comes after needs to be something that is situated in southern Cal. The only possibility is valley, which makes the right answer B. When the thing after the comma can't be modified by the phrase, we call it a dangling modifier. 

4. H - It completes the comparison "as many as."

5. B - Has (present perfect tense) suggests the lake is currently in the state of drying up.

6. J - It's redundant (we already have "Called"; that's often the reason for omitting the portion).

7. A - Just simple past tense

8. H

9. C

10. H - This is both stylistically best (it flows) and grammatically correct (the other options have either verb problems or, with choice F, a dangling modifier. 

11. A

12. J

13. A

14. G - The phrase "extending . . . October" is non-essential to the sentence, meaning it's parenthetical. You can take it out and it doesn't change the meaning and focus of the sentence. In that case you want commas around it. If removing the phrase alters the sentence's meaning, then leave out the commas.

15. C - The other choices add unnecessary wording.