508 McGRAW-HILL’S SAT
Lesson 4:
Attacking “Improving Paragraphs” Questions
Mapping:What Are “Improving Paragraphs”
Questions?
The last type of question on the SAT Writing is the
“improving paragraphs” question. “Improving para-
graphs” questions give you a draft of a short essay
that needs revision. You are then asked questions
about how to improve it.
How to Attack “Improving Paragraphs”
Questions
You can answer many “improving paragraphs”
questions without even reading the passage,
and you may want to answer those “isolated
sentences” questions first. Some of the ques-
tions, however, require you to understand the
general purpose of the passage and the indi-
vidual paragraphs. These questions often con-
tain the phrase in contextor ask you to insert,
remove, or combine sentences to make the pas-
sage clearer, more concise, or more coherent.
Before answering these questions, you may
want to read quickly through the passage to get
the general purpose and central idea.“Isolated Sentence” Questions
Some “improving paragraphs” questions are very much
like “improving sentences” questions. These questions
don’t contain the words in contextand just ask you to im-
prove a single sentence in isolation. These “isolated sen-
tence” questions may differ from “improving sentences”
questions only in that there may not be a “no error” choice.
Which of the following is the best way to revise sen-
tence 7 (reproduced below)?
If the students would of known in advanceabout the
shortage, they could have prevented the crisis.
(A) If the students would have known in advance
(B) It being that the students might have known in
advance
(C) If the students had known in advance
(D) Being known in advance
(E) If it had been that the students knew in advance
In this case the correct choice is (C) because it is
the only one in standard subjunctive form.
“Sentence in Context” Questions
“Sentence in context” questions usually contain the
phrasein context. They ask you to improve sentences
by taking the previous sentences into account. Often
the given sentences contain pronouns(such as itor
they) that refer to things in previous sentences or tran-
sitional adverbs(such as therefore, yet, nonetheless, al-
though, or furthermore) that serve as logical
connections among ideas.When answering “sentence in context” ques-
tions, always read the previous sentence or
two before thinking about how to improve the
given sentence. In the given sentence, pay spe-
cial attention to pronouns (such as itorthey)
and transitional adverbs (such as therefore, yet,
nonetheless, although, orfurthermore), and
notice how they relate to ideas in the previous
sentences.In context, which of the following is the best version
of sentence 12 (reproduced below)?
The racers were shiveringas the race began.
(A) (As it is now)
(B) Nevertheless, the racers were shivering
(C) Furthermore, the racers were shivering
(D) Therefore, the racers were shivering
(E) All the while, the racers were shivering
Since the question contains the phrase in context,
the correct answer depends on what immediately pre-
cedes sentence 12 in the passage. For instance, if the
previous sentence were The race organizers had
arranged for large, powerful heaters to be placed at the
starting line, then (B) would provide the most logical
transition. If, however, the previous sentence were
The temperature had plummeted 20 degrees in the
hours before the race was to start,then (D) would make
the most sense.“Insert, Remove, or Combine” Questions
Some “improving paragraphs” questions ask you to
consider inserting, removing, or combining sentences
to make the passage clearer, more concise, or more
coherent. They ask questions such as Where is the
most logical place to insert the following sentence?Or
Which of the following is the best sentence to insert
after sentence 4?When answering “insert, remove, or combine”
questions, remember that every sentence in a
paragraph must support the same central idea.
If a sentence doesn’t follow the flow, it has to go.