CHAPTER 14 / HOW TO ATTACK SAT WRITING QUESTIONS 509
(1)John D. Rockefeller, Jr., was born in 1854 as the
only son of America’s richest man and first billionaire.
(2)Intensely shy as a child and young man, he came out
of his shell at Brown University, where he was elected
president of the junior class and senior manager of the
football team. (3)After graduating from Brown, John
had the opportunity to follow his father into the oil
business and add to the family fortune. (4)He soon dis-
covered that wealth, rather than being something to
hoard, was “an instrumentality of constructive social
living.”(5)Because of the hard-nosed business prac-
tices of John’s father, John D. Rockefeller, Sr., the name
Rockefeller had become synonymous with greed and
trade-busting.(6)The younger John decided that he
could make this better.
(7)Perhaps no American has ever done more in
the area of philanthropy than John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
(8)He created charitable foundations like the Rocke-
feller Foundation, the Rockefeller Institute, and the
General Education Board. (9)He sponsored the con-
struction of Rockefeller Center in New York City,
financed the reconstruction of Colonial Williamsburg,
which stands to this day as an invaluable historical
treasure, and donated the land in New York City for the
United Nations complex.
(10)The scope of Rockefeller’s conservation efforts,
also, was profound. (11)He donated thousands of
acres of land to national parks like Acadia, Shenan-
doah, the Great Smoky Mountains, and the Grand
Tetons.(12)He also financed the construction of
museums in Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and
Mesa Verde.
(13)John D. Rockefeller, Jr., is considered the
father of philanthropy in the United States never before
or since has any one person made such an impact on
public institutions. (14)Although always willing to
support a good cause, Rockefeller never sought
accolades for himself. (15)He was offered dozens of
honorary degrees from prestigious universities, and
declined all but one, from his alma mater.
- In context, which of the following is the best
revision of the underlined portion of sentence 4
(reproduced below)?
He soon discoveredthat wealth, rather than being
something to hoard, was “an instrumentality of
constructive social living.”
(A) However, he soon discovered
(B) Furthermore, he soon discovered
(C) He would only have soon discovered
(D) Therefore, he soon discovered
(E) When he soon discovered - Where is the most logical place to insert the
following sentence?
John’s discovery of philanthropy could hardly
have come at a better time for the Rockefellers.
(A) After sentence 1
(B) After sentence 3
(C) After sentence 4
(D) Before sentence 7, to begin the second
paragraph
(E) After sentence 8 - Which of the following revisions of sentence 6
(reproduced below) best improves its clarity in
the context of the first paragraph?
The younger John decided that he could make this
better.
(A) The younger John, the son of John D.
Rockefeller, Sr., decided that he could make
this better.
(B) The younger John decided that he could
restore the prestige of his family name.
(C) The younger John, who was affectionately
called “Johnny D,” decided that he could
make this better.
(D) This was something that the younger John
himself thought he could improve greatly.
(E) But this was something that young John knew
he could do something about the problem of
his family honor.
SAT Practice 4:
Attacking “Improving Paragraphs” Questions
Below is a draft of an essay that needs improvement. Some sentences may contain grammatical errors,
and the paragraphs may need to be altered to improve their logic, clarity, and cohesiveness. Read the pas-
sage and answer the questions that follow.