Cracking The SAT Premium

Let’s look at another that deals with some of the topics we’ve seen earlier.

The problem has certainly   gained  a   good    deal    of  traction    in  public  debates.    The fact    that    it

has gained  such    traction    makes   us  wonder  why isn’t   there   more    significant action  to  combat  the

gender  pay gap.     3

3.Which of  the following   gives   the best    way to  combine these   two sentences?

A) The  problem has certainly   gained  a   good    deal    of  traction    in  public  debates;    the fact

that    it  has gained  such    traction    makes   us  wonder  why isn’t   there   more    significant

action  to  combat  the gender  pay gap.

B) The  problem has certainly   gained  a   good    deal    of  traction    in  public  debates,    which

raises  the question    of  why more    isn’t   being   done    to  combat  the gap.

C) The  problem has certainly   gained  a   good    deal    of  traction    in  public  debates:    this    fact

of  more    public  attention   raises  a   serious question    of  why more    isn’t   being   done    to

close   that    gap.

D) The  problem has certainly   gained  a   good    deal    of  traction    in  public  debates.    Why

isn’t   more    being   done    to  combat  the gap?

Here’s How to Crack It

The question asks us to combine the two sentences. Your eyes were probably drawn immediately to (D),
which is the most concise of the choices. There’s just one problem: (D) doesn’t answer the question! The
question asks to combine the sentences, and while (D) shortens them, it doesn’t combine them.

Therefore, (B) is the answer. It combines the sentences and shortens them a bit, unlike (A) and (C), which
combine the sentences, but don’t really do much beyond changing the punctuation.

Questions like question 3 are why...

The most    important   thing   about   Writing and Language    questions   is  that    you notice  those   questions

and then    answer  those   questions.

PRECISION QUESTIONS

Not all questions will be just applications of punctuation and words. Some questions will ask you to do
more specific things. Remember the three terms we kept repeating in the Words chapter: Consistency,
Precision, and Concision. We’ll start with the Precision-related questions. Even when Precision is not
asked about directly, or when it is mixed with Consistency or Concision, remember this: