Private Tutor Sat Writing 2013-2014 Prep Course

58

Visually catch the comma followed by the pronoun “this.” (..., this...) We have a Run-on: The roller coaster
had a huge drop is an independent clause that stands on its own, as is this made Bill throw his... There is also an
Ambiguity error. What is “this”? The “roller coaster” or “the huge drop”?

(B) this option is excessively wordy.
(C) stay away from “being”!
(D) the gerund “throwing” creates a sentence fragment error.
(E) fixes the run-on error and removes the ambiguous “this.”

Revised sentence:
The roller coaster’s huge drop made Bill
throw his hands into the air and scream loudly.

Correct Answer: (E)

The roller coaster had a huge drop, this made Bill

throw his hands into the air and scream loudly.

(A) The roller coaster had a huge drop, this made

Bill throw his

(B) Because of how huge the roller coaster’s drop

was, this is what threw Bill’s

(C) Being a huge drop, Bill found that the roller

coaster made him throw his

(D) The roller coaster, which had a huge drop,

throwing Bill’s

(E) The roller coaster’s huge drop made Bill

throw his

2.

3. Harriet Tubman, an abolitionist which is well
   A
   known for her work with the Underground Railroad,
   B
   first worked for the Union Army as a cook and a
   C
   nurse, and eventually as an armed spy, guiding the
   D
   Combahee River Raid and freeing more than 700

slaves in South Carolina. No error

E

Maybe you caught the Pronoun Agreement error right away. If not, go through the answer choices one by one.

(A) “which” is a pronoun, so we have to first see who or what it refers to. An abolitionist. An
abolitionist is a person, so we have a pronoun agreement issue. People are modified by “who,”
not “which.”
(B) “with” is a preposition. Can you work with someone or something? Yes.