Paragraph Improvement (SAT Verbal Ability)
Practice test for SAT Verbal Ability paragraph improvement skills, covering sentence structure, word choice, organization, and paragraph development through passage-based exercises.
Questions
Where is the best place for sentence 9?
Direction:
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage
need to be rewritten.
Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow.
Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you
to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider
organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of
standard written English.
(1) Books of travel are of all kinds, from the dry records of laborious statisticians to the trivial diaries of globe-trotters. (2) Explorers, seamen, archaeologists, naturalists, dreamers, what type of man or woman has not written a book of travel? (3) People read their books and they appreciate a few of them and then they forget, ninety nine out of hundred. (4) Yet there are others. (5) The great books of travel are rare as great books in any other class are rare. (6) Similarly, the people of genius, personality and character are rare. (7) To write a book of travel appeals irresistibly to large numbers of persons who have no creative power, whose books are the mere reflection of a shallow curiosity and of a foolish egotism. (8) These deplorable works, though they spread a sort of suburban light upon the beautiful and wild places of earth, throw only into greater relief the achievement of the true travelers who by reason of their fortitude, their imagination, their insight and their ability to evoke the atmosphere and color of the world, have produced books that rank as literature and last for centuries. (9) Alas! There aren’t many.
- After sentence 2
- After sentence 3
- After sentence 4
- After sentence 5
- (Where it is now)
The opening sentence in paragraph one can best be improved by
Direction:
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage
need to be rewritten.
Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow.
Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you
to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider
organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of
standard written English.
(1) The last and not the least important way in which science
has changed people and made them more civilized is by making them more
tolerant. (2) A tolerant person is one who does not interfere with other
people, even if he thinks they are wrong, but he is prepared to let them think
what they like and say what they think. (3) If he thinks they are wrong he may
try to persuade them to believe differently, but he will not try to force them.
(4) This may not seem a very important point, a great deal of the misery of
mankind in the past has sprung from people being unwilling to tolerate other
people thinking differently from themselves. (5) This intolerance has been
particularly common in religious matters. (6) All over the western world, for
instance, people have been killed and have tortured other people for not
believing the same things as they did or for worshipping god in a different
way.
(7) Most religious beliefs are based on faith, and the point about them is that although you may be quite convinced of them yourself, you cannot be sure of persuading other people to believe them too because. (8) Now, it is with regard to beliefs of this kind that people are now more tolerant than they used to be. (9) Formerly if a man thought differently about religious matters from his neighbors, he was very likely to be burnt alive. (10) And if he did not believe in God and had no religion at all he was thought exceedingly wicked and was punished. (11) This is no longer so.
- giving example of an important way
- omitting the definitive article before 'last' and 'least'
- offering definition of 'civilized' also
- changing the conjunction in the first sentence to represent the contrast intended
What is the best way to deal with sentence 4?
Direction:
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage
need to be rewritten.
Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow.
Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you
to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider
organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of
standard written English.
(1) The last and not the least important way in which science
has changed people and made them more civilized is by making them more
tolerant. (2) A tolerant person is one who does not interfere with other
people, even if he thinks they are wrong, but he is prepared to let them think
what they like and say what they think. (3) If he thinks they are wrong he may
try to persuade them to believe differently, but he will not try to force them.
(4) This may not seem a very important point, a great deal of the misery of
mankind in the past has sprung from people being unwilling to tolerate other
people thinking differently from themselves. (5) This intolerance has been
particularly common in religious matters. (6) All over the western world, for
instance, people have been killed and have tortured other people for not
believing the same things as they did or for worshipping god in a different
way.
(7) Most religious beliefs are based on faith, and the point about them is that although you may be quite convinced of them yourself, you cannot be sure of persuading other people to believe them too because. (8) Now, it is with regard to beliefs of this kind that people are now more tolerant than they used to be. (9) Formerly if a man thought differently about religious matters from his neighbors, he was very likely to be burnt alive. (10) And if he did not believe in God and had no religion at all he was thought exceedingly wicked and was punished. (11) This is no longer so.
- Leave it as it is.
- Insert 'but' before 'a great deal'.
- Change the comma to the semicolon.
- Change 'This' to 'It'.
Sentence seven has been rendered incomplete by omission of words after 'because'. Which of the following is the best completion for sentence (7)?
Direction:
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage
need to be rewritten.
Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow.
Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you
to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider
organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of
standard written English.
(1) The last and not the least important way in which science
has changed people and made them more civilized is by making them more
tolerant. (2) A tolerant person is one who does not interfere with other
people, even if he thinks they are wrong, but he is prepared to let them think
what they like and say what they think. (3) If he thinks they are wrong he may
try to persuade them to believe differently, but he will not try to force them.
(4) This may not seem a very important point, a great deal of the misery of
mankind in the past has sprung from people being unwilling to tolerate other
people thinking differently from themselves. (5) This intolerance has been
particularly common in religious matters. (6) All over the western world, for
instance, people have been killed and have tortured other people for not
believing the same things as they did or for worshipping god in a different
way.
(7) Most religious beliefs are based on faith, and the point about them is that although you may be quite convinced of them yourself, you cannot be sure of persuading other people to believe them too because. (8) Now, it is with regard to beliefs of this kind that people are now more tolerant than they used to be. (9) Formerly if a man thought differently about religious matters from his neighbors, he was very likely to be burnt alive. (10) And if he did not believe in God and had no religion at all he was thought exceedingly wicked and was punished. (11) This is no longer so.
- others may not agree
- this may not be the best way of doing it
- you cannot produce evidence for them
- they have their own religious beliefs
Which of the following is the best revision of sentence no. 3 below (reproduced below)?
People read their books and they appreciate a few of them and then they forget, ninety nine out of hundred.
Direction:
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage
need to be rewritten.
Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow.
Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you
to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider
organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of
standard written English.
(1) Books of travel are of all kinds, from the dry records of laborious statisticians to the trivial diaries of globe-trotters. (2) Explorers, seamen, archaeologists, naturalists, dreamers, what type of man or woman has not written a book of travel? (3) People read their books and they appreciate a few of them and then they forget, ninety nine out of hundred. (4) Yet there are others. (5) The great books of travel are rare as great books in any other class are rare. (6) Similarly, the people of genius, personality and character are rare. (7) To write a book of travel appeals irresistibly to large numbers of persons who have no creative power, whose books are the mere reflection of a shallow curiosity and of a foolish egotism. (8) These deplorable works, though they spread a sort of suburban light upon the beautiful and wild places of earth, throw only into greater relief the achievement of the true travelers who by reason of their fortitude, their imagination, their insight and their ability to evoke the atmosphere and color of the world, have produced books that rank as literature and last for centuries. (9) Alas! There aren’t many.
- They pour from the press, people read them and forget very soon.
- Books on travel are written profusely by the people and ninety nine books out of one hundred are of no worth.
- Ninety nine books are liked out of hundred books by the people.
- They pour forth in the press in an unending stream; they are read, they are forgotten and ninety nine out of every hundred pass away into oblivion.
- They pour from the press day in and day out, only to entertain the public.
Which of the following is the best revision of the underlined portion of sentence (8) reproduced below?
'throw only into greater relief the achievement of the true travelers'
Direction:
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage
need to be rewritten.
Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow.
Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you
to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider
organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of
standard written English.
(1) Books of travel are of all kinds, from the dry records of laborious statisticians to the trivial diaries of globe-trotters. (2) Explorers, seamen, archaeologists, naturalists, dreamers, what type of man or woman has not written a book of travel? (3) People read their books and they appreciate a few of them and then they forget, ninety nine out of hundred. (4) Yet there are others. (5) The great books of travel are rare as great books in any other class are rare. (6) Similarly, the people of genius, personality and character are rare. (7) To write a book of travel appeals irresistibly to large numbers of persons who have no creative power, whose books are the mere reflection of a shallow curiosity and of a foolish egotism. (8) These deplorable works, though they spread a sort of suburban light upon the beautiful and wild places of earth, throw only into greater relief the achievement of the true travelers who by reason of their fortitude, their imagination, their insight and their ability to evoke the atmosphere and color of the world, have produced books that rank as literature and last for centuries. (9) Alas! There aren’t many.
- provide greater relief to the achievement of the true travelers
- throw hot water onto the achievement of the true travelers
- provide good comparison to the achievement of the true travelers
- pale into trivialities on comparison with the achievement of the true travelers
Paragraph two could best be improved by the addition of
Direction:
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage
need to be rewritten.
Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow.
Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you
to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider
organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of
standard written English.
(1) The last and not the least important way in which science
has changed people and made them more civilized is by making them more
tolerant. (2) A tolerant person is one who does not interfere with other
people, even if he thinks they are wrong, but he is prepared to let them think
what they like and say what they think. (3) If he thinks they are wrong he may
try to persuade them to believe differently, but he will not try to force them.
(4) This may not seem a very important point, a great deal of the misery of
mankind in the past has sprung from people being unwilling to tolerate other
people thinking differently from themselves. (5) This intolerance has been
particularly common in religious matters. (6) All over the western world, for
instance, people have been killed and have tortured other people for not
believing the same things as they did or for worshipping god in a different
way.
(7) Most religious beliefs are based on faith, and the point about them is that although you may be quite convinced of them yourself, you cannot be sure of persuading other people to believe them too because. (8) Now, it is with regard to beliefs of this kind that people are now more tolerant than they used to be. (9) Formerly if a man thought differently about religious matters from his neighbors, he was very likely to be burnt alive. (10) And if he did not believe in God and had no religion at all he was thought exceedingly wicked and was punished. (11) This is no longer so.
- quotations from historical texts
- an explanation for intolerance
- a note regarding tolerance in the eastern world
- an example of religious wars
- a point emphasizing the importance of tolerance
Which of the following, if placed after sentence 11 would be the most effective concluding sentence of the paragraph?
Direction:
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage
need to be rewritten.
Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow.
Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you
to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider
organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of
standard written English
(1) Belief in equality has still deeper and more far reaching effects on education than those that we have known. (2) Because some people have gifts that are denied to others, the inclination for the thorough going equalitarian will be reasoned to say that they are not important. (3) In the school we shall tend to equate the value of subjects to say that it is just as important to be able to make straw mats or mend a fuse as to write Greek-verse or do higher mathematics. (4) That democracy to answer for the dangers of what may be called cultural equalitarianism are very real. (5) In so far it equates in value the experiences enjoyed by different kinds of people such a philosophy deprives education and hence society itself of its standards of value. (6) In an equalitarian society, a man’s judgment is theoretically as good as another’s. (7) But do we think that the papers with the largest circulation are as good as some of those smaller ones or that the programs with the largest listening figures are really the best programs? (8) We may enjoy those most, but can we honestly say that they are the best? (9) Above all, when we said that the function of education was to develop the best in each person, what did we mean? (10) The truth is we must introduce the idea of equality into our judgment of experience. (11) The equalitarian, in so far as he maintains that one man’s taste is as good as another’s, is wrong.
- Education should therefore be cognitive, not equal.
- No two men are created equal.
- Equalitarianism is therefore redundant.
- Because some people have taste, others distaste for possibly the same thing.
- Might is not right everywhere.
Which of the following sentences could be deleted without damaging the flow of the paragraph?
Direction:
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage
need to be rewritten.
Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow.
Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you
to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider
organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of
standard written English
(1) Belief in equality has still deeper and more far reaching effects on education than those that we have known. (2) Because some people have gifts that are denied to others, the inclination for the thorough going equalitarian will be reasoned to say that they are not important. (3) In the school we shall tend to equate the value of subjects to say that it is just as important to be able to make straw mats or mend a fuse as to write Greek-verse or do higher mathematics. (4) That democracy to answer for the dangers of what may be called cultural equalitarianism are very real. (5) In so far it equates in value the experiences enjoyed by different kinds of people such a philosophy deprives education and hence society itself of its standards of value. (6) In an equalitarian society, a man’s judgment is theoretically as good as another’s. (7) But do we think that the papers with the largest circulation are as good as some of those smaller ones or that the programs with the largest listening figures are really the best programs? (8) We may enjoy those most, but can we honestly say that they are the best? (9) Above all, when we said that the function of education was to develop the best in each person, what did we mean? (10) The truth is we must introduce the idea of equality into our judgment of experience. (11) The equalitarian, in so far as he maintains that one man’s taste is as good as another’s, is wrong.
- Sentence 2
- Sentence 4
- Sentence 6
- Sentence 8
- Sentence 10
Which is the best way to combine sentences (5) and (6)?
Direction:
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage
need to be rewritten.
Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow.
Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you
to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider
organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of
standard written English.
(1) Books of travel are of all kinds, from the dry records of laborious statisticians to the trivial diaries of globe-trotters. (2) Explorers, seamen, archaeologists, naturalists, dreamers, what type of man or woman has not written a book of travel? (3) People read their books and they appreciate a few of them and then they forget, ninety nine out of hundred. (4) Yet there are others. (5) The great books of travel are rare as great books in any other class are rare. (6) Similarly, the people of genius, personality and character are rare. (7) To write a book of travel appeals irresistibly to large numbers of persons who have no creative power, whose books are the mere reflection of a shallow curiosity and of a foolish egotism. (8) These deplorable works, though they spread a sort of suburban light upon the beautiful and wild places of earth, throw only into greater relief the achievement of the true travelers who by reason of their fortitude, their imagination, their insight and their ability to evoke the atmosphere and color of the world, have produced books that rank as literature and last for centuries. (9) Alas! There aren’t many.
- Great books of travel are rare as people of genius, personality and character are rare.
- Great books are rare because great books can only be written by rarer species.
- Great books are rare and genius, personality and character are rarer.
- Great travelogues are as rare as other good books and good people.
- Great books, whether or not on travel, are rare same as the people of genius and character are rare.
Which of the following, if placed after sentence 11, would be the most effective concluding sentence for the paragraph?
Direction:
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage
need to be rewritten.
Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow.
Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you
to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider
organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of
standard written English.
(1) The last and not the least important way in which science
has changed people and made them more civilized is by making them more
tolerant. (2) A tolerant person is one who does not interfere with other
people, even if he thinks they are wrong, but he is prepared to let them think
what they like and say what they think. (3) If he thinks they are wrong he may
try to persuade them to believe differently, but he will not try to force them.
(4) This may not seem a very important point, a great deal of the misery of
mankind in the past has sprung from people being unwilling to tolerate other
people thinking differently from themselves. (5) This intolerance has been
particularly common in religious matters. (6) All over the western world, for
instance, people have been killed and have tortured other people for not
believing the same things as they did or for worshipping god in a different
way.
(7) Most religious beliefs are based on faith, and the point about them is that although you may be quite convinced of them yourself, you cannot be sure of persuading other people to believe them too because. (8) Now, it is with regard to beliefs of this kind that people are now more tolerant than they used to be. (9) Formerly if a man thought differently about religious matters from his neighbors, he was very likely to be burnt alive. (10) And if he did not believe in God and had no religion at all he was thought exceedingly wicked and was punished. (11) This is no longer so.
- Today we are tolerant of other people's beliefs and on the whole let them think what they please.
- Things have been changed today and for the better.
- Sentence 11 is the best conclusion.
- Today we believe that one must believe in God and religion, but on one's own bidding.
Which of the following words could best replace the word 'deplorable' in sentence 8?
Direction:
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage
need to be rewritten.
Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow.
Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you
to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider
organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of
standard written English.
(1) Books of travel are of all kinds, from the dry records of laborious statisticians to the trivial diaries of globe-trotters. (2) Explorers, seamen, archaeologists, naturalists, dreamers, what type of man or woman has not written a book of travel? (3) People read their books and they appreciate a few of them and then they forget, ninety nine out of hundred. (4) Yet there are others. (5) The great books of travel are rare as great books in any other class are rare. (6) Similarly, the people of genius, personality and character are rare. (7) To write a book of travel appeals irresistibly to large numbers of persons who have no creative power, whose books are the mere reflection of a shallow curiosity and of a foolish egotism. (8) These deplorable works, though they spread a sort of suburban light upon the beautiful and wild places of earth, throw only into greater relief the achievement of the true travelers who by reason of their fortitude, their imagination, their insight and their ability to evoke the atmosphere and color of the world, have produced books that rank as literature and last for centuries. (9) Alas! There aren’t many.
- Heart- rending
- Condemnable
- Festal
- Mediocre
Which of the following is the best revision of underlined part of sentence (2)?
'the inclination for the thorough going equalitarian will be reasoned to say that they are not important'
Direction:
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage
need to be rewritten.
Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow.
Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you
to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider
organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of
standard written English
(1) Belief in equality has still deeper and more far reaching effects on education than those that we have known. (2) Because some people have gifts that are denied to others, the inclination for the thorough going equalitarian will be reasoned to say that they are not important. (3) In the school we shall tend to equate the value of subjects to say that it is just as important to be able to make straw mats or mend a fuse as to write Greek-verse or do higher mathematics. (4) That democracy to answer for the dangers of what may be called cultural equalitarianism are very real. (5) In so far it equates in value the experiences enjoyed by different kinds of people such a philosophy deprives education and hence society itself of its standards of value. (6) In an equalitarian society, a man’s judgment is theoretically as good as another’s. (7) But do we think that the papers with the largest circulation are as good as some of those smaller ones or that the programs with the largest listening figures are really the best programs? (8) We may enjoy those most, but can we honestly say that they are the best? (9) Above all, when we said that the function of education was to develop the best in each person, what did we mean? (10) The truth is we must introduce the idea of equality into our judgment of experience. (11) The equalitarian, in so far as he maintains that one man’s taste is as good as another’s, is wrong.
- the inclination of thorough going equalitarian will say that such gifts are not important.
- the reason to say for the thorough going equalitarian will be that they are not important.
- it will not be reasonable for the thorough going equalitarian to say that they are important.
- the thorough going equalitarian will be inclined to say that they are not important.
Which of the following topics if added to the paragraph would most likely weaken the writer's argument?
Direction:
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage
need to be rewritten.
Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow.
Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you
to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider
organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of
standard written English.
(1) Books of travel are of all kinds, from the dry records of laborious statisticians to the trivial diaries of globe-trotters. (2) Explorers, seamen, archaeologists, naturalists, dreamers, what type of man or woman has not written a book of travel? (3) People read their books and they appreciate a few of them and then they forget, ninety nine out of hundred. (4) Yet there are others. (5) The great books of travel are rare as great books in any other class are rare. (6) Similarly, the people of genius, personality and character are rare. (7) To write a book of travel appeals irresistibly to large numbers of persons who have no creative power, whose books are the mere reflection of a shallow curiosity and of a foolish egotism. (8) These deplorable works, though they spread a sort of suburban light upon the beautiful and wild places of earth, throw only into greater relief the achievement of the true travelers who by reason of their fortitude, their imagination, their insight and their ability to evoke the atmosphere and color of the world, have produced books that rank as literature and last for centuries. (9) Alas! There aren’t many.
- The effect of trivial works on literature.
- Increasing number of readers of travel books.
- Travelogues are considered to be a popular genre in Literature.
- Fiction as a genre is coming up.
Which of the following is the best way to combine and rephrase sentences number (5) and (6) below?
Direction:
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage
need to be rewritten.
Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow.
Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you
to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider
organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of
standard written English.
(1) The last and not the least important way in which science
has changed people and made them more civilized is by making them more
tolerant. (2) A tolerant person is one who does not interfere with other
people, even if he thinks they are wrong, but he is prepared to let them think
what they like and say what they think. (3) If he thinks they are wrong he may
try to persuade them to believe differently, but he will not try to force them.
(4) This may not seem a very important point, a great deal of the misery of
mankind in the past has sprung from people being unwilling to tolerate other
people thinking differently from themselves. (5) This intolerance has been
particularly common in religious matters. (6) All over the western world, for
instance, people have been killed and have tortured other people for not
believing the same things as they did or for worshipping god in a different
way.
(7) Most religious beliefs are based on faith, and the point about them is that although you may be quite convinced of them yourself, you cannot be sure of persuading other people to believe them too because. (8) Now, it is with regard to beliefs of this kind that people are now more tolerant than they used to be. (9) Formerly if a man thought differently about religious matters from his neighbors, he was very likely to be burnt alive. (10) And if he did not believe in God and had no religion at all he was thought exceedingly wicked and was punished. (11) This is no longer so.
- Religious intolerance is quite common in Europe even today and there are often killings or tortures for different beliefs.
- Religious intolerance is visible throughout the world, but more so in the western world.
- Religious matters are given topmost priority in the western world where often enough there have been killings and tortures for petty differences.
- Religious intolerance has been quite common in western world where people have been killed and tortured for having beliefs different from those of others.