An arco book arco is a registered trademark of Thomson Learning, Inc., and is used herein under license by Peterson’s. About The Thomson Corporation and Peterson’s

Lesson 2
26
www.petersons.com/arco
ARCO
■ SAT II Subject Tests
Sentence Correction Strategies
1. Begin by reading the original sentence to comprehend its overall meaning. As you do this, let
your ear alert you to possible errors. If you find an error, decide how you would correct it. Then study the
answer choices to find the one that makes your anticipated correction.
2. Do not bother reading answer choice (A). Choice (A) always repeats the underlined part of the
original, so there is no point in reading it.
3. If you do not find an error, use the checklist given above for error recognition items. Add to
that checklist:
Conciseness
Does the sentence use more words than necessary?
Directness
Can the sentence be worded more directly?
4. Compare answer choices. If you are not sure whether the original contains an error, or if you are
not sure how an error should be corrected, look to the answer choices for help. Ask yourself what makes
one choice different from the others and whether that difference is good or bad.
5. Do not be afraid to select choice (A). Approximately one-fifth of the correct answers in the
sentence correction questions will be (A)s. This means that about one-fifth of the sentences will be cor-
rect as originally written. If you can’t put your finger on an error, and if you see no good reason for
making the changes suggested by choices (B) through (E), select choice (A)!
Improving Paragraphs
Improving paragraphs includes a passage that is intended to represent an early draft of a student essay.
Since the passage is a draft, it contains errors and is in need of revision. Some questions focus on indi-
vidual sentences and, like Identifying Sentence Error and Improving Sentence items, test grammar, sen-
tence structure, and expression. Other Improving Paragraphs questions ask about the development and
organization of the passage.
Here is a sample Improving Paragraphs passage with questions:
Directions: Questions 1 through 5 are based upon the following passage. You may consider the
passage to be an early draft of a student essay. Some of the sentences need to be corrected or revised.
Read the passage, then answer the questions.
Some questions require decisions about the structure of individual sentences. Other questions
require decisions about the organization and development of the passage or about the appropriateness
of particular language in light of the overall tone of the passage. For each question, choose the answer
that best expresses the intended meaning clearly and precisely and that follows the conventions of
standard written English.

---