In the SAGE Reading/English Section, Be Aware That You Will Have to Find Errors in Sentences

In the SAGE Reading/English section, be aware that you will have to find errors in sentences mostly dealing with the following grammar situations:

Parallelis
Neither soft words nor offering treats would lure the kitten from the box.
(To fix: Neither soft words nor tasty treats would lure the kitten from the box)
Doing your best is more important than to win.
(To fix: Doing your best is more important than winning.)
Practice:
1) Success in school requires good study habits and wanting to succeed.

2) My doctor told me that I needed to make a lot of changes to my lifestyle but I needed to introduce them gradually.

3) In my high school, bad grades could be grounds for detention or being suspended.

4) Flying off the handle is easier than to stay calm

5) I enjoyed sitting in the park and the viewing of the meteor shower.
Subject-Verb Agreement
With subject-verb agreement, it is often helpful to weed out all of the prepositional phrases so that you can
clearly see the subject with which you are dealing.

1) Either the girl or the boys (is, are) going to the party.

2) Someone in my last two classes (was, were) making a lot of noise.

3) Neither of my grandparents (has, have) attended college.

4) Neither the policeman nor the firemen (was, were) able to help prevent the disaster.

5) Anything you say and anything you do (is, are) certain to impact the outcome.

Pronoun Usage

1) My brother and (I, me) will go to the show.

2) The teacher saw Tom and (he, him) throwing rocks.

3) He will be going to the show with Maria and (I, me).

4) Alice gave the book to Jon and (I, me)
Misplaced Modifiers
To fix a misplaced modifier, you need to move the phrase close to the word to which it is referring.
I found my keys looking through my jacket. WRONG
Looking through my jacket, I found my keys. RIGHT
To be a good student, study is needed. WRONG
To be a good student, you need to study. RIGHT
Try to fix these sentences:
1) Rolling down the hill, the boy was frightened that the rocks would land on the campsite.
2) Covered in wildflowers, the tourists pondered the hillside's beauty.
3) He saw the girl standing by the soft drink machine wearing sunglasses.
Possessives & Plurals
It’s – Its / they’re – their- there
It's (It is) hot outside. / The dog chased its tail. (Notice: its' does not exist
They're (They are) here. / Their car is broken. / There it is. (Notice: there is an adverb like here)
Number of Pronoun Matching Noun --
The pronoun should match the noun it represents in number; for example, if the noun is plural (BOYS),
the pronoun that refers to that word must also be plural (THEIR, not HIS).
All of the boys will carry his own books. (Fix this: All will carry “their own books”)
When a person breaks the law, they have to face the consequences. (Should be “he has to face”)

1)  If a student plagiarizes, ______.

Run-ons

Fix a run-on by inserting a period, a semi-colon, a comma and coordinating conjunction, or a dependent work.

Ex: I hate being late it makes me feel tense.

Correct: I hate being late; it makes me feel tense.

I hate being late. It makes me feel tense.

I hate being late, so it makes me feel tense.
I hate being late because it makes me feel tense.

Practice:

Commas & Semicolons
INTRODUCTORY PHRASES –
Before the bus showed up, the rain came.
In order to complete the work properly, you need to focus on the task.
AROUND NON-ESSENTIAL PHRASES –
The boy, however, will not be attending.
The girl, who sits in the last row, is Sally.
You could take “however” out of the first sentence and “who
sits in the last row” out of the second sentence, and both sentences
would still make sense.
Do not put commas around ESSENTIAL phrases:
All seniors who pass their exams will go on the field trip.
("who pass their exams" is important since not ALL seniors will be going on the field trip)
BETWEEN TWO INDEPENDENT THOUGHTS with a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS)
My older brother is now working at the store, and my younger brother is attendingschool.
Semicolons:
My older brother is now working at the store; my younger brother isattending college.
After all is said and done, it takes a lot of work to pass calculus; and it also
takes a lot of work to understand all the concepts.
We will all succeed in life; however, this will entail devotion to our cause.
LISTS when there is even one comma within an item:
We will visit Paris, France; London, England; and Madrid, Spain.
The tests will be given Tuesday, February 4; Friday, April 13; and
Monday, June 4.
IT WOULD BE CONFUSING TO JUST USE COMMAS. THE SEMICOLONS HELP BREAK THE INFO DOWN INTO CLEAR PARTS.
Tip about semicolons:
Semicolons often function like a period; therefore, if in your choices, you're given the option between
A. blah blah; and B. blah blah. know that they are BOTH WRONG and so go with one of the other options
The same goes for dashes and colons. They function in similar ways; therefore, if in your choices, you're given the option between A. blah: and B. blah -- know that they are BOTH WRONG and so go with one of the other options.
CONCISENESS / AVOID REPETITION
On the ACT, many questions want you to weed out unnecessary words from sentences.
In the sentence “The chubby boy who weighed too much lined up for lunch,”
you should notice that it’s repetitive to point out that the boy was
chubby AND that he weighed too much.
Try to make the following sentences more concise:
1) Our Web site has made available many of the things you can use for making a decision on the best dentist.

2) The teacher demonstrated some of the various ways and methods for cutting words from my essay that
I had written for class.

3) Working as a pupil under someone who develops photos was an experience that really helped me learn a lot.
AVOID PASSIVE VOICE

·  Passive voice: The book was given to him. (Avoid this)

·  Active voice: She gave him the book.

Practice

VERB TENSE

·  Wrong: I was walking to lunch when a huge dog jumps up and attacks me.

·  Right: I was walking to lunch when a huge dog jumped up and attacked me.

UNITY & LOGIC IN PARAGRAPHS
When it comes to unity and logical transition in paragraphs, use your common sense.
If a sentence is in a paragraph and does not relate to the TOPIC SENTENCE, omit it.
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On the English portion of the ACT, it is imperative that you READ CAREFULLY.
Make sure that you read the question carefully. The question might say “WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING IS NOT CORRECT.” In that case, you don’t want to be looking for the CORRECT response!
TIPS
Make educated guesses and use process of elimination when you're not sure. Make sure that you don't leave any blanks!
Answer the questions in your booklet. At the end of the page, transfer your answers carefully to the answer sheet. Supposedly this method will save you time. WATCH YOUR TIME!
FOR PRACTICE EXERCISES, GO TOTHE FOLLOWING WEBSITES:
www.number2.com
www.actstudent.org