PSAT/NMSQT Prep 2019 - Princeton Review 2019

Conventions of usage
Writing & Language: Standard english conventions
Writing

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

1. Recognize and correct errors in pronoun clarity, grammatical agreement, and logical comparison

2. Distinguish among commonly confused possessive determiners, contractions, and adverbs

3. Recognize and correct incorrectly constructed idioms and frequently misused words

SMARTPOINTS

Prepare

PRONOUNS

A pronoun is ambiguous if the noun to which it refers (its antecedent) is either missing or unclear. On the PSAT, you must be able to recognize either situation and make the appropriate correction. When you see an underlined pronoun, make sure you can find the specific noun to which it refers.

Missing Antecedent

· When the flight arrived, they told the passengers to stay seated until the plane reached the gate. (The pronoun they does not have an antecedent in this sentence.)

· When the flight arrived, the flight crew told the passengers to stay seated until the plane reached the gate. (Replacing the pronoun with a specific noun clarifies the meaning.)

Unclear Antecedent

· Kayla asked Mia to drive Sree to the airport because she was running late. (The pronoun she could refer to any of the three people mentioned in the sentence.)

· Because Kayla was running late, she asked Mia to drive Sree to the airport. (The pronoun she now unambiguously refers to Kayla.)

Definition

The antecedent is the noun that the pronoun replaces or stands in for elsewhere in the sentence. To identify the antecedent of a pronoun, check the nouns near the pronoun. Substitute those nouns for the pronoun to see which one makes sense.

AGREEMENT

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Pronouns must agree with their antecedents not only in person and number, but also in gender. Only third-person pronouns make distinctions based on gender.

Pronoun-Case Agreement

There are three pronoun cases:

1. Subjective case: The pronoun is used as the subject.

2. Objective case: The pronoun is used as the object of a verb or a preposition.

3. Possessive case: The pronoun expresses ownership.

Expert Tip

When there are two pronouns or a noun and a pronoun in a compound structure, drop the other noun to confirm which pronoun case to use. For example: Leo and me walk into town. Would you say, “Me walk into town”? No, you would say, “I walk into town.” Therefore, the correct case is subjective and the original sentence should read Leo and I walk into town.

Remember

Use who when a sentence refers to she, he, or I. (Quynh was the person who provided the best answer.) Use whom when a sentence refers to her, him, or me. (With whom did Aaron attend the event?)

Subject-Verb Agreement

A verb must agree with its subject in person and number:

· Singular: The apple tastes delicious.

· Plural: Apples taste delicious.

The noun closest to a verb may not be its subject: The chair with the cabriole legs is an antique. The noun closest to the verb in this sentence (is, which is singular) is legs, which is plural. However, the verb’s subject is chair, so the sentence is correct as written.

Only the conjunction and forms a compound subject requiring a plural verb form:

· Saliyah and Taylor are in the running club.

· Either Saliyah or Taylor is in the running club.

· Neither Saliyah nor Taylor is in the running club.

Noun-Number Agreement

Related nouns must be consistent in number:

· Students applying for college must submit their applications on time. (The sentence refers to multiple students, and they all must submit applications.)

FREQUENTLY CONFUSED WORDS

English contains many pairs of words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings.

ACCEPT/EXCEPT: To accept is to take or receive something that is offered: My neighbor said he would accept my apology for trampling over his rose beds as long as I helped weed them in the spring. To except is to leave out or exclude: The soldier was excepted from combat duty because he had poor field vision. Except is usually used as a preposition that means with the exception of, excluding: When the receptionist found out that everyone except him had received a raise, he demanded a salary increase as well.

AFFECT/EFFECT: To affect is to have an influence on something: Eli refused to let the rain affect his plans for a picnic, so he sat under an umbrella and ate his sandwich. An affect is an emotion or The guidance counselor noticed that more outdoor time resulted in improved student affect. To effect is to bring something about or cause something to happen: The young activist received an award for effecting a change in her community. An effect is an influence or a result: The newspaper article about homeless animals had such an effect on Zarak that he brought home three kittens from the shelter. Affect is most often used in its verb form, and effect is most often used in its noun form.

AFFLICT/INFLICT: To afflict is to torment or distress someone or something. It usually appears as a passive verb: Jeff is afflicted with frequent migraine headaches. To inflict is to impose punishment or suffering on someone or something: No one dared displease the king, for he was known to inflict severe punishments on those who upset him.

ALLUSION/ILLUSION: An allusion is an indirect reference to something, a hint: The teacher’s comment about the most enigmatic smile in art history was not lost on Sophie; this allusion could only be a reference to Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. An illusion is a false, misleading, or deceptive appearance: A magician creates the illusion that something has disappeared by hiding it faster than the eye can follow it.

EMIGRATE/IMMIGRATE: To emigrate is to leave one country for another country. It is usually used with the preposition from: Many people emigrated from Europe in search of better living conditions. To immigrate is to enter a country to take up permanent residence there. It is usually used with the preposition to: They immigrated to North America because land was plentiful.

EMINENT/IMMINENT: Someone who is eminent is prominent or outstanding: The eminent archeologist Dr. Wong has identified the artifact as prehistoric in origin. Something that is imminent is likely to happen soon or is impending: After being warned that the hurricane’s arrival was imminent, beachfront residents left their homes immediately.

LAY/LIE: To lay is to place or put something down and is usually followed by a “something”—a direct object: Before she begins to paint, Emily lays all of her pencils, brushes, and paints on her worktable to avoid interruptions while she draws and paints. One form, laid, serves as the simple past and the past participle of lay: I laid my necklace on the counter, just where Rebecca had put hers. To lie is to recline, to be in a lying position or at rest. This verb never takes a direct object: you do not lie anything down. The simple past form of lie is lay; the past participle is lain. Notice that the past form of lie is identical with the present form of lay. This coincidence complicates the task of distinguishing the related meanings of lay and lie: Having laid the picnic cloth under the sycamore, they lay in the shady grass all last Sunday afternoon.

RAISE/RISE: Raise means to lift up, or to cause to rise or grow, and it is paired with a direct object: you raise weights, roof beams, tomato plants, or children. Raise is a regular verb. The trade tariff on imported leather goods raised the prices of Italian shoes. To rise is to get up, to go up, or to be built up. This verb is never paired with a direct object: you do not rise something. The past and past participle forms are irregular; rose is the simple past tense, and risen is the past participle. Long-distance commuters must rise early and return home late.

SET/SIT: The difference between set and sit is very similar to the difference between lay and lie and between raise and rise. To set is to put or place, settle or arrange something. However, set takes on other specific meanings when it is combined with several different prepositions, so always think carefully about the meaning of the word in the sentence. Set is an irregular verb because it has one form that serves as present tense, past tense, and past participle. Set usually has a direct object: you set a ladder against the fence, a value on family heirlooms, a date for the family reunion: The professor set the students’ chairs in a semicircle to promote open discussion. To sit is to take a seat or to be in a seated position, to rest somewhere, or to occupy a place. This verb does not usually have a direct object: The beach house sits on a hill some distance from the shoreline. When sit doesn’t make sense, consider the word sat: The usher sat us in the center seats of the third row from the stage.

Other pairs of words do not sound alike but have similar meanings that are often confused:

AMONG/BETWEEN: The preposition among refers to collective arrangements; use it when referring to three or more people or items. The soccer team shared dozens of oranges among themselves. Between is also a preposition, but it refers to only two people or items: Amy and Tonia split the tasks between them.

AMOUNT/NUMBER: Amount is used in reference to mass nouns (also known as uncountable nouns): The amount of bravery displayed was awe-inspiring. Number is used in reference to countable nouns: The recipe calls for a specific number of eggs.

LESS/FEWER: Less should be used only with mass nouns, which are grammatically singular: Diana’s yard has less wildlife than mine. One common misuse of less is a sign you probably encounter frequently at the supermarket: The 10 items or less sign should actually be 10 items or fewer, because the items are countable. Fewer should be used when referring to countable objects and concepts: Diana’s yard has fewer squirrels than mine.

MUCH/MANY: Much modifies things that cannot be counted, often singular nouns: Jim has much more money than I do. Many, on the other hand, modifies things that can be counted, such as plural nouns: Samantha has many awards in her collection.

The PSAT will also test your ability to correctly use and identify possessive pronouns, contractions, and adverbs that sound the same:

ITS/IT’S: Its is a possessive pronoun like his and hers: The rare book would be worth more if its cover weren’t ripped. It’s is a contraction that can mean it is, it has, or it was: It’s been a long time since I last saw you.

THEIR/THEY’RE/THERE: Their is a possessive form of the pronoun they: The players respected their coach. They’re is a contraction of they are: The students say they’re planning to attend college. There is used to introduce a sentence or indicate a location: There was plenty of water in the well when we arrived there.

THEIRS/THERE’S: Theirs is the possessive plural form of the pronoun they: The team was ecstatic when it was announced that the prize was theirs. There’s is a contraction of there is or there has: There’s been a lot of rain this summer.

WHOSE/WHO’S: Whose is a possessive pronoun used to refer to people or things: Whose phone is ringing? Who’s is a contraction of who is or who has: Who’s planning to join us for dinner?

COMPARISONS

The PSAT will test your ability to recognize and correct improper comparisons. There are three rules governing correct comparisons:

1. Compare logical things

The price of tea has risen sharply, while coffee has remained the same.

This sentence incorrectly compares the price of tea to coffee. The sentence should read: The price of tea has risen sharply, while the price of coffee has remained the same.

2. Use parallel structure

On a sunny day, I enjoy hiking and to read outside.

This sentence incorrectly uses the gerund verb form (hiking) and then switches to the infinitive verb form (to read). To correct the sentence, make sure the verb forms are consistent: On a sunny day, I enjoy hiking and reading outside.

3. Structure comparisons correctly

Some animals are better at endurance running than they are at sprinting.

Others are as good at endurance running as they are at sprinting.

Both of these sentences are correctly structured: the first with the use of better . . . than, and the second with the use of as . . . as.

When comparing like things, use adjectives that match the number of items being compared. When comparing two items or people, use the comparative form of the adjective. When comparing three or more items or people, use the superlative form.

IDIOMS

An idiom is a combination of words that must be used together to convey either a figurative or literal meaning. Idioms are tested in four ways on the PSAT:

1. Proper preposition usage in context

The three finalists will compete for the grand prize: an all-inclusive cruise to Bali.

Roger will compete against Rafael in the final round of the tournament.

I will compete with Deborah in the synchronized swimming competition.

2. Verb forms

The architect likes to draft floor plans.

The architect enjoys drafting floor plans.

3. Idiomatic expressions

Idiomatic expressions refer to words or phrases that must be used together to be correct.

Simone will either continue sleeping or get up and get ready for school.

Neither the principal nor the teachers will tolerate tardiness.

This fall, Shari is playing not only soccer but also field hockey.

4. Implicit double negatives

Some words imply a negative and therefore cannot be paired with an explicit negative.

Janie cannot hardly wait for summer vacation.

This sentence is incorrect as written. It should read: Janie can hardly wait for summer vacation.

Let’s look at the following Writing & Language passage and questions. After the passage, there are two columns. The left column contains test-like questions. The column on the right features the strategic thinking a test expert employs when approaching the passage and questions presented.

1. Questions 1-4 are based on the following passage.

2. Woolly Mammoth

There is likely no animal that better captures the public’s imagination of the prehistoric Ice Age than the woolly mammoth. Although remains of many mammoths have been discovered over the years, none have been found better preserved than the “Jarkov Mammoth” found on Siberia’s Taimyr Peninsula in 1997. Soon after a 9-year-old boy out playing in the snowy hills first spotted the remains, scientists descended on the site. Then, after battling weeks of frigid weather and approximately 20,000 years’ worth of dense frost coating the entire body of the mammoth, the assembled team finally completed a successful excavation. Important for numerous scientific reasons, the Jarkov Mammoth, in particular, have helped scientists settle a debate that has been raging for many years concerning the possible reasons behind the sudden extinction of these ancient giants.

Woolly mammoths roamed the cold northern plains of the globe for much of the last 2 million years, including most of the Ice Age that began roughly 70,000 years ago. Then, quite suddenly, 10,000 years ago, a time that corresponds with the end of the Ice Age, the mammoths disappeared. Scientific theories explaining this rapid extinction ranged from thoughts of meteor showers pelting Earth to massive volcanic eruptions. Today, however, partially through evidence taken from the Jarkov Mammoth, it is generally agreed that these creatures died out from a combination of changing climate, hunting pressures from humans, and probably even disease. In fact, scientists consider it likely that the rising temperatures accompanying the end of the Ice Age worked against the evolutionary adaptations made by the mammoths, including their signature woolly coats of dense fur. Indeed, the demise of the Jarkov Mammoth seems to have involved a deep patch of mud, perhaps a sign that these behemoths were unaccustomed to treading on increasingly softer ground.

Having adapted to the cold and snow that blanketed much of Earth during the Ice Age, the mammoth kept its enormous body at an optimal temperature with a covering of long, thick, dark hair and a layer of underfur. Typically, these herbivorous precursors to the modern-day elephant were about 12 feet long, 10 feet tall at the shoulders, and weighed nearly 6,000 pounds. The long, distinctively curved tusks of the mammoth were used for protection by all members of the species and specifically by the males to assert their dominance, much the same way they utilize their own shorter, straighter toothy appendages. For a woolly mammoth living in the Ice Age, these tusks were particularly important for digging through layers of ice in search of grass and other plant food. Although the eventual melting of these layers would seem to ease this search, the sudden change in climate apparently proved too much for the woolly mammoth to overcome.

Practice

You have seen the ways in which the PSAT tests you on Conventions of Usage in Writing & Language passages and the way a PSAT expert approaches these types of questions.

Use the Kaplan Method for Writing & Language to answer the four questions that accompany the following Writing & Language passage excerpt. Remember to look at the strategic-thinking questions that have been laid out for you—some of the answers have been filled in, but you will have to complete the answers to others.

Use your answers to the strategic thinking questions to select the correct answer, just as you will on Test Day.

1. Questions 5-8 are based on the following passage.

2. Hudson River School

The first truly American art movement, called the Hudson River School, was formed by a group of landscape painters and emerged in the early nineteenth century. The first works in this style were created by Thomas Cole, Thomas Doughty, and Asher Durand, a trio of painters who worked during the 1820s in the Hudson River Valley and surrounding locations. Heavily influenced by European romanticism, these painters set out to convey the remoteness and splendor of the American wilderness. The strongly nationalistic tone of their paintings caught the spirit of the times, and within a generation, the movement had mushroomed to include landscape painters from all over the United States. Canvases celebrating such typically American scenes as Niagara Falls, Boston Harbor, and the expansion of the railroad into rural Pennsylvania was greeted with enormous popular acclaim.

One factor contributing to the success of the Hudson River School was the rapid growth of American nationalism in the early nineteenth century. The War of 1812 had given the United States a new sense of pride in its identity, and as the nation continued to grow, there was a desire to compete with Europe on both economic and cultural grounds. The vast panoramas of the Hudson River School fit the bill perfectly while providing a new movement in art that was unmistakably American in origin. The Hudson River School also arrived at a time when writers in the United States were turning their attention to the wilderness as a unique aspect of their nationality. The Hudson River School painters profited from this nostalgia because they effectively represented the continent the way it used to be. The view that the American character was formed by the frontier experience was widely held, and many of them wrote about their concerns regarding an increasingly urbanized country.

In keeping with this nationalistic spirit, even the painting style of the Hudson River School exhibited a strong sense of American identity. Although many of the artists studied in Europe, their paintings show a desire to be free of European artistic rules. Regarding the natural landscape as a direct manifestation of God, the Hudson River School painters attempted to record what they saw as accurately as possible. Unlike European painters, who brought to their canvases the styles and techniques of centuries, the Hudson River School painters sought neither to embellish nor to idealize their scenes, portraying nature with the objectivity and attention to detail of naturalists.

Perform

Now try a test-like Writing & Language passage on your own. Give yourself 5 minutes to read the passage and answer the questions.

1. Questions 9-16 are based on the following passage.

2. 1929 Stock Market Crash

On October 29, 1929, the stock market crashed in one of the most worst financial panics in American history. The ensuing economic meltdown, known as the Great Depression, left Americans thinking about what went wrong and how to ensure that it would never happen again. To this day, economists study the speculative boom of the Roaring ’20s, the crash, and the Great Depression, trying to find patterns that can be applied to today’s economy.

After World War I, America, having proven itself a world power, began to reap the benefits of new technologies and investments opening everywhere. Mass production made all types of new gadgets, such as vacuum cleaners and automobiles,available to more Americans because of cheaper prices. The same was true of stocks and bonds. Throughout the 1920s, many Americans, not just the rich, played the stock market. Laws of the day made this investment possible by requiring only 10 percent, or a “margin,” of an investment to be paid immediately, with the rest payable over time. If something went wrong, however, the investor would have to pay back the balance of its loan.

Economists of the time worried about how much investing was being done by people who could not hardly afford the losses if the market crashed, but government policy of the day called for nonintervention into business matters. Economists, nonetheless, sought a way to wean the people away from margin investing, but no laws were implemented for fear of causing a panic. As long as the stock prices continued to go up and investors continued to benefit, no one was willing to take action. History has taught us, however, that markets are cyclical in nature, and eventually even the strongest bull market* will begin to fail.

In this case, it came in 1929. The year was filled with nervous tension as investors which had bought a great quantity of stock on credit sought a way out of a market that was declining. Finally, on October 29, the pressure in everyone trying to sell stock became too much, and the market began a downward spiral from which there would be no easy recovery.

The lessons of 1929 have taught investors that the stock market is no game. Laws have been passed that significantly reduce margin investing. In addition, many safeguards have been implemented to stem financial panic when the market starts to decline. Although the economy will always have high and low points, the hope is that modifying people’s behavior will prevent the raw panic that allowed the crash of ’29 and the Great Depression to occur.

*bull market: a successful market with confident investors

9.

1. NO CHANGE

2. most worse

3. worst

4. more worse

10.

1. NO CHANGE

2. the vacuum cleaner and the automobiles

3. the vacuum cleaner and automobiles

4. vacuum cleaners or automobiles

11.

1. NO CHANGE

2. the

3. her

4. his

12.

1. NO CHANGE

2. barely afford

3. scarcely afford

4. afford

13.

1. NO CHANGE

2. the bull market

3. the failure

4. the cycle

14.

1. NO CHANGE

2. who

3. whom

4. those of whom who

15.

1. NO CHANGE

2. when

3. on

4. of

16.

1. NO CHANGE

2. markets starts

3. market start

4. market started

On your own

The following questions provide an opportunity to practice the concepts and strategic thinking covered in this chapter. While many of the questions pertain to Conventions of Usage, some touch on other concepts tested on the Writing & Language Test to ensure that your practice is test-like, with a variety of question types per passage.

1.

1. Questions 1-11 are based on the following passage.

2. Violence in Children’s Entertainment

[1] In recent years, many parents have expressed concern that the atmosphere of violence propagated by the American entertainment industry may be having a harmful effect on their children. [2] Certainly these parents are correct that violent acts such as murder, have become the pervasive theme of everything from feature films to television cartoons. [3] But is this kind of depravity altogether new to the world of the child. [4] Haven’t parents for centuries been exposing their children to fairy tales that are at least as gory and violent?

Consider, for example, the tale of “Little Red Riding Hood,” a story of murder and mayhem that has been told to children—and repeated by them—for at least 300 years. In the earliest known version of the tale, both Granny and Little Red are devoured. Little Red is engaged in one of the most terrifying conversations in all literature when the wolf, having already eaten dear old Granny, utters the chilling line: “All the better to eat you with!” Even Charles Dickens, an author whose own fictional world was hardly free of brutality against children, confessed that he deplored “the cruelty and treachery of that dissembling wolf who ate [Little Red’s] grandmother without making any impression on his appetite, and then ate her [Little Red], after making a ferocious joke about his teeth.” Believe it or not, but the version where both Grandmother and Little Red are eaten was not the worst version of the tale circulating in Charles Dickens’s time. In other parts of the world, children heard an even more horrifying story that concluded with the wolf collecting the grandmother’s blood in bottles.

One theory suggests that fairy tales represent an attempt to deal with realistic threats in fantastic terms. Living conditions for most families from Elizabethan times to the early nineteenth century made it impossible to shelter children from many of the harsher aspects of adult life. Families lived in cramped quarters that precluded any form of privacy. While prevailing notions of criminal justice required that punishment—whether flogging or imprisonment in stocks or even hanging or disembowelment—be conducted as a public spectacle. Fairy tales distanced this grisly reality by placing it in a context of unreal fantasies. But at the same time, the tales made children aware of dangers and wary of evil temptations.

1.

1. NO CHANGE

2. secreted

3. populated

4. advocated

2.

1. NO CHANGE

2. violent acts; such as murder; have become

3. violent acts, such as murder have become

4. violent acts, such as murder, have become

3.

1. NO CHANGE

2. child?

3. child!

4. child;

4. For the sake of cohesion of this paragraph, sentence 2 should be placed

1. where it is now.

2. before sentence 1.

3. after sentence 3.

4. after sentence 4.

5.

1. NO CHANGE

2. Consider, for example, the tale of “Little Red Riding Hood,” a story of murder and mayhem.

3. Consider, for example, the tale of “Little Red Riding Hood.”

4. Consider, for example, the tale of “Little Red Riding Hood,” a story told to children—and repeated by them—for at least 300 years.

6.

1. NO CHANGE

2. Little Red is engaged in one of the most terrifying conversations in all literature when the wolf

3. The wolf, having already eaten dear old Granny, engages Little Red in one of the most terrifying conversations in all literature when he

4. The wolf, having already eaten dear old Granny,

7.

1. NO CHANGE

2. Yet, that was not the worst version of the tale circulating in Dickens’s time.

3. Yet, the version where both Grandmother and Little Red are eaten was not the worst version of the tale circulating in Dickens’s time.

4. Believe it or not, that was not the worst version of the tale circulating in Dickens’s time.

8. Which choice most effectively establishes the central idea of the paragraph?

1. So why did the writers and tellers of fairy tales continually gloss over unsavory stories, avoiding themes of homicide, maiming, and lunacy?

2. So why did Dickens continue to study—and mimic—the fairy tales he claimed to dislike?

3. Theories for why fairy tales continually revisit these themes are hard to find.

4. So why did the writers and tellers of fairy tales continually produce such unsavory stories, with their thinly veiled themes of homicide, maiming, and lunacy?

9.

1. NO CHANGE

2. caustic

3. existent

4. plausible

10.

1. NO CHANGE

2. any form of privacy, while prevailing notions

3. any form of privacy while prevailing notions

4. any form of privacy; while prevailing notions

11.Which choice most effectively concludes the paragraph and the passage?

1. Indeed, fairy tales of old could do little to protect a child from the harshness of life and, at best, could only serve as a brief escape from the drudgery and danger that typified reality for most people.

2. Thus, the fictionalized violence of fairy tales was simply the ancestor of the American entertainment industry.

3. Thus, though parents today are concerned with violence in children’s media, we can see that it is nothing new—and, in fact, that its origin was meant to help children rather than to harm them.

4. Far from harming children, then, the fictionalized violence of fairy tales—as deplorable as it may seem in principle—is comparable to the film industry’s violence today, in that it seems to have little effect on raising healthy children.