If you are reading this in an email you received from me, do not click the link to sat.collegeboard.org below. Use the link to my website that is farther down on the email.
http://sat.collegeboard.org/practice/sat-question-of-the-day?questionId=20140220&oq=1 (This link takes you to today’s question. If you use my archive, you will see the question related to my SAT explanation for that date.)
The answer is E. There are two problems with the original “sentence.” It really isn’t a sentence because there’s no verb to go with the subject, Piaget. We need to fix that problem. The other problem isn’t even mentioned by the SAT folks. A scientist is a “who” and not a “that.” Weird how they missed that. Let’s see how we can fix both of those issues.
B has a problem because it uses the wrong verb form, “making,” and needs a pronoun to start the phrase.
C is problematic. Piaget didn’t make his systematic studies “as a Swiss psychologist.” He did it “as a psychologist.”
D is awkward because it uses a wrong verb construction “in having made.” L
E is the “Goldilocks” answer. It is just right because it avoids the problems of A through D and is perfectly correct.
If you want to sharpen your grammar and composition skills, I highly recommend chompchomp.com. It is a wonderful website that teaches and provides practice for the skills you will need on test day.
I wonder what the ACT folks have up their sleeves this morning!
ACT Question of the Day: Use your “back” button to return to my website after reading the ACT Question of the Day.
The answer is F. This is the type of question that pops up on the ACT that I don’t recall ever seeing on the SAT. It is a detail question that requires you to remember the timing of a sequence of events. It is typical of why many students complain about how they run out of time on the ACT and don’t have as much trouble with time on the SAT. The ACT provides far fewer (about half as many) questions with line references to the passages. Think about how much time you need to spend going back to find the answer to this question. It could be a killer on test day.
In any event, the “Wizard’s Checklist” and PICK strategy make quick work of the question once you have returned and checked out the sequence of events. Answers G and J are ruled out because they disagree with the passage. H is ruled out because it adds to the passage. That leaves Answer F. Bubble it in and move on.
Over twenty years of experience helping students has shown me that students make a major and very common mistake when taking a reading test. It is a poor strategy that is killing their time and hurting their scores. What do they do wrong? They spend time trying to justify how an answer could be correct. That is simply the wrong approach. Your job is to justify why an answer could be wrong! It is much quicker and more accurate to approach the test that way! Look what I did with this question. Answers that add or disagree with the passage are eliminated. No fuss, no muss!
To learn about more of my strategies, use my free website or my online video course: http://theuniversityedge.com/purchase-now. Check it out with a money back guarantee for 7 days.
I would like to welcome the hundreds of guests to my website that learned about my program on the Channel 6 News broadcast. Many of you sent me emails and called. Thanks for getting in touch and I hope our communication was helpful.
Here’s something I would appreciate you doing in return for the help I provide with my daily blog. Spread the word. Could you please mention or add the news program on your Facebook page: http://www.clickorlando.com/news/sat-test-wizard-gets-high-marks-from-students/-/1637132/24542162/-/q17ej7z/-/index.html? Thanks.
Have a great day. I’m going to be working on my class starting at Olympia High School in Orlando. I’ll see some of you there!
Bob Alexander, the “SAT and ACT Wizard”
