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=20140427&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 C. The subject “supply” is singular; therefore, you need a singular verb to go with it. The predicate (verb) “make” is plural. (Don’t ask me why plural nouns have an “s” but plural verbs do not. It’s another quirk in the English language.)
That was pretty simple if you have studied my list of common errors that show up on the test. They are on my free website and in my book, Demystifying the SAT & ACT. I also discuss the errors that show up on the SAT Writing Test and ACT English Test on Video Series 1000.
As you prepare for the SAT and ACT, it is a great plan to review the content that typically shows up on the tests. In this case, it is grammar errors. You also should take my free math diagnostic. It will not only provide you a list of the 109 math concepts that show up on the test but also identify your weaknesses. My materials that prepare you for Sentence Completion and the Reading Passages will identify the kinds of questions and the patterns that appear on the SAT and ACT Reading Tests. It is in your best interest to spend some time reviewing these lists so that you can focus your preparation on what you certainly will see on test day. You also can use these lists as a review before the tests.
Let’s see what the ACT folks have for us today.
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 C. The independent clause that begins the sentence ends with “…and lecture.” The rest of the sentence is an appositive that provides a description for the subject of the sentence, “she.” Appositives, as dependent clauses, need to have commas that separate them from the rest of the sentence. This question is complicated by the fact that the appositive is separated by several words from the noun that it describes. Normally they are immediately following the noun. For example: She, a pilot from the US, barnstormed in France.
QotD Words of “Wiz-dom”:
This is the next installment in a series about the “Pillars of Test-Taking Wiz-dom.”
Pillar IV: Focus on the Question:
I’m sure what immediately jumped to your mind is the warning you get from teachers to be sure to answer the question that is in the test booklet by being careful not to misread it. That is valuable advice. However, my Pillar goes far beyond that.
Use the question to decide how to attack it. For example, if it is a math question about ratios, you always start by adding the parts; a ratio of 3:4:5 has 12 parts. For Sentence Completion questions, focus on the topic. For Reading Passage questions, focus on the answers that are Insertable. For grammar questions, focus on the underlined word and the common errors that are associated with that part of speech. By practicing, you will learn the patterns that show up on standardized tests like the SAT and ACT and be able to quickly determine the best way to handle them.
You have only six days until the SAT test. Make the most of them.
Bob Alexander, the “SAT and ACT Wizard”