Jan 30 ACT & SAT Question of the Day

http://sat.collegeboard.org/practice/sat-question-of-the-day?src=R&questionId=20130130 (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.  The SAT staff’s explanation is fine and answers the question but I think there’s another issue that needs fixing.  It seems as if the clause “comparing it with nearly 50% produced by Brazil” needs a verb and not simply a conjunction.  That being the case, you can eliminate B, C, and D.  Since “Comparing it with” requires a verb A. is out.  Substituting “compared with” provides the verb form that eliminates the ambiguous “it.”

Here’s my hint for the day: whenever you see a pronoun underlined, check the antecedent.  Often the mistake is that it is unclear what noun the pronoun stands for and that is the mistake.  Keep an eye out for this error.

Let’s see what the ACT folks have in store for us this morning.

http://www.act.org/qotd/ (The ACT staff does not put a date on their questions so if you click on an archived blog, you’ll get today’s question and the old explanation. Sorry. The SAT staff has dated their questions; so, the archive is helpful. The ACT folks simply don’t do that.)

The answer is E.  Don’t you wish the ACT questions were all this easy?  If you see one this simple on the SAT it will be question #1 or #2.  That’s because on the SAT the questions are arranged from easy to hard.  Okay, let’s get back to the question.

The ACT folks do a fine job of explaining how to do the algebra this morning; so, there’s no reason for me to repeat that.  If you had trouble with the algebra, remember to subtract/add before you multiply/divide when you solve an equation.  You can do it the other way but things get very messy and can lead to simple mistakes and often you have to do extra steps.

Here’s a big shout out to all my new students at Lake Nona High. Welcome to the Wizard’s Workshop. Hope you and your parents enjoyed the College Admissions you attended Monday night. Thank your parents for joining you on your journey to finding a great college.

Classes start in Dr. Phillips and Celebration this weekend. Some of you have called or emailed me to reserve a seat but remember I only guarantee a seat if you’ve completed and submitted your registration form.  So, take care of that if you haven’t done so already.

If you are taking the February ACT, time is running short. I recommend you watch my online Tips and Tricks videos to help you prepare. In addition to the free ones on the home page, it only costs $3 to watch an hour of my best test-taking techniques for taking the SAT and ACT tests.

The Wizard

 

About Bob Alexander

Bob has been a professional educator starting with teaching biology, becoming a school administrator, and then working as an education lobbyist in Washington, DC. He got his start in national testing by becoming a consulting test writer, later joining Kaplan as a director, and finally starting his own business in 1995. He has written numerous books, consulted for school districts and colleges, developed his website and been featured on a DVD set. He offers SAT and ACT prep classes and tutors individuals and small groups of students in central Florida.
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