1. English review

2. How many questions? 75
How long is it?
45 minutes = 9 minutes/passage
What does it test?
Standard Written English which is different from conversation

3. What concepts are covered?
Usage and Mechanics
punctuation
commas
apostrophes
colons/semi-colons
parentheses/dashes
periods/question marks/explanation pts
**In your choices, the words will usually be the same, but the punctuation will be different

4. What concepts are covered, continued Grammar and Usage
Subject/verb agreement
Pronoun antecedent agreement
Adjective/adverb usage with nouns and pronouns
Verb tenses
Pronoun forms/cases
Comparative/superlative modifiers
Idioms

5. What concepts are covered, continued
Sentence structure
subordinate/dependent clauses
run-on sentences
comma splices
sentence fragments
misplaced modifiers
shifts in construction

6. What concepts are covered, continued
Rhetorical skills
writing strategies
purpose of writing
organization
order of sentences
coherence/clarity of paragraphs
unity of paragraphs
style of writing
word choice – tone, clarity, economy

7. Final clues to the English test
Read _____ passages
five
Answer _____ questions on each
fifteen
Allow _____ minutes per passage
nine

8. Final reminders continued
Read to the end of the sentences and maybe the sentence beyond the question to discover the relationship between sentences/ideas
****Substitute each option to discover the best one****
Check your answers

9. Redundancy (Repeating)
If choices all say the same thing, choose the shortest answer
Unnecessary and unessential
Unnecessary
Not necessary and not needed
Not necessary and decidedly unessential

10. Specific Example
It the question asks you to provide a specific example, choose the answer that is the most descriptive
Red resisted giving up the couch and bed
Red disappointed Andrew
Red caused some difficulties
Red objected

11. Yes/No Questions
When you are given the yes/no question, decide yes or no before reading any of the responses. Then read only the two that pertain and judge their ideas only.
A. Yes, . . .
B. Yes, . . .
C. No, . . .
D. No, . . .

12. Similar Answers
If answers are similar, they cancel each other out and can’t be the right answer
If a question asks which one would NOT work – look for the oddball!
When
After
Soon
Because
When, after, soon = time
Because = cause/effect

13. Active / Passive Voice Stay in the active voice
She was elected by her peers. (passive)
Passive has the people doing the action stuck in a prepositional phrase
Her peers elected her president. (active)

14. Verb Tenses Tense of verbs must be consistent
Check the verb in the sentence above the one that is in the question = make sure the one you choose is the same tense
Present
Past
Future

15. Parallel Structures Parallel structure
Keep items in a list in the same grammatical structure
Lounge, sleep, eating
Lounge, sleep, eat
Lounge, sleep, to eat
Lounge, sleep, is eating
I used up all of my money riding the roller coaster and playing the carnival games.

16. Modifiers Watch for dangling and misplaced modifiers
Rounding the corner of the track, my shoe fell off. WRONG!!! The shoe is the subject of the sentence and the phrase. The shoe rounded the track??? Instead, use . . .
As I rounded the track, my shoe fell off.
My shoe fell off as I rounded the track.

17. Comparative/Superlative forms
Most fastest – NO!
More faster – NO!
Redundant!
Don’t use est with most
Don’t use er with more
Use most or est when comparing 3 or more
Use more or er when comparing 2
Use neither when discussing only 1

18. Pronoun agreement
Pronouns must agree with the nouns they are replacing in sex and number
Jane = she (sex/gender)
Tom and Jerry = we (number)
Students = they (number)

19. Punctuation Punctuation
If a semicolon is used, you must have a complete sentence on the left and right hand side. Sub verb ; sub verb
A colon is used to introduce a formal list. The following students need to go the office: Jim, John, etc.
No colon after a verb. The following students include Jim, John, etc.
Can’t join two sentences with just a comma!
I went to the game, then I went to Joey’s house.
Comma splices!
For miscellaneous commas, listen for the natural pause – if you pause, put in a comma and you’ll be right most of the time

20. Contractions Don’t get the easy ones wrong! It’s = it is
Who’s = who is
They’re = they are
You’re = you are
These are all two words!!!!!

21. Tone Check the tone/style of the passage informal – 1st person
formal – 3rd person
*** answers should be consistent with tone
When the passage asks you to whether or not a new sentence or phrase should be added, make sure the tone matches the rest of the passage.

22. Irrelevant information
Many yes/no questions include irrelevant info in the options. AVOID irrelevant info!!!

23. Strategy
Read the passage from the very beginning to the end of the sentence that has an underlined section.
Reread the underlined phrase with each option in its place – unless the answer is obvious to you.
Then read from the underlined part to the end of the next sentence with an underlined part.

24. Mary Francis Kennedy Fisher said in the beginning of her first collection of essays, Serve it Forth, “Now I am going to write a book. It will be about eating and about what to eat and about people who eat.” But their work was much more than that.

25. Final reminders
Read to the end of the sentences before answering the question – sometimes beyond if they ask for relationships between sentences
When they ask you to add sentences, need to place each option in the correct place. Read the sentence before, then the sentence you are adding, and then the after it. All three must make sense together
****Substitute each option to discover the best one****
Always guess!
Check your answers if time permits