Verbal

Question 1

When I see …

… SC and cannot find any obviouse error in A …

Answer 1

I will …

… reserve A ASAP

Question 2

Procedure for SC

How to approach each SC question?

Answer 2

Level 0: spot all S, V, and modifiers

Level 1: System 1

1. Subject-Verb agreement 1^st: verb.
2. Parallelism (determine where it starts)
3. Modifiers

Level 2: System 2

4. Pronouns:

• Agree in number (or appositive)
• Dangling (without antecedent)
• Ambiguity (It’s not an absolute rule. Keep this for future judgment)

5. Verb tense
6. Comparison

Level 3: System 2

7. Meaning
8. Concession
9. idioms

Finishing the question:

• Once you’ve eliminated the most obviously incorrect choices, carefully compare the other choices and seek to determine how the differences between them indicate which is correct. In most cases, there will be a subtle difference in meaning conveyed that will indicate which choice is the best.
• If two choices both seem correct, often there’s an issue with the non-underlined portion. So, if you are staring at two choices that seem perfect, check to see which works better with the non-underlined portion.
• When something in a version “sounds strange,” you have likely found an issue. When you’re practicing, seek to articulate exactly what that issue is, even if you have to spend five minutes pondering the choice to do so.
  At the same time, sometimes the correct answer is written to sound a little strange. So, be careful to determine whether what sounds strange is really flawed or just sounds strange even though it’s correct.

For tougher onces note:

• Nothing special about “A”
• Be literal and through (System 2)
• Clear and consice
• Some corrects are fooled you to the wrong choice

Question 3

When I see

… dificulty in finding level 1 in first 30 sec …

Answer 3

I will …

… noting myself, Man! you still have Level 2, 3 and even logical guess

Question 4

When I see …

… complex words …

Answer 4

I will …

… give it a chance. It may be a substitution of a simple word, but as soon as I couldn’t understand its syntysis or X!

Defrostation

Question 5

When I see …

… Noun modifiers …

Answer 5

I will …

consider whether restrictive or non-restrictive modifier is needed.

Absolute phrase, That/Which/… Whom… Who/Whose, participale phrases

Question 6

When I see …

… a pronoun …

Answer 6

I will …

Also find all possible antecedents especially for “it.”

Question 7

When I see …

… answer choices with little differences …

Especially involved parallelism or comparison

Answer 7

I will …

… create a short list for each answer choice’s errors

Question 8

When I see …

… conditional tense …

Answer 8

I will …

… cross check if there is another signals of redundancy like modal verb “may”

Question 9

When I see …

… demonstrative pronouns in comparison …

that of, those of

Answer 9

I will …

Mechanically replace possible antecedents that make sense, ASAP.

Question 10

When I see …

… that, which, who modifiers …

Answer 10

I will …

• Consider the fact that closeness is not the strong role. In all cases you have to consider the meaning.
• Stop my urge to eliminate that can not modify human, human may be a part or prepositional phrase.

The use of lie detectors is based on the assumption that lying produces emotional reactions in an individual that, in turn, create unconscious physiological responses.

Question 11

When I see …

… compound subject in subject-verb agreement …

Especially involving parallelism

Answer 11

I will …

Force myselfe to check the subject again for each answer choice, because in some answer choices it would be change.

Example:
While most of the earliest known ball courts in Mesoamerica date to 900–400 b.c., waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attest to the fact that the Mesoamerican ballgame was well established by the mid-thirteenth century b.c.

✔︎(A) waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attest
→ Sub: waterlogged … and representation (P) verb: attest (P)
✗(E) the finding of waterlogged latex balls at El Manati and of representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics at San Lorenzo attest
→ Sub: the finding (S) verb: attest (P)

Question 12

When I see …

… SC involved Comparison with “Whereas,” “While,” “Although,” and “Unlike.” …

Answer 12

I will …

Note that unlike sentence elements connected by “unlike,” clauses connected by “whereas,” “while,” and “although,” don’t have to be particularly similar to each other.

Example:

Windsurfing is considered physically challenging, involves standing on a board and holding a sail, and is in contrast to kiteboarding, which involves standing on a board and being attached to a kite and can be done in ways to make it not very physically challenging, though still somewhat dangerous.

(A) Windsurfing is considered physically challenging, involves ⍭⍭ standing on a board and holding a sail, and is in contrast to kiteboarding, which involves standing on a board and being(!) attached to a kite and can be done in ways to make it
(B) Whereas windsurfing, which involves standing on a board and holding a sail, is considered to be(✗- considerd X) physically challenging, kiteboarding, which involves standing on a board and attached(✗) to a kite, can be done in ways in which it is
(C) Unlike(✗) the way in which windsurfing, which involves standing on a board and holding a sail, is considered physically challenging, there are ways in which kiteboarding, which involves standing on a board while attached to a kite, can be done so that it is
(D) Windsurfing, which involves standing on a board and holding a sail, is considered physically challenging, while there are ways in which kiteboarding, which involves standing on a board while attached to a kite, can be done such that it is
(E) Windsurfing, involving standing on board while holding a sail, is considered to be(✗) physically challenging, unlike(✗) ways in which kiteboarding, which involves standing on a board while being attached(✗: convey that the activity of kiteboarding centers on the process of “being attached”) to a kite, can be done so that it is

Question 13

When I see …

… SC involved Comparison with “Like” vs. “As” …

Answer 13

I will …

• “Like” can be used only in comparisons of nouns or pronouns. It cannot be used to connect verbs or clauses.
• In a comparison involving two clauses, “as” must be used.

• Use as in comparisons in the expression as … as, with an adjective or adverb in between:
  → ✔︎ Basketball is as popular as football here. | ✔︎ He can’t sing as well as his brother.
• As is also used after be the same (age/size etc):
  → ✔︎ He is the same age as me.
• ✗ Do not use as on its own before a noun or pronoun in comparisons.
  ✔︎ Use like: → ✔︎A movie is not like a book. | ✔︎ Like other people, he values his privacy.
  ✗ Don’t say: → ✗ A movie is not as a book. | ✗ As other people, he values his privacy.
• Use as if/as though before a clause describing an imaginary situation:
  → ✔︎He talked to them as if they were children.
• ✗ Do not use as if/as though directly before a noun.
  ✔︎ You say: → You treat him as if he were your servant.
  ✗ Don’t say: → You treat him as if your servant.

Question 14

When I see …

… SC involved Comparison with “Like” vs. “Such as” and “Including” …

Answer 14

I will …

Note that he word “like” is strictly a comparison word and cannot be used to introduce examples. To introduce examples, we can use “such as.” We can also use “including” to introduce examples.

Example:
Wheat protein, often referred to as gluten, can disrupt the sleep of those who are intolerant to it by triggering an immune response similar to pathogens, like viruses, yeast, and bacteria, all of which have the ability to disrupt sleep.
(A) disrupt the sleep of those who are intolerant to it by triggering an immune response similar to pathogens, like(such as)
(B) be disruptive to the sleep of intolerant people✗ because it can trigger an immune response, which(IC), like the responses triggered by pathogens, such as
(C) disrupt the sleep of those intolerant to gluten by triggering an immune response like(as) pathogens do, including(Misplaced participle)
(D) be disruptive for(to) the sleep of those intolerant to it by triggering an immune response similar to that of(an immune response) the responses triggered by pathogens, including
✓(E) disrupt the sleep of those who are intolerant to it by triggering an immune response like ✓the one triggered by pathogens, such as

Question 15

When I see …

… “when compared” or “if compared” …

Answer 15

I will …

Be careful not to be fooled by sentences that mention the items meant to be compared. Not every sentence that uses wording like “when compared” or “if compared” expresses an incomplete comparison. In some cases, sentences that use such wording are perfectly logical¹.
Similar to a cat, a fox’s tail helps them to balance when they are running, jumping or pouncing.
(B) When compared with that of a cat, a fox’s tail is similar, helping the fox to balance when
(C) A fox’s tail is similar to that of a cat, which helps the fox to balance when
(D) Like a cat’s tail, a fox’s tail is similar, and helps it to balance when
✓(E) A fox’s tail, similar to that of a cat, helps it to balance when

1. The Torre Eurosky, the tallest building in Rome, towers over buildings around it, but when the Torre Eurosky is compared with the Freedom Tower in New York City, the Torre Eurosky may seem rather small.

Question 16

When I see …

… SC involved Comparison …

Answer 16

I will …

check the fact that Comparison: at least two items compared
Unlike the weather in the Hawaiian Islands, which tends to be significantly cooler during the winter months than the summer, the weather in Panama is consistently warmer.
✓(E) In Panama, the weather is consistently warmer than that of the Hawaiian Islands, which tends to be significantly cooler during the winter months than in summer.¹

1. Notice that the wording of this version is chosen with the intent of raising doubt in the mind of test-takers that this version is correct. To that end, weather is connected with Panama via the use of “in,” while weather is connected with the Hawaiian Islands via the use of “of.” Also, “during the winter months” and “in summer,” while logically similar, are not perfectly matched.

Question 17

… SC involved Ellipsis in comparison …

Answer 17

I will ….

Check if there is an ambiguity in comparison.

• Be aware that Ellipsis is allowed for non-compared part as long as it conveys meaning without omitted words. Otherwise we have an ambiguity in comparision.

Example:
So extensive is the critic’s knowledge, so thorough is his research, and his reviews often delve as deeply into the subjects of the books he reviews as the books themselves.

✓(B) knowledge and so thorough his research that his reviews often delve as deeply into the subjects of the books he reviews as do¹

1. The original sentence conveys:

1. His reviews often delve as deeply into the subjects of the books he reviews as the books themselves delve.
2. His reviews often delve as deeply into the subjects of the books he reviews as his reviews delve into the books themselves.
   Neither “delve” nor “reviews delve into” is repeated in this version, and either could be understood to be repeated. So, the meaning conveyed is ambiguous.

Question 18

When I see …

… SC involved Verb comparison …

Answer 18

I will …

Check Two things:

1.Correct substitution of “do, does or did”

• Multiple tense allowed as long as it make sense

2.Pay attention to the verbs used in comparisons

Example:

Analysts predict that, this year, the company’s revenue will grow 12 percent, a number much greater than it was in any of the previous five years.

✓(B) much more than it did

Question 19

When I see …

… SC involved Noun comparison …

Answer 19

I will …

Check 2 things:

1. Should be logical:
   Example:
   With the average yearly temperature increasing in the state, meteorologists predict that severe forest fires will damage this year a number of California’s state parks greater than last year.
   ✓(C) a number of California’s state parks this year greater in comparison with such fires
2. Shouln’t mistakenly compare with itself
   Example:
   High blood pressure in the U.S. population is significantly more prevalent than the Swiss population, although the Swiss eat more cheese from France and drink more beer from Belgium than Americans eat and drink.
   (D) High blood pressure in the U. S. population is significantly more prevalent than it is in the Swiss population,
   (E) In the U. S. population, high blood pressure is significantly more prevalent than it is in the Swiss population, ¹

1. in the answer choice D, the noun is restricted by “in.” Thus, “High blood pressure in the U. S. population” compared with “High blood pressure in the U. S. population is in the Swiss population,”

Question 20

When I see …

… Comparison or Parallelism involving pronouns or helping verbs …

Answer 20

I will …

Replace the antecedent or verb ,step back, and reread the sentence.

In no other historical sighting did Halley’s comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910-1911.

(A) did its return in 1910-1911
(B) had its 1910-1911 return
(C) in its return of 1910-1911
(D) its return of 1910-1911 did
(E) its return in 1910-1911

(A) did its return in 1910-1911

“In no other historical sighting did Halley’s comet cause such a worldwide sensation as caused Halley’s comet’s return in 1910-11.”

• Compare “in no other historical sighting” with “caused Halley’s comet’s return in 1910-11” → ✘

(B) had its 1910-1911 return

• had ?! → ✘

(C) in its return of 1910-1911

In no other historical sighting did Halley’s comet cause such a worldwide sensation as in its return of 1910-1911.

• Compare “in no other historical sighting” with “in Halley’s comet’s return of 1910-1911” → ✔︎

(D) its return of 1910-1911 did

In no other historical sighting did Halley’s comet cause such a worldwide sensation as its return of 1910-1911 caused.

• Compare “in no other historical sighting” with “in Halley’s comet’s return of 1910-1911 caused” → ✘

(E) its return in 1910-1911

In no other historical sighting did Halley’s comet cause such a worldwide sensation as its return in 1910-1911.

• Compare “in no other historical sighting” with “Halley’s comet’s return” → ✘

Question 21

When I see …

… present/past perfect tense in SC …

Especially when the question involves with more than two actions

Answer 21

I will …

1. Try to create a sequence order.
2. Be on the lookout that present/past perfect occurred prior to another verb or time limit.

Once they had seen the report from the medical examiner, the investigators had no doubt that the body recovered from the river was that of the man who had attempted to escape from the state prison.

1. The man scaped
2. … probably dead in the river …
3. investigator see the report
4. they have no doubt

Hence:
The man scaped (Past Perfect) → investigator see the report (Past Perfect) → they have no doubt (Simple Past)

Question 22

When I see …

… ponctuations in SC …

Answer 22

I will …

• Focus on:
  1. comma splices
  2. semicolons (in a list | between indipendent clauses)
• Not focus on:
  1. other uses of commas
  2. dashes (& m dashes)
  3. colons

Question 23

When I see …

… SC questions invoilving whether/if …

Answer 23

I will …

1. I don’t know if it will rain today. ✗
   we cannot use if when we have two choices
2. I don’t know whether or not it will rain today. ✗ “whether” implies “or not” so it has a redundancy
3. I don’t know whether it will rain today or not. ✗ “whether” implies “or not” so it has a redundancy
4. I don’t know whether it will rain today. ✓

Question 24

When I see …

… SC questions invoilving Due to/Because …

Answer 24

I will …

1. the team won due to the capitan’s performance. ✗
   if we are explaining an action and then providing a reason for that we “MUST USE Because of”
2. the team won because of the capitan’s performance. ✓
   if we are explaining an action and then providing a reason for that we “MUST USE Because of”
3. the team victory was due to the capitan’s performance. ✓
   if we are describing a noun and then providing a reason for that we “MUST USE Due to”
4. the team victory was because of the capitan’s performance. ✗
   if we are describing a noun and then providing a reason for that we “MUST USE Due to”

Question 25

When I see …

… SC questions invoilving Like/Such as …

Answer 25

I will …

1. Animals like sheep and highland cows are common in Scotland. ✗
   ”bad meaning”
2. Animals such as sheep and highland cows are common in Scotland. ✓
3. Such animals like sheep and highland cows are common in Scotland. ✗
   ”bad meaning”
4. Such animals as sheep and highland cows are common in Scotland. ✓

pick such as and run

Similar to = Like

Question 26

When I see …

… CR invoilving time sequence …

Answer 26

I will …

• Draw a time frame line and write important clues.
• Same as all other CR questions:

1. Think and read structurally (conclusion)
2. Understand how the author get there
3. Don’t fall in love. Find 4 wrong answer choices.

Theater Critic: The play La Finestrina, now at Central Theater, was written in Italy in the eighteenth century. The director claims that this production is as similar to the original production as is possible in a modern theater. Although the actor who plays Harlequin the clown gives a performance very reminiscent of the twentieth-century American comedian Groucho Marx, Marx’s comic style was very much within the comic acting tradition that had begun in sixteenth-century Italy.

Question 27

When I see …

… “- ing modifier” at the end of passage …

Especially in comparison

Answer 27

I will …

note that it refers to the nearest subject-verb

Question 28

When I see …

… An opening noun modifier …

SC

Answer 28

I will …

Beware that it is a trigger to notice whether the modifier logically modifies what follows it.

Question 29

When I see …

… A long modifier between the subject and verb of a clause …

Answer 29

I will …

Beware that it is a trigger to determine whether the subject and verb agree because the test often uses long modifiers between subjects and verbs to obscure the fact that they don’t agree.

Question 30

When I see …

… A modifier placed in different spots in different versions …

SC

Answer 30

I will …

Notice that it indicates that something about the placement of that modifier makes a difference.

Question 31

When I see …

… A different type of modifier in the same spot in each version …

Answer 31

I will …

Notice that it indicates that one type of modifier makes sense there and the others don’t.

For example the five versions may each end with a different type of modifier. In that case, you’d focus on those closing modifiers as areas where key issues will be that allow you to eliminate choices.

Question 32

When I see …

… Verbs in different tenses in different versions …

Answer 32

I will …

Notice that they indicate that there are likely verb tense issues in some of the versions.

Question 33

When I see …

… A noun toward the beginning of the sentence …

SC

Answer 33

I will …

Keep that noun in my memory so that when I later come to a verb, I notice whether the noun and the verb agree.

Question 34

When I see …

… A sentence begins with a modifier …

Answer 34

I will …

When I come to what follows that modifier, I have the modifier in mind and notice whether it logically modifies what follows it.

Question 35

When I see …

… having been …

SC

Answer 35

I will …

Notice that The verb “having been past participle verb” is supposed to indicate both the cause & result of an event

The modifier having verb-ed/ having been verb-ed has a very specific usage. It is used express the first action out of the two actions done in the past.

Having finished his breakfast, Joy went to play tennis.

Question 36

When I see …

… rather vs. instead …

SC

Answer 36

I will …

Note that what are comparing?

• Instead of is used for substitutes
• tea instead of coffee
• Rather is used for preferences
• I would have tea rather than coffee

Question 37

When I see …

… had been …

SC

CLASSIC TRAP

Answer 37

I will …

Draw two actions should have happened in the past:
1- 1^st past perfect: The one that happened earlier
2- 2^nd simple past: The one that happened later

• The second should finished/stopped/ended in the past
• Two events should have some kind of correlations.

Question 38

When I see …

… policies, laws, rules, and regulations that were enacted at some point in the past but still have their effects in the present …

SC

Answer 38

I will …

Use simple present.

Originally written in 1971, the 1^st Amendment to the United State Constitution, which makes it illegal for Congress to pass any law that infringes upon citizen’s rights of freedom of speech, is often a topic of debates these days.

Question 39

When I see …

… SC question involving verb tense issue …

Answer 39

I will …

Use these strategies:

1- non-verb context clues

• ✗ As soon as the report is completed, I go on vacation.
• ✓ As soon as the report is completed, I will go on vacation.

2- verb context clues

• ✗ Each time I travel to Turkey, I visited Istanbul.
• ✓ Each time I traveled to Turkey, I visited Istanbul.

3- Resist the urge to eliminate sentence versions with two past actions ONLY the grounds that they don’t use the past perfect. If a sentence make clear the time sequence of past events without the use of past perfect tense, the use of past perfect tense is not necessary.

• before … , after …

Question 40

When I see …

… Problem: If I face a sentence that says “X is Y” or “X was/were Y”, etc. sometimes it’s hard to tell which is the subject …

Answer 40

I will …

IF ANYTHING BEFORE THE VERB CAN BE THE SUBJECT, THEN THAT’S THE SUBJECT. IF NOTHING before the verb can be the subject, THEN we have a BACKWARD CONSTRUCTION.

• Things that cannot be subject:

1. Objects of verbs
2. Objects of prepositions
3. Subordinate clauses (although these have their own, separate sub.s and verbs) (Basically, all the stuff I would eliminate on SV agreements problems)

Question 41

When I see …

… SC question beginning with modifier …

Answer 41

I will …

note that:

• it should modify the subject. (remember subject could not be a prepositional phrase)

Question 42

What is the problem with this:

The first trenches that were cut into a 500-acre site at Tell Hamoukar, Syria, have yielded strong evidence for centrally administered complex societies in northern regions of the Middle East that were arising simultaneously with but independently of the more celebrated city-states of southern Mesopotamia, in what is now southern Iraq.

Answer 42

The first trenches that were cut into a 500-acre site at Tell Hamoukar, Syria, have yielded strong evidence for centrally administered complex societies in northern regions of the Middle East that were arising simultaneously with but independently of the more celebrated city-states of southern Mesopotamia, in what is now southern Iraq.

That were cut . . . and that were arising . . . are unnecessarily wordy and create an unnecessarily complicated and confusing sentence structure.

Question 43

The United Parcel Service plans to convert its more than 2,000 gasoline-powered trucks in the Los Angeles area to run on cleaner-burning natural gas.

vs.

The United Parcel Service plans to convert its more than 2,000 trucks in the Los Angeles area that are powered by gasoline to run on cleaner-burning natural gas.

Answer 43

gasoline-powered trucks means all of trucks

trucks that are powered by gasoline means a portion of trucks

Question 44

In California, a lack of genetic variation in the Argentine ant has allowed the species to spread widely; due to their being so genetically similar to one another, the ants consider all their fellows to be a close relative and thus do not engage in the kind of fierce intercolony struggles that limits the spread of this species in its native Argentina.

A. due to their being so genetically similar to one another, the ants consider all their fellows to be a close relative and thus do not engage in the kind of fierce intercolony struggles that limits
B. due to its being so genetically similar, the ant considers all its fellows to be a close relative and thus does not engage in the kind of fierce intercolony struggles that limit
C. because it is so genetically similar, the ant considers all its fellows to be close relatives and thus does not engage in the kind of fierce intercolony struggles that limits
D. because they are so genetically similar to one another, the ants consider all their fellows to be close relatives and thus do not engage in the kind of fierce intercolony struggles that limit
E. because of being so genetically similar to one another, the ants consider all their fellows to be a close relative and thus do not engage in the kind of fierce intercolony struggles that limits

Answer 44

A. due to their being so genetically similar to one another, the ants consider all their fellows to be a close relative and thus do not engage in the kind of fierce intercolony struggles that limits✗

B. due to its being so genetically similar✗, the ant considers all its fellows to be a close relative and thus does not engage in the kind of fierce intercolony struggles that limit

C. because it is so genetically similar, the ant considers all its fellows to be close relatives and thus does not engage in the kind of fierce intercolony struggles that limits✗

D. because they are so genetically similar to one another, the ants consider all their fellows to be close relatives and thus do not engage in the kind of fierce intercolony struggles that limit

E. because of being so genetically similar to one another, the ants consider all their fellows to be a close relative and thus do not engage in the kind of fierce intercolony struggles that limits✗

Question 45

When I see …

… ; …

Answer 45

I will …

notice that the pronoun and antecedent could be in the other IC and cannot refer to the other clause