I put up an incorrect explanation for the answer to the following problem in the Grammar section. The embarrassing mistake has been sitting there for nearly ten months, but nobody noticed or cared to point it out. So, having corrected myself, I will post the problem again.
15. Jerome often referred (A) to art history textbooks (B) while he was sculpting; whenever he learned a new method in art class, he (C) seeks out the work of sculptors who (D) had used it in the past. (E) No error
Answer and explanation (highlight): (C) The answer is "sought" because the words "referred", "learned", and "had used" are all either past tense or past perfect. Whether we use "seeks out" or simply "seeks" is immaterial to the problem at hand. The more obvious mistake is one of tense.
Sunday, June 29, 2014
The slow and perhaps joyful death of the SAT Writing Section
The slow and perhaps joyful death of the SAT Writing Section
Most of you may have heard the already-old news: The SAT will no longer contain a compulsory essay section; however, the word on the street is that the writing section as a whole will be completely obliterated. While this rumor is not completely unfounded, it is most likely not true, as you can see on this CollegeBoard page.
The revised 2016 SAT will contain the following sections:
Certainly, there will no longer be a "Writing Section", but the multiple choice writing content will be embedded in the verbal section, entitled "Evidence-Based Reading and Writing". The question, then, is not whether CollegeBoard will test you on multiple choice writing, but whether writing problems will take up a substantial portion of the verbal section and whether future writing problems will be similar enough to their obsolescent counterparts so that the latter can still serve as effective practice material for 2016 test takers.
Furthermore, although the essay section will soon become optional, it might still, according to CollegeBoard, be required by some universities. Here are some of the changes made to the 2016 SAT:
I will again take the liberty of (ctrl + C) + (ctrl + V)-ing things from CollegeBoard:
Most of you may have heard the already-old news: The SAT will no longer contain a compulsory essay section; however, the word on the street is that the writing section as a whole will be completely obliterated. While this rumor is not completely unfounded, it is most likely not true, as you can see on this CollegeBoard page.
The revised 2016 SAT will contain the following sections:
- Evidence-Based Reading and Writing
- Reading Test
- Writing and Language Test
- Math
- Essay (optional)
Certainly, there will no longer be a "Writing Section", but the multiple choice writing content will be embedded in the verbal section, entitled "Evidence-Based Reading and Writing". The question, then, is not whether CollegeBoard will test you on multiple choice writing, but whether writing problems will take up a substantial portion of the verbal section and whether future writing problems will be similar enough to their obsolescent counterparts so that the latter can still serve as effective practice material for 2016 test takers.
Furthermore, although the essay section will soon become optional, it might still, according to CollegeBoard, be required by some universities. Here are some of the changes made to the 2016 SAT:
So, in sum, the 2016 SAT will test you on (quite a bit of) writing, lots of reading, and math. The essay is probably, but not necessarily, optional, depending on the universities you apply to.
- Optional and given at the end of the SAT; postsecondary institutions determine whether they will require the Essay for admission
- 50 minutes to write the essay
- Tests reading, analysis, and writing skills; students produce a written analysis of a provided source text
I will again take the liberty of (ctrl + C) + (ctrl + V)-ing things from CollegeBoard:
| Current SAT | Redesigned SAT | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Component | Time Allotted (minutes) | Number of Question/ Tasks | Component | Time Allotted (minutes) | Number of Questions/ Tasks |
| Critical Reading |
70
|
67
| Reading |
65
|
52
|
| Writing |
60
|
49
| Writing and Language |
35
|
44
|
| Essay |
25
|
1
| Essay (optional) |
50
|
1
|
| Mathematics |
70
|
54
| Math |
80
|
57
|
| Total |
225
|
171
| Total |
180
(230 with Essay) |
153
(154 with Essay) |
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