Practice

You have seen the ways in which the SAT tests you on Conventions of Usage in Writing & Language passages and the way an SAT expert approaches these types of questions.

Use the Kaplan Method for Writing & Language to answer the four questions that accompany the following Writing & Language passage excerpt. Remember to look at the strategic-thinking questions that have been laid out for you—some of the answers have been filled in, but you will have to complete the answers to others.

Use your answers to the strategic thinking questions to select the correct answer, just as you will on Test Day.

1. Questions 5-8 are based on the following passage.

2. Opossum

   Commonly seen rooting through the trash or slipping down a sewer grate, the opossum is actually one of North America’s best animals. While its rodent-like body seems unremarkable at first glance, the opossum is actually closely related to the kangaroo and is the only marsupial native to this continent. Like all female marsupials, the female opossum has a pouch for carrying and nursing her young. After a 12-day gestation period, thought to be the shortest of any marsupial, between 5 and 25 blind and hairless babies instinctively crawl the two inches from the birth canal to the pouch. Upon arrival, they quickly attach themselves to a nipple, drawing constant nourishment from the mother for more than two months.

   The distinctive features of the opossum go beyond its surprising relation to the kangaroo. It boasts an incredible array of 50 razor-sharp teeth, the most of any mammal in the world. The opossum is also among the most primitive of animals, having lived during the time of the dinosaurs. It has survived for millions of years by adapting to diverse habitats—including dense urban areas—and food supplies. Opossums eat beetles and even earthworms as well as tree roots, eggs, vegetables, and fruit. Today, many opossums that live in areas densely populated by humans survive on garbage and small mice. Opossums thrive in fields and woodlands, but they can also survive by digging a nest under a building or deck.

   Of course, the opossum does have vulnerabilities. Its average three-year life span is not unusual for its size, typically between two and three feet long. What is unusual is that opossums continue growing throughout their lifetimes. Such a state of constant development is linked with metabolic limitations in the amount of food and energy that can be stored within the opossum’s body, requiring that ready food sources be available year-round. In addition, opossums are highly susceptible to the cold, making it rather common to see opossums with frostbitten ears and tails. Nevertheless, opossums have displayed amazing resilience over the years, often surviving attacks from intimidating predators like dogs and even hawks. While the opossum’s first reaction when threatened is to begin running to the nearest tree, their primary defense is a nervous system reaction that, when sensing danger, throws the opossum’s body into a catatonic state that dramatically slows its heart rate. The opossum will then begin to drool and appear dead, another trait that only adds to the fascinating nature of these animals.

Questions	Strategic Thinking
NO CHANGE most unusual better abnormal	Step 1: Read the passage and identify the issue What is the issue? Comparisons. The underlined word is a superlative adjective, used to compare three or more items. Step 2: Eliminate answer choices that do not address the issue What answer choice(s) can you eliminate? Step 3: Plug in the remaining answer choices and select the most correct, concise, and relevant one What is the correct answer?
NO CHANGE They The kangaroo The opossum	Step 1: Read the passage and identify the issue What is the issue? Pronoun clarity. The underlined word is a pronoun that begins a sentence. To what does the underlined pronoun refer? Step 2: Eliminate answer choices that do not address the issue What answer choice(s) can you eliminate? Step 3: Plug in the remaining answer choices and select the most correct, concise, and relevant one What is the correct answer?
NO CHANGE with on for	Step 1: Read the passage and identify the issue What is the issue? Idioms. The underlined word is a preposition, so the question is likely testing proper preposition usage in context. Step 2: Eliminate answer choices that do not address the issue What answer choice(s) can you eliminate? Step 3: Plug in the remaining answer choices and select the most correct, concise, and relevant one What is the correct answer?
NO CHANGE there its his	Step 1: Read the passage and identify the issue What is the issue? Pronoun-antecedent agreement. The underlined word is a pronoun in the middle of a sentence. What is the underlined pronoun’s antecedent? Step 2: Eliminate answer choices that do not address the issue What answer choice(s) can you eliminate? Step 3: Plug in the remaining answer choices and select the most correct, concise, and relevant one What is the correct answer?