SAT editing in context practice test 01

(1)Cicero said, “A room without a book is a body without a soul.” (2) Certainly when I enter someone's home for the first time, I am likely to gravitate to the bookshelf, in part to glean further insight into the personality of its owner. (3) But now that the family encyclopedia is likely to have been replaced by a CD-ROM it is possible that the book might be reduced to an item of decoration rather than information and entertainment.

(4)In a sense, books have always been more than just repositories of information. (5) The look and feel of a book is as much a part of its appeal as its contents. (6) There is something immensely satisfying about opening a new book: the smell of the paper, the feel of the cover, the design on the dust jacket and the weight of the volume all contribute to the impression it makes. (7) The most aesthetically pleasing volumes, the leather bound volumes, and the volumes with beautiful bindings are actually often bought by interior decorators to add to the look of a study, office or of a living room.

(8)Books have a symbolic power. We shudder when we hear of ‘book burning', associated down the ages with tyranny and oppression. (9) Books as cultural icons remind us of freedom of speech and enhanced opportunities, they remind us of the intellectual aspirations of the human race.

(10)But in the future will the book still be read? (11)I believe it will. (12)More books are being written and published than ever before; the book has withstood the advent of the cinema, television, and personal computer and are likely to be there in centuries to come.

1. Which is the best version of the underlined portion of sentence 3 (reproduced below)?
But now that the family encyclopedia is likely to have been replaced by a CD-ROM it is possible that the book might be reduced to an item of decoration rather than information and entertainment.

A. might be reduced to an item of decoration rather than information
B. might be reduced to an item of decoration rather than a source of information
C. will be reduced to an item of decoration rather than information
D. will be reduced to an item of decoration rather than a source of information
E. could be reduced to an item of decoration rather than information

2. Which version of sentence 8 would form the best transition between paragraphs two and three?

A. Besides their aesthetic appeal, books have symbolic power.
B. Books have also always had symbolic power.
C. Besides their use to decorators, books have a symbolic power.
D. Books have other functions besides decoration.
E. Other people have used books as symbols.

3. What revision is most needed in sentence 9?

A. Change “enhanced” to “equal”.
B. Change the comma to a semicolon.
C. Change “us” to “people”
D. Rewrite to avoid repetition of “they remind us of”.
E. Insert “Moreover” at the beginning of the sentence.

4. Sentence 7 would probably benefit from all the following changes EXCEPT

A. Change from passive to active voice
B. Correct faulty parallelism
C. Rewrite to avoid repetition of “volumes”.
D. Delete the word “actually”.
E. Remove the word “aesthetically”.

5. Paragraph three

A. is somewhat underdeveloped
B. is redundant
C. is too repetitive
D. contains error in verb tense
E. has errors in pronoun usage

6. Which is the best version of the underlined part of the last sentence (reproduced below)?
More books are being written and published than ever before; the book has withstood the advent of the cinema, television, and personal computer and are likely to be there in centuries to come.

A. the book has withstood the advent of the cinema, television, personal computer and are likely
B. the book has withstood the advent of the cinema, television, and personal computer and are liable
C. books have withstood the advent of the cinema, television, and personal computer and are likely
D. the book withstood the advent of the cinema, television, personal computer and is likely
E. the book withstood the advent of the cinema, television, and personal computer and will likely

(1)The study of ecology has taught us that diversity is important to stability in the natural world. (2)Modern agricultural practices and other human interventions in the environment reduces the number of interacting species making the ecosystem vulnerable and unstable.

(3)Similarly, human society in its progress toward the clichéd “global village” is liable to make the world less stable not more stable. (4)We are eliminating languages, traditional diets, and eroding cultural practices at an alarming rate. (5)The whole world wants to speak the same language, eat the same food and wear the same clothes. (6)But will this homogeneity be good for the human species? (7) Biologists would tend to say no.

(8)Certainly a world where we can all understand each other and share common interests is appealing on one level. (9)But how infinitely poorer we will all be if we travel 5000 miles from home only to find no new people, no new places, no new ways of living, just a copy of what you experience back home.

7. One weakness of the writing style of this essay is

A. Reliance on general statements
B. Incorrect paragraphing
C. Inappropriate vocabulary
D. Poor punctuation
E. Poor choice of verb tenses

8. The author makes his point about human society mainly by use of

A. personal experience
B. scientific facts
C. parallel construction
D. an analogy
E. hyperbole

9. Sentence 2 could be best improved by

A. insert a comma after “environment”
B. remove the word “other”
C. remove the word “interacting”
D. change “interventions” to “intervention”
E. change “reduces” to “reduce”

10. Which is the best version of the underlined part of sentence 3 (reproduced below)?
Similarly, human society in its progress toward the clichéd “global village” is liable to make the world less stable not more stable.

A. is likely to make the world less stable not
B. is likely to make the world not less stable but
C. is likely to make the world less and not
D. are liable to make the world less stable not
E. are likely to make the world less stable not

11. The best version of sentence four is

A. We are eliminating languages, traditional diets, and eroding cultural practices at an alarming rate.
B. We are eliminating languages, changing traditional diets, and cultural practices at an alarming rate.
C. We are eliminating languages, changing traditional diets, and eroding cultural practices at an alarming rate.
D. Languages, traditional diets, and cultural practices are being eroded at an alarming rate.
E. Languages, traditional diets, and cultural practices are being eliminated alarmingly fast.

12. The change most needed in sentence 9 is to replace

A. will with would
B. you with we
C. just with only
D. infinitely with much
E. experience to experienced