CliffsNotes Verbal Review for Standardized Tests

Score higher on any standardized test with the help of CliffsNotes! For anyone taking any standardized test—such as the SAT, ACT, GMAT, Praxis I, GRE, or others—CliffsNotes Verbal Review for Standardized Tests is designed to review, refresh, and reintroduce essential grammar and verbal skills. Written by test preparation experts, this clear, concise, and easy-to-use guide gives insight into the types of questions you'll face on the exam, and demonstrates how to avoid the common and costly errors that trap the unprepared. Grammar and usage review English usage and sentence correction Timed essay writing Verbal ability—antonyms, analogies, and sentence completion Reading comprehension Strategies for each question type Practice exercises with hundreds of questions and complete explanations Parts of speech, adjectives and adverbs, linking verbs, and comparatives and superlatives Punctuation—using commas, semi-colons, colons, apostrophes, and dashes Writing narrative, descriptive, analytical, and expository essays With guidance from CliffsNotes, test takers will feel at home in any standardized-test environment!

Table of Contents:
Introduction  1 What This Guide Contains 1 How This Book Is Organized 2 How to Use This Guide 2 Types of Questions 4 Range of Difficulty and Scope 4 PART I: GRAMMAR AND USAGE Chapter 1: Grammar and Usage Question Types  7 General Strategies for Sentence/Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence (Vocabulary Skills) Questions 7 Sentence Correction – Type 1 8 Directions 8 Sentence Correction – Type 2 10 Directions 10 Sentence Correction – Type 3 11 Directions 11 Improving Paragraphs 14 Directions 14 Sentence/Text Completion 18 Directions 18 Examples for SAT Questions 18 Examples for GRE Questions 20 Sentence Equivalence 22 Directions 23 Chapter 2: Grammar and Usage Diagnostic Test 25 Answer Sheet 25 Sentence Correction – Type 1 27 Sentence Correction – Type 2 30 Sentence Correction – Type 3 36 Improving Paragraphs 43 Sentence/Text Completion 49 Sentence Equivalence 54 Answer Key for the Grammar and Usage Diagnostic Test 58 Sentence Correction – Type 1 58 Sentence Correction – Type 2 58 Passage I 59 Passage II 59 Passage III 59 Improving Paragraphs 59 Passage I 59 Passage II 59 Sentence/Text Completion 59 Sentence Equivalence 60 Charting and Analyzing Your Test Results 60 Diagnostic Test Answers and Explanations 61 Sentence Correction – Type 1 61 Sentence Correction – Type 2 62 Sentence Correction – Type 3 63 Passage I 63 Passage II 64 Passage III 64 Improving Paragraphs 65 Passage I 65 Passage II 65 Sentence/Text Completion 66 Sentence Equivalence 68 Chapter 3: Grammar and Usage Review 71 Introduction to Grammar and Usage Review 72 Practice Exercises: Charting and Analyzing Your Results 73 Section 1: Basic Parts of Speech 75 Adjectives and Adverbs 76 Linking Verbs 76 Comparatives and Superlatives 78 Practice Exercise 1: Basic Parts of Speech 78 Answers – Practice Exercise 1: Basic Parts of Speech 79 Section 2: Case 80 Subject and Object Errors 80 Pronouns in Apposition 81 Who and Whom 81 Possessive Errors 84 Practice Exercise 2: Case 85 Part A 85 Part B 85 Answers – Practice Exercise 2: Case 86 Part A 86 Part B 86 Section 3: Agreement 87 Subject and Verb Agreement 87 Pronoun Agreement91 Practice Exercise 3: Agreement 93 Answers – Practice Exercise 3: Agreement 94 Section 4: Verbs 95 Verb Tenses 96 Subjunctives  100 Lie/Lay, Rise/Raise, Sit/Set  101 Practice Exercise 4: Verbs  102 Answers – Practice Exercise 4: Verbs  103 Section 5: Misplaced Parts and Dangling Modifiers  105 Dangling Modifiers  107 Participles  108 Gerunds  108 Infinitives  109 Prepositional Phrases and Elliptical Clauses  109 Practice Exercise 5: Misplaced Parts and Dangling Modifiers  110 Answers – Practice Exercise 5: Misplaced Parts and Dangling Modifiers  111 Section 6: Parallelism  112 Common Parallelism Errors  113 Unnecessary Shifts in Verb Tenses 114 Unnecessary Shifts from an Active to a Passive Verb  114 Unnecessary Shifts in Person  114 Parallelism Errors in a List or Series  115 Parallelism Errors in Correlatives  115 Practice Exercise 6: Parallelism 117 Answers – Practice Exercise 6: Parallelism  119 Section 7: Ambiguous Pronouns  120 Practice Exercise 7: Ambiguous Pronouns  121 Answers – Practice Exercise 7: Ambiguous Pronouns  122 Section 8: Other Errors of Grammar  122 Sentence Fragments  122 Double Negatives  123 Omission of Necessary Words  123 Direct and Indirect Questions  126 Like and As  127 Who, Which, and That—Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses  127 Practice Exercise 8: Other Errors of Grammar  128 Part A  128 Part B  129 8: Other Errors of Grammar  130 Part A  130 Part B  131 Section 9: Errors of Diction, Idiom, and Style  132 Diction  132 Fewer/Less, Many/Much, Number/Amount  132 Between/Among  133 Affect/Effect  133 Idiom  133 Style  135 Practice Exercise 9: Errors of Diction, Idiom, and Style  137 Part A  137 Part B  138 Answers – Practice Exercise 9: Errors of Diction, Idiom, and Style  139 Part A  139 Part B  139 Section 10: Punctuation  140 Commas, Semicolons, and Colons  142 Comma  142 Semicolon  143 Colon  143 Other Marks of Punctuation  144 Dash  144 Apostrophe  144 Practice Exercise 10: Punctuation  145 Answers – Practice Exercise 10: Punctuation  148 Vocabulary Skills Review  149 Prefixes  149 Suffixes  150 Roots  151 Grammar and Usage Review Test  151 Answers and Explanations – Grammar and Usage Review Test  157 Chapter 4: English Grammar and Usage Practice Test 161 Answer Sheets  161 Section 1: Sentence Correction – Type 1  161 Section 2: Sentence Correction – Type 2  162 Section 3: Sentence Correction – Type 3  162 Section 4: Improving Paragraphs 163 Section 5: Sentence/Text Completion  163 Section 6: Sentence Equivalence  164 Section 1: Sentence Correction – Type 1 166 Directions  166 Set 1  166 Set 2  168 Set 3  171 Set 4  173 Section 2: Sentence Correction – Type 2 176 Directions  176 Set 1  176 Set 2  180 Set 3  184 Section 3: Sentence Correction – Type 3 188 Directions  188 Set 1: Passages I and II  188 Set 2: Passages III, IV, and V  194 Set 3: Passages VI and VII  200 Set 4: Passages VIII and IX  204 Section 4: Improving Paragraphs  208 Directions  208 Set 1: Passages I and II  208 Set 2: Passages III and IV  214 Set 3: Passage V  218 Section 5: Sentence/Text Completion  221 Directions  221 Set 1  221 Set 2  225 Set 3  228 Set 4  232 Set 5  236 Section 6: Sentence Equivalence  241 Directions  241 Set 1  241 Set 2  245 Set 3  249 Answer Key  253 Section 1: Sentence Correction – Type 1  253 Set 1  253 Set 2  253 Set 3  253 Set 4  253 Correction – Type 2  254 Set 1  254 Set 2  254 Set 3  254 Section 3: Sentence Correction – Type 3  254 Set 1: Passages I and II  254 Set 2: Passages III, IV, and V  255 Set 3: Passages VI and VII  255 Set 4: Passages VIII and IX  255 Section 4: Improving Paragraphs 256 Set 1: Passages I and II  256 Set 2: Passages III and IV  256 Set 3: Passage V  256 Section 5: Sentence/Text Completion  257 Set 1  257 Set 2  257 Set 3  257 Set 4  257 Set 5  258 Section 6: Sentence Equivalence  258 Set 1  258 Set 2  258 Set 3  258 Charting and Analyzing Your Test Results  259 Answers and Explanations  260 Section 1: Sentence Correction – Type 1  260 Set 1  260 Set 2  261 Set 3  261 Set 4  262 Section 2: Sentence Correction – Type 2  263 Set 1  263 Set 2  264 Set 3  265 Section 3: Sentence Correction – Type 3  267 Set 1: Passages I and II  267 Set 2: Passages III, IV, and V  268 Set 3: Passages VI and VII  269 Set 4: Passages VIII and IX  270 Section 4: Improving Paragraphs 271 Set 1: Passages I and II  271 Set 2: Passages III and IV  273 Set 3: Passage V  274 Section 5: Sentence/Text Completion  274 Set 1  274 Set 2  275 Set 3  277 Set 4  278 Set 5  281 Section 6: Sentence Equivalence  283 Set 1  283 Set 2  285 Set 3  287 PART II: READING COMPREHENSION Chapter 5: Reading Comprehension Review 293 Reading Comprehension Passages  294 Content of Passages  294 Reading Comprehension Questions  294 Specific Types of Questions  297 General Strategies for Success  298 Time Management  298 Directions  299 Section 1 – Brief Passages  299 Suggested Strategies for Brief Passages  300 Question Type: The Writer’s Main Purpose 300 Question Type: Vocabulary in Context  301 Other Specific Types of Questions  302 Question Type: Infer the Writer’s Point of View  302 Question Type: Identify a Summary of Ideas  303 Question Type: Draw Conclusions Based on a Passage’s Contents  303 Question Type: Identify the Main Idea of the Passage  304 Question Type: Envision the Intended Audience for the Passage  305 GRE Question Types  306 Question Type: Select One or More Answers  306 Question Type: Select in Passage  307 GMAT Question Types  308 Question Type: Critical Reasoning  308 Question Type: Plan of Action  309 CBEST Question Types  309 Tables of Contents or Indexes  310 Graphs, Charts, and Tables  311 Passages with Numbered Sentences  312 Question Type: Fact vs Opinion  313 Question Type: Assess the Strengths and Weaknesses of an Argument  314 Question Type: Inserts and Transitions  314 Question Type: Summaries in Outline Form 315 Section 2: Long Passages – Intermediate Difficulty  315 Strategies for Long Passages  316 Question Type: Identify the Writer’s Tone 318 Question Type: Draw Inferences based on the Passage’s Contents  319 Question Type: Envision the Intended Audience  319 Question Type: Draw a Conclusion  320 Question Type: Direct Comprehension  320 Section 3: Paired (Comparative) Reading Passages  321 Description  321 Strategy  321 Section 4: Long Passages – Challenging  324 Question Type: Identify the Writer’s Primary Purpose  326 Question Type: Direct Comprehension  326 Question Type: Understand the Meaning of Words  327 Question Type: Draw a Conclusion  327 Question Type: Make an Inference  328 Question Type: Direct Comprehension  328 How to Mark Passages  329 Answer Sheet for Reading Comprehension Practice Test  331 Section 1: Brief Passages 331 Section 2: Long Passages – Intermediate Difficulty  331 Section 3: Long Passages – Challenging Difficulty 332 Reading Comprehension Practice Test  333 Directions  333 Section 1: Brief Passages 333 Practice Set 1: Brief Passages I, II, III, IV  333 Practice Set 2: Brief Passages V, VI, VII, and VIII  337 Practice Set 3: Passages IX, X, XI, XII, and XIII  340 Section 2: Long Passages – Intermediate Difficulty  344 Practice Set 1: Long Intermediate Passages I and II  344 Practice Set 2: Long Intermediate Passages III and IV  349 Practice Set 3: Long Intermediate Passages V and VI  353 Practice Set 4: Long Intermediate Passages VII and VIII  358 Practice Set 5: Paired Passages IX and X  362 Section 3: Longer Passages – Challenging  367 Practice Set 1: Passages I, II, and III  367 Practice Set 2: Passages IV and V  376 Answer Key for Reading Comprehension Practice Test  383 Section 1: Brief Passages 383 Practice Set 1  383 Practice Set 2  383 Practice Set 3  383 Section 2: Long Passages – Intermediate Difficulty  383 Practice Set 1  383 Practice Set 2  383 Practice Set 3  383 Practice Set 4  383 Practice Set 5  383 Section 3: Long Passages – Challenging  384 Practice Set 1  384 Practice Set 2  384 Answers and Explanations for Reading Comprehension Practice Test  385 Section 1: Brief Passages 385 Practice Set I, Passages I, II, III, and IV  385 Practice Set 2, Passages V, VI, VII, and VIII 385 Practice Set 3, Passages IX, X, XI, XII, and XIII  386 Section 2: Longer Passages – Intermediate Difficulty  387 Practice Set 1: Passages I and II  387 Practice Set 2: Passages III and IV  388 Practice Set 3: Passages V and VI  389 Practice Set 4: Passages VII and VIII  390 Practice Set 5: Passages IX and X  391 Section 3: Long Passages – Challenging  392 Practice Set 1: Passages I, II, and III  392 Practice Set 2: Passages IV and V  393 PART III: WRITING TIMED ESSAYS Chapter 6: Approaches to Writing Timed Essays 397 Scoring  397 Scoring Guidelines  398 Scoring Criteria  402 General Strategies for Essay Writing  403 Strategies for Specific Types of Essays  404 The Narrative/Descriptive Essay  404 Sample Task 1 – Narrative/Descriptive Essay  405 Overview of Sample Task 1  405 Preparing to Write  406 Writing  408 Proofreading  411 Sample Task 2 – Narrative/Descriptive Essay  412 Overview of Sample Task 2  412 Sample Essay Response – Task 2  413 The Analytical/Expository Essay  414 Sample Task 1 – Analytical/Expository Essay: “Analyze an Issue”  415 Overview of Sample Task 1  415 Sample Essay Response – Task 1  416 Sample Task 2 – Analytical/Expository Essay: “Analyze an Issue”  417 Overview of Sample Task 2  417 Five-Paragraph Essay  418 Analyze an Argument Essay  419 Sample Task 3 – Analytical/Expository Essay: “Analyze an Argument”  419 The Argumentative or Decision Prompt Essay  422 Sample Task 4 – Decision Prompt Essay, “LSAT”  422 Overview of Sample Task 4  423 Sample Task 5 – Argumentative Essay, “ACT”  425 Overview of Sample Task 5  425 Sample Task 6 – Argumentative Essay, “PPST”  427 Overview of Sample Task 6  427 Additional Question Types and Techniques  428 Compare and Contrast Essays  428 Steps to Writing a Successful Essay  429 Essay Writing Practice  429 GRE  430 Sample Topics  430 GMAT  435 Sample Topics  435 LSAT  437 Sample Topics  437 SAT  440 Sample Topics  441 ACT  442 Sample Topics  442 PPST  444 Sample Topics  444 CBEST  445 Sample Topics  445 Essay Response Checklist  447 How Effectively Does Your Essay…  449 How Effectively Does Your Essay…  451 How Effectively Does Your Essay…  453 How Effectively Does Your Essay…  455 How Effectively Does Your Essay…  457 How Effectively Does Your Essay…  459 How Effectively Does Your Essay…  461 How Effectively Does Your Essay…  463