一个CT English : Writing and Revising Effectively

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for ACT English

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例子问题s

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例子问题#1 :Revising Content

Jimmyis annoyedat the video game that he was playing. For one thing,there was not nearly enoughinteresting characters suspenseful moments or exciting escapesin the game to satisfy him.For another, it was incredibly hard while playing the game to control the cars.Italways wanted to veer to the left when he tried to steer to the right. But the ending of the game wasworst. By the time he got to the end, the herohad decidedto stop chasing rogue spies andthereforemarry his girlfriend, a surprise attack resulted in her being kidnapped, and the heromust goon a final mission to save her before the gamecan becompleted. Thatwould ofbeen fine, except it involved tracking the enemy using a helicopter, andJimmy much to his chagrin never mastered flying the helicopter.

Which of the following is a redundant phrase that could be removed from the underlined sentence?

Possible Answers:

NO CHANGE

to control the cars

For another

while playing the game

Correct answer:

while playing the game

Explanation:

The phrase "while playing the game" is not needed since there would be no other circumstances under which Jimmy would have trouble controlling a car in the context of this passage.

例子问题#2 :Revising Content

一个dapted fromThe Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin(1784)

一个t the time I established myself inPennsylvania therewas not a good booksellers shop in any of the colonies to the southward of Boston. In New York and Philadelphia the printers were indeedstationers; they sold only paper, etc., almanacs, ballads, and a few common school-books. Those who loved reading were obliged to send for their books from England; the members of the Junto had each a few. We had left the ale-house, where we first met, and hired a room to hold our club in. I proposed that we should all of us bring our books to that room, where they would not only be ready to consult in our conferences but become a common benefit, each of us being at liberty to borrow such as he wished to read at home. This was accordingly done, and for some time contented us.

Finding the advantage of this little collection, I proposed to render the benefit from books more common by commencing a public subscription library. I drew a sketch of the plan and rules that would be necessary, and got a skillful conveyancer, Mr. Charles Brockden, to put the whole in form of articles of agreement, to be subscribed, by which each subscriber engaged to pay a certain sum down for the first purchase of books, and an annual contribution for increasing them. So few were the readers at that time in Philadelphia, and the majority of us so poor, that I was not able, with great industry to find more than fifty persons, mostly young tradesmen, willing to pay down for this purpose forty shillings each, and ten shillings per annum. On this little fund we began. The books were imported; the library was opened one day in the week for lending to the subscribers, on their promissory notes to pay double the value if not duly returned. The institution soon manifested its utility, was imitated by other towns and in other provinces. The libraries were augmented by donations; reading became fashionable; and our people, having no public amusements to divert their attention from study, became better acquainted with books, and in a few years were observed by strangers to be better instructed and more intelligent than people of the same rank generally are in other countries.

Which of the following would be an acceptable replacement for the underlined phrase?

Possible Answers:

immobile

sellers of stationary

sellers of tickets

station-keepers

Correct answer:

sellers of stationary

Explanation:

“文具店”这个词已经不再使用Franklin's time, but it referred to people who sold stationary such as paper, cards, and not much else.

例子问题#1 :Writing And Revising Effectively

一个dapted fromThe Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin(1784)

一个t the time I established myself inPennsylvania therewas not a good booksellers shop in any of the colonies to the southward of Boston. In New York and Philadelphia the printers were indeed stationers; they sold only paper, etc., almanacs, ballads, and a few common school-books. Those who loved reading were obliged to send for their books from England; the members of the Junto had each a few. We had left the ale-house, where we first met, and hired a room to hold our club in. I proposed that we should all of us bring our books to that room, where they would not only be ready to consult in our conferences but become a common benefit, each of us being at liberty to borrow such as he wished to read at home. This was accordingly done, and for some time contented us.

Findingthe advantage of this little collection, I proposed to render the benefit from books more common by commencing a public subscription library. I drew a sketch of the plan and rules that would be necessary, and got a skillful conveyancer, Mr. Charles Brockden, to put the whole in form of articles of agreement, to be subscribed, by which each subscriber engaged to pay a certain sum down for the first purchase of books, and an annual contribution for increasing them. So few were the readers at that time in Philadelphia, and the majority of us so poor, that I was not able, with great industry to find more than fifty persons, mostly young tradesmen, willing to pay down for this purpose forty shillings each, and ten shillings per annum. On this little fund we began. The books were imported; the library was opened one day in the week for lending to the subscribers, on their promissory notes to pay double the value if not duly returned. The institution soon manifested its utility, was imitated by other towns and in other provinces. The libraries were augmented by donations; reading became fashionable; and our people, having no public amusements to divert their attention from study, became better acquainted with books, and in a few years were observed by strangers to be better instructed and more intelligent than people of the same rank generally are in other countries.

Which of the following would be an acceptable replacement for the underlined phrase?

Possible Answers:

Discovering

Concluding

Locating

Deciding

Correct answer:

Discovering

Explanation:

The word "discovering" here is the best choice since it implies that Franklin was not aware of the advantage of having a shared library before establishing one.

例子问题#1 :Writing And Revising Effectively

一个dapted fromThe Autobiography of John Adams(ed. 1856)

Here I will interrupt the narration for a moment to observe that, from all I have read of the history of Greece and Rome, England and France, and all I have observed at home and abroad, articulate eloquence in public assemblies is not the surest road to fame or preferment, at least, unless it be used with caution, very rarely, and with great reserve.The examples of Washington, Franklin, and Jefferson are enough to show that silence and reserve in public, are more efficacious than argumentation or oratory. A public speaker who inserts himself, or is urged by others, into the conduct of affairs, by daily exertions to justify his measures, and answer the objections of opponents, makes himself too familiar with the public and unavoidably makes himself enemies. Few persons can bear to be outdone in reasoning or declamation or wit or sarcasm or repartee or satire, and all these things that are very apt to grow out of public debate. In this way, in a course of years, a nation becomes full of a man’s enemies, or at least, of such as have been galled in some controversy and take a secret pleasure in assisting to humble and mortify him. So much for this digression. We will now return to our memoirs.

Where does the independent clause begin in the underlined sentence?

Possible Answers:

一个rticulate eloquence in public assemblies . . .

From all I have read . . .

Unless it be used with . . .

一个ll I have observed . . .

Here I will interrupt . . .

Correct answer:

Here I will interrupt . . .

Explanation:

The easiest way to find the independent clause is by eliminating any subordinate clauses. This will give you:

"Here I will interrupt the narration for a moment to observe that . . . eloquence in public assemblies is not the surest road to fame or preferment."

Thus, the beginning of the sentence is indeed the beginning of the main clause, though it does seem rather hidden among all the other verbiage!

例子问题#2 :Writing And Revising Effectively

Identify the prepositional phrase(s) in the sentence below.

一个cold wind from the north cut through the woods, making the air outside the tent unbearably cold.

Possible Answers:

through the woods

from the north

None of these answers

一个ll of these answers

outside the tent

Correct answer:

一个ll of these answers

Explanation:

Prepositional phrases typically follow the structure "Preposition + Optional Modifiers (adjectives/adverbs) + Noun/Pronoun/Gerund." This means that they are introduced by prepositions. "From," "through," and "outside" are all prepositions. Within the sentence, each introduces a prepositional phrase following the pattern ("from" + "the north," "through" + "the woods," "outside" + "the tent"). Thus, all of the answers are correct.

例子问题#3 :Writing And Revising Effectively

Which sentence uses substantive adjectives?

Possible Answers:

The gap between the rich and the poor is growing.

The quick fox made it over the hill before the hound could catch him.

The oranges grew on the tree.

一个ll of these answers.

None of these answers.

Correct answer:

The gap between the rich and the poor is growing.

Explanation:

Substantive adjectives are adjectives that are used as nouns in their own right, rather than as modifiers. Here, "rich" and "poor" are not used to modify "people," but are used to represent groups of people, so this is the correct answer. "Oranges" is a noun, so this choice is incorrect. "Quick" modifies fox, so this choice is incorrect.

例子问题#23 :一个ct English

The ship was having trouble again. Engineer James Fergusoncouldn'tfigure out why the super-duper drive engine kept breaching. Every time hehad fixedit, something seemed to go wrong again. He had a capablecrewand he was friendly with all ofthem:but the aliens who had evolved fromdeer rather than from apes as humans had,hadsome problems when it came to fixing things. Their strong arms ended in tinypredicativehooves that sometimesmakesit difficult for them to hold large objects. They were good atproblem-solving though andhe did like them a lot. The nearest one gave him adough-eyedlook of sympathy—appropriate, given her gender. He looked back at the breaching driveengineand sighed. "Once more into the breach, deerfriends"he announced.

Choose the answer that best corrects the bolded portion of the passage. If the bolded portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."

Possible Answers:

prehensile

predatory

NO CHANGE

preternatural

Correct answer:

prehensile

Explanation:

The word "prehensile" meansable to grasp thingsand refers to parts of an animal's body like a tail or claws. So, it is the best answer choice because it best fits the context of the sentence. None of the other answer choices make sense in the sentence: "predicative" meansbeing a part of the predicate; "predatory" meansin the manner of a predator; and "preternatural" meansextraordinaryorsingular.

例子问题#8 :Revising Content

一个dapted from “Puritanism as a Literary Force” in一个Book of Prefacesby H.L. Mencken (1917)

Naturally enough, this moral obsession has given a strong color to American literature.It is truethat American literature is set off sharply from all other literatures. In none other will you find so wholesale and ecstatic a sacrifice ofideas, of all the fine gusto of passion and beauty, to notions of what isproper and nice. From the books of grisly sermons that were the first American contribution to letters down to that amazing literature of "inspiration"which now exists, one observes no relaxation of the moral pressure.

In the history of every other literature there have been periods of what might be called moral innocence. In such periods a naive “joie de vivre” (joy of living) has broken through all concepts of duty andresponsibility, and the wonder and glory of the universe has been hymned with unashamed zest. The age of Shakespeare comes to mind at once. The violence of the Puritan reactionsoffers a measure of the pendulums’ wild swing. But in America no such general rising of the blood has ever been seen.

The literature of the nation, even the literature of theminority,一直在严厉的清教徒和未受过教育的休息raints from the beginning, and despite a few stealthy efforts at revolt, it shows not the slightest sign of emancipating itself today.The American, try as he will, can never imagineany work of the imagination as whollywithoutmoral content. It must either tend toward the promotion of virtue or, otherwise, bequestionable.

Which of the following adjectives best describes the “minority” bolded in the final paragraph?

Possible Answers:

persecuted

influential

tedious

enlightened

Correct answer:

enlightened

Explanation:

The key to this question is to note the implied contrast. The minority of people who might provide acceptable literature is contrasted to the "uneducated Puritan restraints" that have been placed upon them. Thus, it is implied that the minority in question is "enlightened," orintelligent.

例子问题#3 :Revising Content

一个dapted fromThe Sorrows of Young Wertherby Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1774; trans. Boylan 1854)

That the life of man is but a dream, many a man has surmised heretofore.I, too, am everywhere pursued by this feeling.When I consider the narrow limits within which our active and inquiring faculties are confined, I am silent. Likewise, when I see how all our energies are wasted in providing for mere necessities,which again has no further end than to prolong a wretched existence, I findmyselfto be silenced. Indeed, discovering that all our satisfaction concerning certain subjects of investigation ends in nothing better than a passive resignation, while we amuse ourselves painting our prison-walls with bright figures and brilliantlandscapes—when I consider all this Wilhelm—I am silent. I examine my own being, and find there aworld, but a world rather of imagination and dim desires, than of distinctness and living power. Then, everything swims before my senses, and I smile and dream while pursuing my way through the world.

一个ll learned professors and doctors are agreed that children do not comprehend the cause of their desires; however, nobody is willing to acknowledge that the grown-ups should wander about this earth like children, without knowing whence they come or whither they go,influenced as little by fixed motivesbut, instead, guided likethemby biscuits, sugar-plums, and the rod.

I know what you will say in reply. Indeed, I am ready to admit that they are happiest, who, like children, amuse themselves with their playthings, dress and undress their dolls. They are happiest, who attentively watch the cupboard, where mammahas locked upher sweet things, and, when at last they get a delicious morsel, eat it greedily, and exclaim, "More!" These are certainly happy beings; butothersalso are objects of envy,whodignify their paltry employments (and sometimes even their passions) with pompous titles, representingthemto mankind as gigantic achievements performed fortheirwelfare and glory. However, the man who humbly acknowledges the vanity of all this,whoobserves with what pleasure the thriving citizen converts his little garden into a paradise, and how patiently even the poor man pursues his weary way under his burden, and how all wish equally to behold the light of the sun a little longer—yes,such a man is at peace, and creates his own world within himself. Indeed, he is also happy precisely because he is a man. And then, however limited his sphere, he still preserves in his bosom the sweet feeling of liberty and knows that he canquithis prison whenever he likes.

What is the form of the bolded verb “to be silenced”?

Possible Answers:

Present passive infinitive

Present passive imperative

Past active infinitive

Present active infinitive

Correct answer:

Present passive infinitive

Explanation:

In general, the infinitive form of a verb is "to" + the base form. For instance, for "run," the infinitive is "to run." Likewise, "to silence" is the present active infinitive form. However, when the action of the infinitive is "received," the form is passive. This is akin to the passive in finite verbs, like, "I am hit by the ball." In our selection, the character is silenced ("finds himself to be silenced") by the sight of all the wasted energies.

例子问题#10 :Revising Content

Jimmyis annoyedat the video game that he was playing. For one thing,there was not nearly enoughinteresting characters suspenseful moments or exciting escapesin the game to satisfy him.For another, it was incredibly hard while playing the game to control the cars.Italways wanted to veer to the left when he tried to steer to the right. But the ending of the game wasworst. By the time he got to the end, the herohad decidedto stop chasing rogue spies andthereforemarry his girlfriend, a surprise attack resulted in her being kidnapped, and the heromust goon a final mission to save her before the gamecan becompleted. Thatwould ofbeen fine, except it involved tracking the enemy using a helicopter, andJimmy much to his chagrin never mastered flying the helicopter.

Choose the answer that best corrects the bolded and underlined portion of the passage. If the bolded and underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."

Possible Answers:

is forced to go

NO CHANGE

will have to go

had to go

Correct answer:

had to go

Explanation:

The phrase "had to go" both signals the hero's lack of choice about his final mission and the past tense of the action.

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