In the Sentence Improvement sections, answer choices are often incorrect because they form two complete sentences joined together by a comma. For example, “Students often make a mistake, they select answer choices that contain two complete sentences”.

This construction is always incorrect. If you see it on the SAT, quickly eliminate the answer choice.

Incorrect: She loves poisonous water snakes, she keeps them in her bathtub.
                      [Complete sentence: “She loves”], [Complete sentence: “she keeps”]

Correct: She loves poisonous water snakes, and she keeps them in her bathtub.

SAMPLE PRACTICE QUESTION FOR ANSWER CHOICES WITH 2 SENTENCES SEPARATED BY A COMMA

        Grayson soon admitted that his scientific papers on
        Bigfoot, they were as fraudulent as were papers on the
        Piltdown Man in the prior century.

        (A) Bigfoot, they were as fraudulent as were
        (B) Bigfoot were as fraudulent as are
        (C) Bigfoot, each was as fraudulent as
        (D) Bigfoot were as fraudulent as
        (E) Bigfoot, these were as fraudulent as

Reading the given sentence, you notice that it forms two complete sentences joined by a comma (Grayson admitted…, they were…). The same error allows you to eliminate choices (C) and (E). Choice (B) can be eliminated because it contains a verb tense error (“are”).

So choice (D) is the correct answer.

SAT Writing: Answer Choices with Two Sentences

ANSWER CHOICES WITH COMMAS REVIEW QUIZ

 

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