You have encountered this structure in Lessons 18 and 19. This lesson is meant to allow you to practice this extremely common question type one more time.

This time, however, there’s a twist. If you encounter a question in which the clause [-----,] is underlined but the subject is not, immediately identify the subject(s).

Then find the correct answer by identifying the clause that contains the pronoun that matches with the subject(s). For example, “Until they were outlawed in the 17th century, pirates freely roamed the Caribbean.”

Incorrect: Until being burnt down, the library was a center of scholarship.
                                                           [What was burnt down?--it's not clear.]

Correct: Until it was burnt down, the library was a center of scholarship.
                                                        [What was burnt down? “it” = library (subject)]

SAMPLE PRACTICE QUESTION FOR -------, SUBJECT (PART III)

        Until it was scrapped for its parts, the cars sat idle in my friend’s backyard.

        (A) Until it was scrapped for its parts
        (B) Before being scrapped for parts
        (C) Until the time they were scrapped for its parts
        (D) Up until scrapped for parts
        (E) Until they were scrapped for their parts

Recognizing the “-------, Subject” structure, you have to check for the subject. Here, the subject is “cars”. The underlined portion of the sentence has to modify or describe the “cars”.

“It” in choice (A) does not match with the plural “cars”; “Its” in choice (C) has the same error. Choices (B) and (D) do not contain any pronouns necessary to refer to “cars”.

Only choice (E) contains the correct plural pronouns that clearly refer to the subject “cars”.

SAT Writing: Clause, Subject (III)

Lesson Includes:

—Explanation of Clause, Subject

—Sample Practice Questions

—Practice Questions

SAT Math

SAT Reading

SAT Writing

SAT Vocabulary

-------, SUBJECT (PART III) REVIEW QUIZ

 

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