Sadlier-Oxford VOCABULARY WORKSHOP SAT Practice Worksheet
IMPROVING SENTENCES
Name
Level G Unit 10
Date
DIRECTIONS: In the following items, part of each sentence or the whole sentence is underlined.
Beneath each sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Choice A repeats the
original phrasing; the other four choices are different. If you think the original phrasing produces a
better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice A. If not, select one of the other choices.
1. Would that the weather have been this nice on
our wedding day, thought James.
(A) Would that the weather have been this nice
(B) Would that the weather should have been
this nice
(C) Would that the weather had been this nice
(D) Would that the weather would have been
this nice
(E) Had the weather would have been this nice
2. Bryant had never seen the sun shine so bright or
so pure as on the day he crossed the last ridge of
mountains and glimpsed the valley for the first
time.
(A) Bryant had never seen the sun shine so
bright or so pure.
(B) Bryant had never seen the sun shine as bright
or as pure.
(C) Bryant had ever seen the sun shine so bright
or so pure.
(D) Bryant had never seen the sun shine so
brightly or so purely.
(E) Bryant had never seen the sun shine so
purely brightly.
3. You can’t hardly refuse to accept the donations
that you spent so much time and energy soliciting.
(A) You can’t hardly refuse to accept the
donations
(B) You can hardly refuse to accept the
donations
(C) You can’t hardly accept the donations
(D) You can’s scarcely accept the donations
(E) You can refuse to hardly accept the
donations
4. Mr. Jorgenson pointed out that the limiting
factors in this case has more to do with money
than with the committee’s desire to help.
(A) the limiting factors in this case has more to
do with money than with the committee’s
desire to help.
(B) the limiting factors in this case have more to
do with money than with the committee’s
desire to help.
(C) the limiting factors in this case are more
about money than with the committee’s
desire to help.
(D) the limiting factor in this case is money, not
the committee’s desire to help.
(E) the limiting factors to this case are money,
not the committee’s desire to help.
5. Safety belts, now considered a necessary, even
self-evident precaution while driving, though in the
past sometimes dismissed as an uncomfortable
nuisance, are mandatory.
(A) Safety belts, now considered a necessary,
even self-evident precaution while driving,
though in the past sometimes dismissed as
an uncomfortable nuisance, are mandatory.
(B) Now considered a necessary, even selfevident precaution while driving, though in
the past sometimes dismissed as an
uncomfortable nuisance, safety belts are
mandatory.
(C) Safety belts are mandatory, now considered a
necessary, even self-evident precaution while
driving, though in the past sometimes
dismissed as an uncomfortable nuisance.
(D) Safety belts, now mandatory, are considered
a necessary, even self-evident precaution
while driving, though in the past they were
sometimes dismissed as an uncomfortable
nuisance.
(E) Safety belts, though in the past sometimes
dismissed as an uncomfortable nuisance,
now mandatory, are considered a necessary,
even self-evident precaution while driving.
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