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ACT of the Day
ACT of the Day
university that was located in the Midwest1
Philosophy and Baseball
In the fall of 1967, the Boston Red Sox were playing in
the World Series. I was a freshman at a
at the time, enrolled in
a philosophy course that met at two in the afternoon.
(1) A. NO CHANGE B. midwestern university then C. midwestern university D. university which was in the Midwest
ACT of the Day
university that was located in the Midwest1
Philosophy and Baseball
In the fall of 1967, the Boston Red Sox were playing in
the World Series. I was a freshman at a
at the time, enrolled in
a philosophy course that met at two in the afternoon.
(1) A. NO CHANGE B. midwestern university then C. midwestern university D. university which was in the Midwest
1. The best answer is C, which concisely and clearly expresses the idea that the university the writer attended was in the Midwest. The other choices all contain defects of style. Choices A and D are both needlessly wordy; in addition, the confusing arrangement of relative clauses and prepositional phrases they contain oddly suggests that the university was "in the Midwest at the time", but may later have moved. Choice B is pointlessly redundant, because the word then and the phrase "at the time" mean the same thing here.
ACT of the Day
…The course was taught by a native Bostonian. He wanted to watch the games on television, but he was too responsible to cancel class. So he conducted classes, those October afternoons, while actually listening to the games on a small transistor radio propped up inside his lectern, the volume turned down so that only he could hear. Baseball is unique among American sports.
1
2
(2) Which of the following sentences, if inserted at this point, would provide the most effective transition to the second paragraph?
A. Accounting for this kind of behavior is easy. B. Most of the students in the class were not fond of this instructor. C. Today, most World Series games are played in the evening. D. He did a remarkable job, considering how distracted he must have been.
ACT of the Day
…The course was taught by a native Bostonian. He wanted to watch the games on television, but he was too responsible to cancel class. So he conducted classes, those October afternoons, while actually listening to the games on a small transistor radio propped up inside his lectern, the volume turned down so that only he could hear. Baseball is unique among American sports.
1
2
(2) Which of the following sentences, if inserted at this point, would provide the most effective transition to the second paragraph?A. Accounting for this kind of behavior is easy.B. Most of the students in the class were not fond of this instructor.C. Today, most World Series games are played in the evening.D. He did a remarkable job, considering how distracted he must have been.
2. The best answer is A, which is the only sentence to directly connect the topic of the first paragraph (the professor's behavior) with the topic of the second paragraph (the hold that baseball has on people's imagination). The other choices add sentences that do not make that shift clear and that also do not serve as accurate introductions or signals to the topic of the second paragraph, something a good transition must do. The claim in Choice B is unsupported by either paragraph and thus cannot link them. While Choices C and D are logical offshoots of the first paragraph, they do not signal the shift in focus from the professor to the magic of baseball and, in fact, are unconnected to anything in the second paragraph. Therefore, they don't work as transitions.
ACT of the Day
Baseball is unique among American sports its ability to
appeal to a of fable and legend.
by3
love resembling that of a child4
(3) A. NO CHANGE B. as C. in D. because
(4) A. NO CHANGE B. love that seems
to occur during childhood C. love like that of children D. childlike love
ACT of the Day
Baseball is unique among American sports its ability to
appeal to a of fable and legend.
by3
love resembling that of a child4
(3) A. NO CHANGE B. as C. in D. because
(4) A. NO CHANGE B. love that seems
to occur during childhood C. love like that of children D. childlike love
3. The best answer is C, which is the most idiomatically standard usage. The other choices are nonstandard usage, and some create other grammatical problems as well. Choice A is nonstandard usage ("Baseball is unique . . . by its ability"). Choices B and D replace the preposition needed with a conjunction (as and because, respectively), an action which creates sentence fragments in addition to nonstandard usage.4. The best answer is D, because it avoids unnecessary wordiness and because it logically and clearly places the noun love closest to the prepositional phrase "of fable and legend" that modifies it. Choices A, B, and C are excessively wordy and separate the noun from its prepositional phrase, which unnecessarily clouds the meaning of the sentence.
ACT of the Day
Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Roberto
Clemente—names like these will echo through
trumpet calls to storied battles fought and won in ages
past.
(5) A. NO CHANGE B. time like C. time in which D. time, which is like
time that are5
ACT of the Day
Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Roberto
Clemente—names like these will echo through
trumpet calls to storied battles fought and won in ages
past.
(5) A. NO CHANGE B. time like C. time in which D. time, which is like
time that are5
5. The best answer is B, because "time like" properly sets up the simile relationship (the names echo in the manner that trumpet calls do) and correctly relates the clauses of the sentence. The other choices introduce errors in the relationship of the sentence parts. Choice A improperly sets up a relative clause that modifies time (the most recent antecedent), when the relationship is clearly between names and calls. Choice C creates an unacceptable sentence fragment and also wrongly produces a relative clause modifying time. Choice D again improperly creates a relative clause modifying time.
ACT of the Day
Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Roberto Clemente—names like these will echo through time like trumpet calls to storied battles fought and won in ages past. When Hank Aaron…
(6) Which of the following sentences, if added at this point, would most effectively lead the reader from the generalization in the preceding sentence to the specific examples that will follow in the next sentence?
A. These heroes of baseball embodied the ancient legends, bringing them to life.B. Baseball, of course, is not the only sport that provides heroes.C. Those battles lasted for nine innings, unless a tie led to extra innings.D. The truly great thing about it is that these men are as human as you or I.
6
ACT of the Day
Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Roberto Clemente—names like these will echo through time like trumpet calls to storied battles fought and won in ages past. When Hank Aaron…
(6) Which of the following sentences, if added at this point, would most effectively lead the reader from the generalization in the preceding sentence to the specific examples that will follow in the next sentence?
A. These heroes of baseball embodied the ancient legends, bringing them to life.B. Baseball, of course, is not the only sport that provides heroes.C. Those battles lasted for nine innings, unless a tie led to extra innings.D. The truly great thing about it is that these men are as human as you or I.
6
6. The best answer is A. The sentence that precedes the proposed insertion is a general one about legendary battles. The sentences that follow the proposed insertion give specific examples of the actions of individual baseball players that seem heroic. Choice A is the only sentence to make reference to both ideas and, thus, serve as an effective bridge between them. The other choices fail to connect logically the different ideas. Choice B does not work because it signals a shift to a discussion of heroes in other sports (a shift that does not occur). While Choice C does make reference to the information in the preceding sentence, the proposed sentence has nothing to do with the examples that follow and, thus, cannot serve as an effective transition. Choice D would be an illogical addition. Although Choice D could logically follow the preceding sentence and the words "these men" could refer to the men mentioned in the specific examples that follow, the following sentences are about how much certain players resemble mythological heroes, not how similar they are to average people.
ACT of the Day
When Hank Aaron
he became a modern-day knight.
stretched out a sinewy arm to pull one down,7
striding up to a rack of ash-hewn bats,7 (cont.)
(7) A. NO CHANGE B. strode up to a rack of ash-hewn bats, stretching out a sinewy arm to pull one down, C. strode up to a rack of ash-hewn bats to stretch out a sinewy arm, pulling one down, D. pulled one down, stretching out his sinewy arm as he strode up to a rack of ash-hewn bats,
ACT of the Day
When Hank Aaron
he became a modern-day knight.
stretched out a sinewy arm to pull one down,7
striding up to a rack of ash-hewn bats,7 (cont.)
(7) A. NO CHANGE B. strode up to a rack of ash-hewn bats, stretching out a sinewy arm to pull one down, C. strode up to a rack of ash-hewn bats to stretch out a sinewy arm, pulling one down, D. pulled one down, stretching out his sinewy arm as he strode up to a rack of ash-hewn bats,
7. The best answer is B, which places the words in the most logical and clearest order. Choice B makes it clear that the pronoun one refers to one of the bats, and it also offers the most logical order of actions: Aaron first went to the rack, then pulled down one of the bats. The other choices confuse the sentence's meaning by ordering the actions in an illogical way and by leaving one with either an illogical antecedent or none at all. In Choice A, the most direct antecedent for one is arm, which makes no sense in context. It also does not make sense that Aaron would "stretch out a sinewy arm" and then go to the bat rack. Choice C is illogical. It makes no sense that he would go to the rack "to stretch out a sinewy arm." And again, the most direct antecedent for one here is arm, which is illogical. Choice D leaves one without an antecedent, which makes the sentence unclear.
ACT of the Day
When Hank Aaron strode up to a rack of ash-hewn bats, stretching out a
sinewy arm to pull one down, he became a modern-day knight selecting
lance.
(8) A. NO CHANGE B. there C. his D. one's
their8
ACT of the Day
When Hank Aaron strode up to a rack of ash-hewn bats, stretching out a
sinewy arm to pull one down, he became a modern-day knight selecting
lance.
(8) A. NO CHANGE B. there C. his D. one's
their8
8. The best answer is C, because only the pronoun his agrees with the antecedent knight. The other choices either do not agree with the antecedent, fail to match an earlier pronoun style, or are not pronouns. Choice A does not agree in number with the antecedent. Choice B is an adverb, not a pronoun. Choice D is wrong because it uses an impersonal pronoun, one's, when earlier in the sentence the personal pronoun he was used.
ACT of the Day
And when glints of the afternoon sun shone off Mickey Mantle's colossal
bat, there be seen for one brief, stirring moment the glimmer
of the jewels in King Arthur's own mighty sword, Excalibur.
(9) A. NO CHANGE B. will C. can D. could
will have to9
ACT of the Day
And when glints of the afternoon sun shone off Mickey Mantle's colossal
bat, there be seen for one brief, stirring moment the glimmer
of the jewels in King Arthur's own mighty sword, Excalibur.
(9) A. NO CHANGE B. will C. can D. could
will have to9
9. The best answer is D, which is the only past tense verb. Since the first part of the sentence is in past tense, the rest must be as well. The other choices create improper shifts in tense. Choices A and B are future tense verbs. Choice C is in the present tense.
ACT of the Day
…And when glints of the afternoon sun shone off Mickey Mantle's
colossal bat, there could be seen for one brief, stirring moment the
glimmer of the jewels in King Arthur's own mighty sword, Excalibur.
there he stood, that learned professor of mine.
(10) A. NO CHANGE B. (Begin new paragraph) To summarize, C. (Do NOT begin new paragraph) So D. (Do NOT begin new paragraph) Yet
So10
ACT of the Day
…And when glints of the afternoon sun shone off Mickey Mantle's
colossal bat, there could be seen for one brief, stirring moment the
glimmer of the jewels in King Arthur's own mighty sword, Excalibur.
there he stood, that learned professor of mine.
(10) A. NO CHANGE B. (Begin new paragraph) To summarize, C. (Do NOT begin new paragraph) So D. (Do NOT begin new paragraph) Yet
So10
10. The best answer is A. A new paragraph is needed here because the sentence that includes the underlined portion and the sentences that follow shift the essay's focus from the magic of baseball back to the professor. The word So properly signals that shift. The other choices use an improper transition word and/or do not create the needed paragraph break. Choice B does create a paragraph break, but "To summarize" is wrong because what follows is not a summary of what went before. Choice C uses a proper transition word but does not create the needed paragraph break. Choice D does not create the paragraph break, nor does it use a logical transition word: Yet signals a contradiction that does not occur.
ACT of the Day
So there he stood, that learned professor of mine, lecturing about the
have engaged people's minds for centuries. Then he'd
interrupt himself to announce, with smiling eyes, that the Sox had taken
a two-to-nothing lead.
(11) A. NO CHANGE B. ideas that C. ideas. That D. ideas, which
ideas, that11
ACT of the Day
So there he stood, that learned professor of mine, lecturing about the
have engaged people's minds for centuries. Then he'd
interrupt himself to announce, with smiling eyes, that the Sox had taken
a two-to-nothing lead.
(11) A. NO CHANGE B. ideas that C. ideas. That D. ideas, which
ideas, that11
11. The best answer is B. The phrase "ideas that" properly creates a restrictive (essential) clause, which is called for in the sentence, since the sentence is not about ideas in general but only about those ideas that "have engaged people's minds for centuries." The other choices introduce errors such as an improper relationship of the clauses, unnecessary punctuation, and an unacceptable sentence fragment. The use of a comma in Choices A and D signals that what follows is a nonrestrictive (nonessential) clause, which is not the case. Apart from the issue of restrictiveness, the comma needlessly disrupts the flow of the sentence with a pause. Choice C creates an unacceptable sentence fragment.
ACT of the Day
Here was a mind was disciplined
to contemplate the collected wisdom of the ages—and he was behaving
like a boy with a contraband comic opened.
(12) A. NO CHANGE B. man whose C. man, who's D. man that's
(13) A. NO CHANGE B. (Place after ages) C. (Place after boy) D. (Place after opened and end sentence with a period)
man who’s12
inside his schoolbook13
ACT of the Day
Here was a mind was disciplined
to contemplate the collected wisdom of the ages—and he was behaving
like a boy with a contraband comic opened.
(12) A. NO CHANGE B. man whose C. man, who's D. man that's
(13) A. NO CHANGE B. (Place after ages) C. (Place after boy) D. (Place after opened and end sentence with a period)
man who’s12
12. The best answer is B. Choice B uses the pronoun whose, which properly sets up the relative clause modifying man. The other choices use contractions instead of pronouns, and some also introduce punctuation errors. Choice A wrongly uses the contraction who's for whose. Choice C makes the same mistake and adds an unnecessary comma. Choice D adds an unnecessary comma and wrongly uses the contraction that's.
13. The best answer is D, which places the underlined prepositional phrase in the most logical position in the sentence. Without the prepositional phrase modifying it, opened is unclear. Choice D also represents the most rhetorically effective placement. The other choices place the underlined portion in illogical or awkward places. Choice A makes no sense, it suggests that his "mind was disciplined inside his schoolbook", and the placement disrupts the sentence flow. Choice B is less rhetorically effective than Choice D. The insertion of the underlined portion after ages inappropriately shifts the sentence's focus to where the "wisdom of the ages" is found. It's also highly unlikely that the "collected wisdom of the ages" would be found inside one schoolbook. Choice C is clearly illogical; the boy could not be inside a schoolbook.
inside his schoolbook13
ACT of the Day
On those warm October days, as the afternoon sun
on the domes and spires of the university, the philosophers had to stand
aside.
dances and plays14
(14) A. NO CHANGE B. dances, playing C. danced and played D. dancing and playing
ACT of the Day
On those warm October days, as the afternoon sun
on the domes and spires of the university, the philosophers had to stand
aside.
(14) A. NO CHANGE B. dances, playing C. danced and played D. dancing and playing
dances and plays14
14. The best answer is C. The context of the sentence and the essay makes it clear that past tense verbs are needed. The other choices create unacceptable shifts in verb tense or use participles instead of verbs. Choices A and B shift the sentence into the present tense, whereas the context makes it clear that the actions happened in the past and have been described with past tense verbs. Choice D wrongly replaces verbs with participles, leaving the clause without a verb and the sentence incomplete.
ACT of the Day
On those warm October days, as the afternoon sun danced and played
on the domes and spires of the university, the philosophers had to stand
aside,
(15) Which of the alternatives would conclude this sentence so that it supports the writer's principal reflections on the professor's behavior?
A. NO CHANGE B. due to the fact that the professor was about to hand out a test. C. while the professor told the class about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. D. as the professor recounted all the great baseball stars he'd seen play.
for the professor’s imagination had transported him to the Boston of his youth.15
ACT of the Day
On those warm October days, as the afternoon sun danced and played
on the domes and spires of the university, the philosophers had to stand
aside, for the professor’s imagination had transported him to the Boston of his youth.15
15. The best answer is A, which carries to conclusion the writer's reflections on the "native Bostonian" professor's listening to the radio "turned down so that only he could hear," yielding to the appeal of "fable and legend," and "behaving like a boy." None of the other choices supports all these reflections. Choice B changes the subject. Choice C might lend some support to one reflection, the professor's implied attraction to sport as the stuff of "fable and legend", but ignores the writer's other reflections. Choice D, like Choice C, supplies support for only one part of "the writer's principal reflections," which is what the question asks for.
(15) Which of the alternatives would conclude this sentence so that it supports the writer's principal reflections on the professor's behavior?
A. NO CHANGE B. due to the fact that the professor was about to hand out a test. C. while the professor told the class about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. D. as the professor recounted all the great baseball stars he'd seen play.
