SAT ? of the Day 10/1/08

Yesterday's Answer (C)
The marked angles in the figure are angles P, Q, R, and S, which are the angles of a quadrilateral, and angles T, U, and V, which are the angles of a triangle. The sum of the degree measures of the angles of a quadrilateral is 360, and the sum of the degree measures of the angles of a triangle is 180. Therefore, the sum of the degree measures of the marked angles is 360 plus 180, which is 540.

Difficulty: Medium
Question Type: Standard Multiple Choice
(Mathematics)


Today's ?

Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

Although it seems to have been a fixture of the square since the city’s origin, the produce market actually opened only ------- .

1. enthusiastically


2. recently


3. frequently


4. illegally


5. graciously

SAT ? of the Day 9/30/08

Yesterday's answer:
Choice (C) is correct. It avoids the sentence fragment error of the original by providing a main verb, “was,” for the subject of the sentence, “the Brooklyn Bridge.”

Question Type: Improving Sentences
(Writing)
Today's ?

Read the following SAT test question, then click on a button to select your answer.

In the figure above, if PQRS is a quadrilateral and TUV is a triangle, what is the sum of the degree measures of the marked angles?

1. 420


2. 490


3. 540


4. 560


5. 580

SAT ?of the Day 9/30/08

Friday's Answer
(B) is correct:
You can rewrite AC as AB + BC, AD as AB + BC + CD, CE as CD + DE, and BD as BC + CD, and then consider the five answer choices.

The first answer choice is equivalent to AB + BC is less than CD. You know that AB is less than CD and that BC is also less than CD, but the sum of AB and BC might not be less than CD. Since the question asks which statement must be true, the first answer choice is not the correct answer.

The second answer choice is equivalent to AB + BC is less than CD + DE. This statement must be true, because AB is less than CD and BC is less than DE. Although there is no need to consider the other answer choices once you see that the second answer choice must be true, each of the remaining choices could be rewritten in the same way and you could see that they need not be true.

Difficulty: Medium
Question Type: Standard Multiple Choice
(Mathematics)

Today's Question:

Part of the following sentence is underlined; beneath the sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Select the option that produces the best sentence. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice A.

Upon its completion in May 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge, a steel suspension bridge linking Brooklyn to Manhattan as the longest bridge in the world.

1. to Manhattan as


2. to Manhattan, and was


3. and Manhattan, was


4. with Manhattan, it was


5. with Manhattan, as it was

SAT ? of the Day 9/27/08

Yesterday's answer
(A)
The error in this sentence occurs at (A), where awkward phrasing and an unnecessary pronoun create a comma splice. The entire phrase “It depends on” can be reduced to “Depending on.”

Question Type: Identifying Sentence Errors
(Writing)

today's ?

Read the following SAT test question, then click on a button to select your answer.

Note: Figure not drawn to scale.

On the line above, if AB < BC < CD < DE, which of the following must be true?

1. AC < CD


2. AC < CE


3. AD < CE


4. AD < DE


5. BD < DE

The SAT ? of the Day 9/26/08

Yesterday "s answer:
(e) is correct.

The word “yet” sets up a contrast between the singer’s ability to sound “lyrical,” or enthusiastic, when singing about joy and “poignant,” or touching, when singing of sadness.

Difficulty: Medium
Question Type: Sentence Completions
(Critical Reading)

Today's ?
The following sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. If the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence contains no error, select choice E.

It depends (A) on where in the world it is located, (B)

an underground electric-railway system may be (C)

called a subway, underground railway, tube,

or (D) metro. No error (E)

(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)


Hint
Remember that two complete thoughts should never be joined by only a comma.

SAT ?of the Day 9/25/08

Yesterday's answer:
Choice (B) is correct.
The graphs of all the given functions are lines, and the equations are all in the form y = mx + b. When a linear equation is in the form y = mx + b, the slope of the graph of the equation is m, the coefficient of x. The graph of the function ƒ is a line with slope 2, so the only choice that could be the equation of ƒ is ƒ(x) = 2x + 4.

Difficulty: Medium
Question Type: Standard Multiple Choice
(Mathematics)

Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

The voice of gospel singer Marion Williams has been captivating listeners since 1947; it is lyrical in its expression of joy, yet ------- when singing of life’s sorrows.

1. exhilarating


2. melodious


3. stifling


4. sublime


5. poignant

SAT ? of the Day 9/24/08

Yesterday's answer:
Choice (B) is correct. It avoids the comma-splice error of the original by removing the unnecessary words “it has” so that “India” is properly modified by what follows the comma (“the world’s most populous democracy”).

Question Type: Improving Sentences
(Writing)


Today's ?

If the graph of the function ƒ is a line with slope 2, which of the following could be the equation of ƒ?

1. ƒ(x) = 4x – 2


2. ƒ(x) = 2x + 4


3. ƒ(x) = –2x – 2


4. ƒ(x) = x + 2


5. ƒ(x) = –x +

Hint
When a linear equation is in the form y = mx + b, the slope of the graph of the equation is m.

SAT ? of the Day 9/23/08

Yesterday's answer:
Choice (B) is correct. It makes sense to say that despite his “limited”—but apparently applicable—experience, the hiring manager feels that David is “qualified for” the job, or competent to undertake it.

Question Type: Sentence Completions
(Critical Reading)

Part of the following sentence is underlined; beneath the sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Select the option that produces the best sentence. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice A.

Nearly one-sixth of all the human beings on Earth live in India, it has the world’s most populous democracy.

1. India, it has the


2. India, the


3. India, having the


4. India; the


5. India; and are the

Answer tomorrow

First Meeting of Class of 2009

First meeting of the 2008-2009 school year was held fifth period yesterday in the cafeteria. Two new mentors joined the group. Welcome to Kathe Langberg and Joel Epstein.
In attendance in no particular order were Aaron, Mark, Tim, Dana, Clarimar, Ellie, Lizz, Elize, Kiki, Jermaine, Yusuef, Mary and Murph. We all introduced or reintroduced ourselves, and students indicated in what areas they might like some support this year.

SAT ? of the Day

Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

His ------- prior experience notwithstanding, David was judged by the hiring manager to be ------- the job.

1. illustrious . . entitled to


2. limited . . qualified for


3. applicable . . assured of


4. useful . . overqualified for


5. irrelevant . . perplexed by

Answer tomorrow

Welcome Back

School starts tomorrow and the group gathered last Monday at Mary's to wish Erick a great year in China. Erich is part of an Andover program spending his senior year as a student at a Chinese high school in Beijing. The rest of the team will be at Dartmouth and Newbury.
We had to say goodbye to two mentors this summer: Ayanna moved to Hawaii and Jeff's job took him to Argentina.
Also since there are only two classes in the program and there are only 8 students in the class of 2010, we will combine most of our activities this year.

We have not set our monthly meeting time since most of the senior have AP European History first period and might be reluctant to miss any class meetings. We are soliciting suggested times from students.

Hope 2008-2009 is a great year for all at Snowden. ii