SAT- identifying sentence errors help!? Best answer gets 10 points and some stars!?

Question

Ok, for the following sentences, I just couldnt figure out why the error really was the error.

I will put the error in quotes and I want an explanation of why it was an error.

Sentence 1: Flints found in the region extending from the Nile Valley to the highlands of eastern Iraq "attests to" the presence of people there as long ago as one hundred thousand ears.

From the way I see it, attests is the correct verb because it corresponds to flints- both are plural.

Sentence 2: By virtue of "its" size and supersensitive electronics, modern radio telescopes are able to gather more waves and discriminate among them with greater precision than earlier versions could.

the pronoun seems correct...

Sentence 3: Delgado's dilemna was "like many other" young writers: he had to choose between assured publication in a student magazine and probable rejection by a popular magazine.

Just dont see the mistakes...

Answer 1

1. Change to attest. Attest is the plural form.

2. Their. Needs to be plural to agree with electronicS.

3. Correct. And might need to change to "or."

Answer 2

1.  Flints is plural but requires single verb "attest" - bit of a strange rule but use the opposite verb...they say and he says.

2.  The pronoun should be "their" instead of its because it identifies the noun "telescopes" which is plural and "its" is singular...a telescope is an it but two telescopes are a they.

3.  This one is a little tougher because I see a few potential problems but since the words "like many other" are indicated, it may be that it should say "like many" young writers because you don't need the word "other" in the sentence as it is constructed.

Answer 3

Sentence #1...you're right the plural subject "flints" needs a plural verb...attests is the third person singular...attest is the third person plural form.  Correct word...attest. You wouldn't say "They attests" would you?

Sentence #2...The subject of the sentence is...modern radio telescopes.  This is plural.  The pronoun its is singular.  Pronouns must agree to their antecedent. The correct form would read..."By virtue of their size...."

Sentence #3...I see 2 other errors here...maybe they are typographical?  dilemna is mis-spelled...dilema.  Young writers should be possessive.  Since it's plural it should be writers'.  

Delgado's dilema is being compared to authors.  Can't be done!  You should compare his dilema to the young authors' dilema or problem.  The deletion of such a word after the word writers makes the sentence unclear.

Answer 4

Sentence 1:  You have the right idea but the wrong execution.  The word "attests" is the singular form of the verb.

To see it clearly, simplify as much as you can.  For example,

One flint attests to this.  Several other flints attest to something else.

Sentence 2:  Again, this is a question of number.  The simplest correction is:

"By virtue of their size and supersensitive electronics, modern radio telescopes are able to gather more waves and discriminate among them with greater precision than earlier versions could."

Many telescopes don't do anything by virtue of its size and complexity, because "it" can't be many telescopes.  Again, to see the error, simplify as much as you can.  For example,

They do it by virtue of their size and complexity.

Sentence 3:  Is Delgado's dilemma a writer?  I would have guessed that Delgado was the writer.

"Delgado's dilemma was that of many other young writers: He had to choose between assured publication in a student magazine and probable rejection by a popular magazine."

You can't directly compare a dilemma with writers.  You can, however, compare a dilemma with other dilemmas.  Or a writer with other writers.  A more complicated correction would be:

"Delgado was like many other young writers:  He had the dilemma of choosing  between assured publication in a student magazine and probable rejection by a popular magazine."

but I'm guessing you'll find the simpler correction as part of the multiple choice.

Again, to see the error clearly, simplify as much as you can.  For example:

Delgado's dilemma was like many other writers.  Delgado's dilemma was like another dilemma.

Answer 5

1. OK, well you're on the right track with the plural thing, except "attests" isn't the form of the verb that goes with a plural. It should be "attest". Think about questions like this by putting the verb after "we" and "I". We attests to the fact? That doesn't sound right. We attest to the fact. That's the correct form of the verb for the plural "we", and so also for the plural "flints".

2. OK, so here "telescopes" is the subject, and since it's plural, you should use "their" instead of "its". "Its" would be correct if the subject was singular though, as opposed to "it's", which is a conjunction of "it is".

3. Here, if it said "Delgado's dilemma was like many other young writers' dilemmas" it would be correct, but since his dilemma isn't like the writers themselves it should be "Delgado's dilemma was like those of many other young writers" or something of that nature.

Hope that helped! Good luck on the SAT!

Answer 6

Sentence 1: Flints is the subject, and it's plural. Attests is the verb and it's singular. To fix it, change "attests" to "attest".

Sentence 2: "By virtue of their size": telescopes is plural, the plural pronoun to use is their, not its.

Sentence 3: "Delgado's dilemma (not dilemna) was like that of many other young writers." Either that, or "Delgado's dilemma was like many other young writers'" (an apostrophe after writers to signify the dilemma is theirs). I think the first one is what they're looking for.

Hope this helps.

Answer 7

Sentence 1: attests to would be used if Flints was turned into a singular form, it should be attest to. Idk why, but I made a 760 on my english portion of my SAT last year so it's a safe bet I'm right.

Sentence 2: "its" is incorrect because your subject is plural. The correct word is "their".

Sentence 3: I think it should be "like that of many other" Idk why again, but that sounds right.