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- Format: 35 minutes to answer 44 multiple-choice questions across several passages. No separate writing sample.
- Content: Focuses on grammar, usage/punctuation, and expression of ideas. Assesses standard written English conventions and logical reasoning skills.
- Question Types: Revision of single sentences, modifications across a paragraph, and coordination/subordination of ideas between paragraphs.
- Skills: Rearranging phrases/clauses, deleting sentences, identifying sentence flaws, improving paragraph coherence, and recognizing word choices.
- Scoring: Questions graded on a 200-800 point scale. Half of the Evidence-Based Reading/Writing section score is based on this section.
- Preparation: Practice identifying grammatical errors, focusing on commonly tested rules of usage/mechanics. Review sample passages and explanations.
- Strategies: Start with sentence revision questions, flag ones for review, watch for exceptions to rules as tricks. Use context to deduce meaning.
- Important Concepts: Subject-verb agreement, modifier placement, parallel structure, punctuation consistency, logical transitions.
- Timing: Work carefully & quickly through short passages. Move to next question if stuck to finish on time with educated guesses.
- Importance: Evaluates command of syntactic structure and clarity/precision of expression important for college-level comprehension and writing assignments.