Directions and timing
This is a full-length English section: fifty questions in thirty-five minutes, spread over five passages. That is about seven minutes for a passage and its ten questions, or roughly forty-two seconds a question. Sit the section in one go, at a desk, with a timer running and no phone nearby, so that the pace you practise is the pace you will have on test day.
Each passage has underlined portions followed by a bracketed number. The number matches a question. Read the sentence around the underlined portion, answer that question, and move on. Choice A is always NO CHANGE where the underlined text can stand as written, and it is correct about as often as any other choice, so test it as honestly as you test the alternatives. A few questions have no underline and instead ask about the passage as a whole or about a sentence or paragraph. Those questions reward a quick look back at the whole essay, so keep your attention on the purpose of the piece as you read.
How to work it
- Work the five passages in any order. If a passage looks dense, do the other four first and return to it.
- Answer every question. Nothing is deducted for a wrong answer, so never leave a blank.
- If a question is going to cost you more than a minute, mark it, choose your best guess, and come back in the closing minutes.
- Check each choice against the rule it tests: punctuation, agreement, tense, precision, concision, transitions or relevance. Prove the answer rather than choosing the one that sounds best.
- The most concise correct choice usually wins when two choices say the same thing.
After the section
Score the section only when all fifty questions are done. The answer key and explanations follow the questions. Read the explanation for every question you missed and for any you got right by guessing, and note the rule that resolves each one in your error log. Do not open the answers until the full section is finished.