Sentence Correction

• Subject and verb must agree in number
  - find the subject and the verb through filler
  - verb might come before subject, ask what?
  - identify each subject and verb in the underlined part and pair them
• Unusual subjects
  - compound subjects - and means plural (two things)
  - collective nouns (i.e. group, team) are singular
  - verbals that function as nouns (gerunds aka -ing words or infinitives) are singular
• Fragments
  - looks like a complete sentence, but doesn't express a complete thought
  - check to see that the sentence has a main verb
• Run-on sentence
  - combines two sentences that could stand on their own without proper punctuation, must be separated by a semicolon or a comma and a fanboys word:
  For
  And
  Nor
  But
  Or
  Yet
  So
  - Make sure there are full sentences on both sides of these conjunctions
• Pronouns
  - have to refer to a specific antecedent
  - must agree in number with the antecedent
  - both is plural; each is singular
  - watch out for answer choices that introduce new pronouns
• Modifiers
  - When a sentence starts with a modifier, the object that it is modifying should be the first word after the comma
  - Modifiers should be close to what they modify
• Verb tense indicates the time of verb's action
  - Auxiliary verbs express more complex tenses:
    Past perfect (had) - event in the past preceding another event in the past, (X had before Y was)
    Present perfect (has) - started in the past continuing to present (doesn't need to continue to into the future)
  - Actions in the same time frame should be expressed in the same tense
  - Keywords: as, until, before, since
• Parallel construction:
  - Lists
  - Correlative conjunction: not only.. but also, neither.. nor.. 
  - Comparisons and contrasts - unlike, just as...so, like, as...as, than.., compared with.., in contrast..,
  - "like..., word directly after the comma" 
  - Make sure items are logically comparable

Checklist

• Phrases and clauses
  Find subject and main verb of sentence
  Do subject and verb agree in number?
  Is the sentence a fragment?
  Do phrases/clauses create wordiness?
• Lists 
  Is each item parallel?
• Verbals
  Do verbals violate parallelism?
  Any misplaced/dangling modifiers?
  Are verbals wordy/awkward?
• Pronouns
  Match pronouns to antecedents
  Does each pronoun have one ant.?
  Do pronouns and ant. agree? 
  Is pronoun unnecessary and wordy?
• Comparisons
  Identify items that are compared
  Are items logically able to be compared?
  Are compared items parallel?
  Are comparison idioms correct?
• Quantity Words
  Is correct word used (e.g. fewer/less)? Any redundancy in quantity words?
• “Tell” Words“
  Had” / “if” – tense errors?
  “Being” / “having been” – wordiness?
  Passive verbs – awkward style?
  “There are” / “there is” – wordiness?

Reading Comprehension

• Read for the big picture, don't dwell on the details, translate ideas and terms into simpler words, ask "why" for each new idea, create a Passage Structure
• Use PS and keywords in the passage to find:
  Main Idea: What? The point or idea that the author expresses in the passage.
  Attitude: How? The feeling or opinion the author expresses about the main idea.
  Purpose:Why? The author's reason for writing
• Pay attention to soft and extreme wordings: some vs all
• Keywords: must, if, then, like
• Read the passage first, don't look at the question before
• Main idea or title should capture the whole passage, not just one paragraph
  
• Global questions
  - Use MAPs
  - Prephrase an answer
  - Look for a match
• Detail question
  - Use MAPs to locate the detail
  - Paraphrase and scan answer choices for the paraphrasing of the passage language
  - Read the complete idea to provide context
• Inference question
  - Think must be true (and are concretely supported by the passage)
  - Eliminate answers one by one using the passage to invalidate
  - (Don't prephrase)
• Distinguish between the author's voice and others
• Common wrong answer choices - out of scope, too broad, distorted details, extreme. 

Critical Reasoning

Evidence + Assumption = Conclusion

Evidence - explicit stated support for conclusion
Assumption(s) - unstated support for conclusion
Conclusion - main point

Assumption Strategy:
1) Identify the conclusion
• sounds most important and general
• sounds like an opinion
• preceded by conclusion keywords (therefore, thus, so)
2) Identify the evidence
• sounds like factual info
• sounds like it is contributing to believability of something
• keywords (because, claimed, as)
• is always true (no need to question it)
3) Identify the assumption
• fills the gap between the evidence and the conclusion, a general rule that ties the two
• must be true, if the author didn't believe it, the conclusion would be invalid

Red flags in answer choices:
• extreme statements (keywords: only, never, always)
• opposite
• irrelevant (often irrelevant comparison)
• out of scope (introduces new information)

Stem based approach:
1) Identify the question type
2) Untangle stimulus (read the stimulus)
3) Predict an answer (before looking at the answer choices)
4) Match the prediction with an answer choice

Strengthen / Weaken:
Manipulate the assumption. Correct answer doesn't need to fully prove or disprove the conclusion, just strengthen or weaken it.
Denying an assumption invalidates the conclusion.
Strengthening argument must cause the conclusion to make sense.

Causation:
If X & Y happen at the same time and it is assumed that X causes Y, it could be argued that:
- the reverse is true, Y causes X
- something else caused Y, Z causes Y
- it is just a coincidence

Logical opposite of X is not X

Inference:
What must be true based on what was said in the statement.

Inference Strategy:
1) Logically link each sentence
2) Paraphrase the argument
3) Go through answer choices one by one (difficult to predict an answer)

Degrees of certainty:
- Must be true
- Must be false
- Could be true
Think of what is being asked! All true except - means that can be either 'must be false' or 'could be true'


Some - Most
- Some - at least one
- Most - more than half
Cannot be determine which is greater
Most + Some = Some

Common Wrong AC:
- extreme
- could be true (new info that wasn't mentioned in the stimulus)
- opposite

Formal Logic
X -> Y
not Y -> not X

Subject - Verb Agreement

• Every sentence must have a subject and a (working) verb (a verb that can run a sentence by itself).
• Subject and verb must make sense together.
• Subject and verb must agree in number.
• A noun in a prepositional phrase cannot be the subject of the sentence.
• Compound plural subjects are formed with the word and, additive phrases do not form compound subjects. 
• Phrases such as or, either... or, neither nor - must agree to in number to the nearest noun. Either and neither in a sentence alone (without or or nor) are singular.
• Collective nouns are almost always considered singular.
• Confusing subjects are more often singular than plural. 

This list might not be final.

Grammar, Meaning, Concision

    Evaluate problems in this order
    1) Grammar

    2) Meaning
    3) Concision

• If a word has more than one meaning, is the author using that word correctly, to indicate the right meaning?
  - Guide 8 p20 for examples
  - Pay attention to helping verbs (such as may, will, must and should) - only change them if the original sentence is obviously nonsensical.
• Changing the position of a single word can alter the meaning of an entire sentence.
  - Look out especially for short words (such as only and all)
  - Pay attention to overall word order.
• Make sure that words that are connected, such as subjects and verbs or pronouns and antecedents, always make sense together.
• Concise is better.
• Don't use a phrase where a single word will do.
• If two words in a sentence mean the same thing, check the sentence for redundancy. Only one of the words might be necessary.
  - Pay attention to expressions of time.
  

Sentence Correction Strategy

• Strategy for SC:
  1. Write down "A B C D E" on your paper.
  2. Read the sentence, nothing any obvious errors as you read.
  3. Scan the answer choices vertically - do not read them - looking for differences that split the answer choices.
  4. Choose a split for which you know the grammatical rule and which side of the split is correct.
  5. Cross out the answer choices that include the incorrect side of the split.
  6. Compare the answer choices by re-splitting.
  7. Continue to split remaining choices until you have one answer left. 
• Make sure you read the entire sentence, as often important words are placed far from the underlined portion.
• Double check that your answer works in the context of the entire sentence.