SAT Grammar and Punctuation Practice Flashcards

The senator gave ______ speech that moved the entire chamber to silence.

Answer: a

'A' is correct because 'speech' begins with a consonant sound; 'an' precedes vowel sounds.

The city's population, ______ had doubled in just ten years, strained the existing infrastructure.

Answer: which

The clause is nonrestrictive (set off by commas) and the antecedent is 'population' (not a person), so 'which' is correct.

The team was exhausted ______ practice lasted over three hours.

Answer: because

'Because' correctly establishes the causal reason for the team's exhaustion.

After completing the experiment, ______ data was compiled and analyzed by the lab team.

Answer: the

The definite article 'the' is correct because the data refers to specific data from the specific experiment just mentioned.

The author argues that education systems ______ critical thinking above rote memorization.

Answer: should prioritize

The present tense modal 'should prioritize' is correct for a general recommendation or argument about what ought to be done.

Across the valley ______ a range of snow-capped mountains that blocked the northern wind.

Answer: stretched

Inverted sentence structure: the subject 'a range of snow-capped mountains' comes after the verb; past tense 'stretched' is correct and agrees with the singular subject.

The students each ______ a different approach to solving the complex equation.

Answer: took

The subject is 'The students' (plural), and 'each' does not change the subject; past tense 'took' matches the narrative context.