Hi John,
 
This is an interesting question and I'm very interested to read comments by list members on it. Thanks for posting it.
 
I'm also interested to see that your students feel there is some problem with it. I doubt that any of them would tell you that they do not understand it, were you to ask them, and this is the first indication that it could well be correct. When something is wrong, then there is a reason why it is wrong and if we can't explain that then, again, it may not be wrong at all.
 
The problem they are having may be due to a pedagogy that focuses on "find the mistake" rather than one that focuses on "explain the constructions and their functions."  There is, of course, merit in both approaches, but with the first we are searching for unknowns, with the second we are examining knowns, or that's how I see it anyway.
 
Mark
 
On Tue, Dec 20, 2011, at 09:30 AM, John Chorazy wrote:

Good morning... Your opinions of the SAT and its methods may vary, but I'd like to ask your thoughts on this particular question:
 
According to ) their high school basketball coach, ) although Beth and her sisters worked

 

equally hard in practice, Beth ) tended tooutperform them both ) during games. No error
 
My11th graders decided that b is the correct answer with the following logic - the relationship between the clauses "Beth and her sisters worked equally hard in practice" and "Beth tended to outperform them both during games" should established by "although" between them. However, "although" is misplaced since "According to their high school basketball coach" doesn't modify "although Beth and her sisters worked equally hard in practice". I can see how both clauses might work to modify "Beth tended to outperform them both during games," but it's an awkward sentence. Maybe not necessarily grammatically flawed, but awkward.
SAT suggests that (e), no error, is the correct answer. My students disagree. I'd appreciate your thoughts and comments.
Thanks as always...
 
John
 
 

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John Chorazy
English III Honors and Academic
Pequannock Township High School
973.616.6000

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